Getting Over 8.17.06: The Spirit Squad Split

Posted by Mike LaFave on 08.17.2006

I’ve got spirit yes I do, I got spirit how bout you???

Getting Over I've got spirit yes I do, I got spirit how bout you???
Ok class, please take out your pens and paper, it's time for a pop quiz. Question one, upon first hearing about the Spirit Squad gimmick, did you think it was going to be moronic? Number two, were you pleasantly surprised by the skills of some of the wrestlers making up the Squad? And finally, what was you attitude about the rumors that the Spirit Squad was breaking up? Speaking for myself, when I first heard about the male cheerleader gimmick going to guys that Steve Sullivan praised in his Crystal Ball series, I had my doubts to say the least. Then they showed up on the scene, and athletically annoying was the perfect classification for the group. They showed that even at a ripe age they had the goods in the ring. To top it off, they carried out their gimmick to a tee. They created unique multi-man moves that incorporated the cheerleader angle. The audience began to love hating them. The crowds were dieing to see the Squad get their asses handed to them. It seemed as if, even though everyone on the internet knows far more about sports entertainment that Vince McMahon, he was right on this one. The cheerleaders were getting over! But now, rumor has it that they are going their separate ways; cheering for different teams so to speak. Splitting up a tag team or a stable can be a delicate set of circumstances, if done half-heartedly the division will be met with crowd apathy. However, when done correctly, it can elevate several careers to a higher level. This week we look at the potential Spirit Squad split. I'll run down the best way for the faction to disband, the program that should evolve from the split and where each of the five guys should go after it's done. With out further ado, let's get over the Spirit Squad Split! Getting Over The Spirit Squad Split: It looks as though the Spirit Squad will be left off of the Summer Slam card. So our story begins at next weeks Raw.
Raw 8/21 - Two jobbers stand in the ring when we hear the Squad start screaming out their names. On their way down to the ring, Lawler makes a point to mention on commentary how Kenny is the rising star of the group. Johnny and Nicky are representing the tag champs tonight. It's a quick match with the athletically annoying duo dominating the action. After the match JR announces that Kane will be in action next as we cut to commercial. The Spirit Squad is still celebrating in the ring when we return to Raw. Kane's music hits but that doesn't seem to be of consequence to the Squad member as they continue to dance around the ring. Kane slowly shifts his eyes from one Squad member to the next and then begins to laugh, but he is far from amused. He suddenly strikes Mitch and then goes on a rampage of destruction. He stalks Mikey into a corner as Mikey does his best Ric Flair impression, begging off Kane. Out of nowhere, Kenny slides between the two combatants and motions for Mikey to slide out of the ring. He stares down Kane, seemingly burning a hole into Kane's eyes. Then without a word spoken or a punch thrown he exits.

Raw 8/28 - Kane gets a match with Mitch on this weeks show. After a few power moves, Mitch is ready for the choke slam and that's enough to end the match. The rest of the Squad runs in to jump the Big Red Machine. Kane fights them all off. He picks up Nicky by the throat and lifts him high in the air, showing him off to the crowd. Before he can deliver the choke slam from hell, Kenny clips Kane at the knee and ushers his squad mates to the back.

Raw 9/4 - This weeks Raw features two matches involving Spirit Squad members. The first is Kane taking on Nicky and later on Mikey faces Rory of the Highlanders. Nicky gets some early offence in on Kane. He begins strutting around the ring, turns around and walks right into a goozel, choke slam, end of match! Kane positions himself to explode his fire from the turnbuckles when Kenny attacks him from behind and leaves him lying in the ring.

Robbie and Rory are headed down to the ring for their singles match when they are jumped by all five squad member. The squad is unrelenting in their beat down and don't stop until they notice the two Scotts are motionless. When Raw comes back from a commercial interlude, we learn from Good Ole JR that at Unforgiven, The Spirit Squad will defend their titles against The Highlanders and Kenny will take on Kane in singles action.

Raw 9/11 - Tonight, Johnny of the Spirit Squad takes on Robbie of the Highlanders. Johnny dominates the action throughout thanks to interference from his Squad mates. Robbie is resilient and continues to fight back. Unfortunately for him though, every time he seems to pick up some momentum the Spirit Squad distracts the ref, double teams the man from Scotland and regains the advantage in Johnny's favor. Rory tries to even the odds as much as possible, but the numbers game is far too much for the Highlanders to overcome and it appears as if Johnny will pick up the win. He hit's the Johnny-Go-Round kick and Robbie is knocked out cold. Just then Fire erupts from the turnbuckles and Kane starts marching his way down to the ring. Kane clears the ring and the Spirit Squad all run for their lives up the ramp, all except Kenny, who remains outside the ring staring at the monster Kane. Kane points to Kenny and begins to laugh in a devious manner as we cut to commercial.

Unforgiven 9/17 - After the opening match, Kane's music fill the arena as he makes his way down to the ring. The camera cuts to the back and we see Kenny talking to the rest of the Squad, "guys, I got this, Kane, that big red retard can't handle me. I have the Spirit and because of that, tonight I take him out alone!" Kenny shocks everyone in attendance, all the viewers at home and Kane himself by dominating the beginning of the match with his fast paced offense. A few minutes into the fight, Kenny makes in inexperienced mistake of sending Kane into the ropes and lowering his head. Kane takes advantage of the youngsters blunder with a thrust to Kenny's throat. From there Kane is unmerciful. He dissects Kenny with a mixture of striking and power maneuvers. Kane goes for his patented choke slam but Kenny reverses it out of desperation into an arm drag buying him a second to catch his breath and get his head straight. Both men stagger to their feet and exchange punches. Kane over powers Kenny with his hammering blows and sets him up for a tombstone. Kenny fights desperately and is able to wiggle out of the hold while maintaining control of Kane's head and neck. Kenny quickly drops down hitting Kane with a reverse DDT. He heads over to the top rope, leaps high in the air, tucks his legs under before extending them out and lands on Kane's chest with a breath taking leg drop. To the disbelief of everyone Kane is unable to kick out and Kenny has his arm raised in victory!

Later on that same night, the Spirit Squad's run as tag champs appears to be in jeopardy as the Highlanders are having their way with the combination of Mikey and Johnny. Nicky and Mitch try to gain the upper hand for their teammates time and again to no avail. JR and King continue to marvel about Kenny's earlier upset over the monster Kane. The Highlanders nail their finisher on Nicky and go to make the cover when Mitch jumps on the apron. The ref goes over to attend to Mitch while Kenny comes out from the back and once again hits his top rope leg drop on the back of Robbie's neck, rolls Nicky on top as Mickey and Johnny hold back Rory and the Spirit Squad retains their titles!

Raw 9/18 - The Highlanders and Kane team up to take on Kenny, Johnny and Mikey of the Spirit Squad in a six-man tag. Kenny insists on starting the match. He beats on Rory and then Robbie for awhile before finally tagging out of the match. At this point the faces finally start to turn the corner. Despite the fact that Kenny is never able to get back in the match, the announce team continues to endorse Kenny's abilities. The match comes to an end when Kane pins Mikey and Kenny looks on shaking his head.

Raw 9/25 - No match scheduled for the Squad this week; instead Maria has lined up an interview with rising stat Kenny. "Maria, there is a reason I agreed to do this interview with you tonight. You see, in the upcoming edition of WWE Magazine on sale at newsstands this weekend, there is an exclusive interview with the fastest rising star in sports entertainment today…me, Kenny! I strongly urge all you sports fans out there to purchase a copy for yourself, it'll be a collectors item years from now when I've gone down in the history books as the best wrestler to lace up a pair of boots! So, don't hesitate, make sure you don't get shut out of your copy, it'll be well-worth the wait in those long lines of fans just dieing to read what I have to say!"

Raw 10/2 - JR is reading down the list of what is on tap for tonight's evening of entertainment. He reveals that there will be a tag team championship match tonight! The Highlanders challenge for the gold, with a twist. Only two members of the Spirit Squad will be allowed at ring side, the rest are barred from the building! In the back we see the Squad arguing amongst each other. Kenny is adamant about being one of the two men to represent the tag champs tonight, "Guys, you need me in this match. If I'm not in it, there is a chance we could lose the belts, but you know if I'm in the match we'll take it home tonight!" We are not privy to hear a confirmed answer at this point on who will be in the match. Later in the night as the Squad is introduced, we learn that Kenny was successful in his bid to be in the match. He and his partner Johnny have a hard fought; back and forth battle with the Highlanders. At one point, Johnny gets himself in trouble and the Highlanders use quick tags to weaken the squad member. When it looks all but over, Johnny makes the tag much to the Highlanders and the fans chagrin. Kenny cleans house and then gets a roll up, uses the ropes for leverage and retains the tag championships for the Spirit Squad!

Raw 10/9 - As Kenny makes his way down to the ring for a match up against Val Venis, the rest of the squad is conspicuous in their absence. JR and King infer that Kenny must have insisted that he wanted to go it alone yet again tonight. The two men have a great technical wrestling match for about ten minutes when Kenny is finally able to fit his finisher for the pin fall.

Raw 10/16 - This week it's Mikey's turn to take on Val. Both men give each other everything they have. They exchange several near falls and neither man seems to be able to put the other away. Val hits a fisherman suplex but Mikey is again able to kick out. While Mikey is still on the mat recovering from the move, Val takes the opportunity to climb the ropes for the money shot. Just then, Kenny comes running down from the back and nails Val in the head with one of the tag belts. Mikey is able to crawl over to Val and pick up the pin. Latter in the night it's announced that Kenny will get the opportunity to win the Intercontinental Championship the following week on Raw.

Raw 10/23 - Carlito won the secondary championship at Unforgiven and had defended it every week since capturing the title. He and Kenny put on a classic exhibition that would be the unanimous pick for match of the week by the Triple Threat boys here at 411 (your welcome guys). Both men think they have the match won on several instances after hitting some of their signature high spots. After about fifteen minutes Kenny gets a firm advantage in the match and looks ready to put Carlito away to become the new champ. The crowd begins to roar and the camera shifts away to find four men running threw the crowd towards the ring. When they hop the guard rail it's apparent that it's the remaining members of the Spirit Squad, seemingly here to celebrate Kenny's emanate championship win. But to everyone's surprise they rush the ring and beat down Kenny, all except Johnny who hesitates on the outside. They drag Kenny to the out of the ring and continue to lay the boats to him. Johnny makes a couple feeble attempts to back off the other three before finally walking away. This does not deter the rest of the Squad as they ram Kenny into the post over and over again. The triple team continues until enough WWE officials finally arrive to break up the thrashing.

Raw 10/30 - Johnny slowly walks down to the ring with no music to accompany him. He respectfully asks Kenny to join him in the ring, to which Kenny obliges. While in the ring, Kenny repeatedly looks over his shoulder, weary of a trap. Johnny tried to address Kenny several times unsuccessfully, before he's finally able to speak, "Kenny…I'm sorry. It's not an excuse, but I just…I just gave in to the peer pressure. I should have warned you, I should have had your back. You didn't deserve what happened last week…what can I say, I'm sorry. Please…please forgive me." At this point Johnny's eyes have weld up with tears and he extends his hand to Kenny. Kenny takes notice of Johnny's regret and shakes his hand. Johnny smiles and wipes his eyes clean and then with a crack in his voice says, "Now, let's see who the real tag champs are once and for all!"

Cyber Sunday 11/05 - Tag team titles on the line, Spirit Squad vs. Spirit Squad, Kenny and Johnny vs. Mikey and Nicky. This being Cyber Sunday, the fans were able to pick what kind of match they wanted to see. They ended up going with a two out of three falls match instead of a one fall to a finish or a handicap match w/ Mitch included. The first fall is a long hard fought affair with Kenny picking up the fall after hitting his top rope leg drop on Nicky. The second fall immediately starts with Johnny and Mikey as the legal men. It's not long before Mikey pins Johnny with a victory roll. The third and deciding fall starts with Kenny firing on all cylinders. He has both Mikey and Nicky staggering. He throws Mikey to the outside and, once again, nails Nicky with his finishing move. Before the referee's hand can hit the mat for the third time, Johnny leaps off the top rope and hits Kenny in the back of the head with an elbow. He turns Nicky over for the cover and the true tag team champs are Nicky and Mikey!

Raw 11/06 - The Squad makes there way to the ring, all with a look of smug satisfaction over the events that occurred the night before.
Mitch: "We are true athletes."
Nicky: "We're not only athletes, we're champions!"
Mitch: "And like any good champion we watch tapes of all our matches to see where we can improve."
Mikey: "And what did we hear while studying our matches…Kenny this, and Kenny that, well we're sick of it!"
Johnny: "You we're getting too big for your britches Kenny, you thought you were bigger than the Spirit Squad, we had to do something about it. That's not something we could let slide."
Mitch: "There is an old saying that goes, there is no ‘I' in team, and Kenny, thanks to your actions, there is no longer a Kenny on our team!"
Johnny: "Kenny, at Survivor Series you'll find out that you weren't above the Squad, that no one is above the Squad, too bad you'll have to find out the hard way. May the Spirit be with you!"
Rest of Squad: "And also with you."

Raw 11/13 - For the first time since arriving on Raw Kenny is announced down to the ring as Ken Doane. His match with Nicky is more of a sparring bout as Doane beats him from pillar to post. Doane attempts to suplex Nicky from the outside apron back into the ring when Johnny rolls out from under the ring and grabs Doane's leg. Nicky lands on top of Ken and picks up the pin fall as Johnny holds down Doane's leg making him unable to kick out. Ken spits at Johnny and Nicky as they run to the back.

This weeks match between Ken Doane and Mikey is slightly more competitive, but thanks to the events that have transpired over the last few weeks, Ken has the motivation needed to slaughter Mikey. Doane finally decides it's time to end the match and covers Mikey. Mitch distracts the ref, drawing Ken to come over and knock Mitch off the apron. As the ref checks on Mitch, Johnny comes flying off the top turnbuckle and nails Doane with a Johnny-Go-Round kick. Mikey makes the cover and hands Ken yet another lose. Later on in the program JR and the King are running down the Survivor Series card. When they get to Ken Doane vs. Johnny match, King has this to say, "And breaking news, it had just been declared that the only things barred in this match are the Spirit Squad! That means anything goes, except interference from Mitch, Nicky and Mickey, WOW!"

Survivor Series 11/26 - The climax to the Spirit Squad squabble takes place tonight as Ken and Johnny fight in a No Holds Barred match, with the rest of the Squad banned from ringside. Doane comes out like a maniac, tossing Johnny around the ring like a rag-doll. This isn't a wrestling match, this is a brawl! Ken takes the action to the out side and uses all the accoutrements around the ring to pummel Johnny with. Johnny gets the occasional punch in on Ken, but it's no comparison to the amount of punishment Doane is dishing out. After about five minutes of a brutal beating Ken grabs a chair to use on his former friend. He measures Johnny for the chair shot, when the Squad member's instincts kick in and he drop kicks the chair into Doane's face splitting him open. Both men slowly roll back into the ring and the brawling begins to evolve into wrestling. The competitors exchange moves back and forth, fighting through the exhaustion and the pain. Johnny slowly takes the advantage and is able to perform several offensive moves without interruption. Ken is now covered in his own blood and has trouble standing after each maneuver Johnny executes. After another five minutes of domination, Johnny heads to the top rope for his flying Johnny-Go-Round kick. Doane is on spaghetti legs when Johnny soars into the air. Ken has enough sense left in him to duck out of the way and Johnny lands hard on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Doane knows this could be his last opportunity to gain the victory so he ascends to the top turnbuckle, leaps in the air getting simply amazing hang time and lands a leg drop with great velocity. Johnny has nothing left in his body and is unable to lift his shoulder before the ref calls for the bell. Doane climbs the ropes and soaks up the crowd's adulation. With a crimson mask Doane manages a smile before slowly making his way to the back, stopping every few feet to admire the standing ovation the audience is presenting him.

Raw 11/27 - The 10:00pm segment features a gauntlet match. In order to win, Ken Doane has to survive Mitch, Nicky, Mikey and Johnny, in that order. He gets through Mitch without much problem. Nicky gets in some offense and delivers some punishment before Ken roles him up and eliminates him. Mikey fairs much better. The fatigue and pain begins to show in Doane's performance. Mikey has Ken in danger of losing the match when he reverses a suplex attempt by Mikey into a small package for the pin. Johnny is out next and continues to pound away on Doane. Ken makes several valiant efforts to get back in the match, but in the end the top rope Johnny-Go-Round is too much for Doane to handle and Johnny gets his hand raised in victory! JR and the King praise Johnny for finally beating his former running mate, but at the same time they marvel at how Ken was able to withstand three tough opponents before finally taking the pin.

From There… - Ken Doane moves on from the Spirit Squad program into the running for the Intercontinental Championship. He doesn't win right away; instead he chases the heel champ who is making every attempt to avoid the young challenger. After a couple months on his quest he finally captures his prize and his first singles gold!

Johnny's contract expires and Paul Heyman uses all of his manipulative powers to lure Johnny away from Raw and to the home of extreme. Johnny appears on ECW, as Johnny Jeter a couple weeks later and interferes in a Sabu match starting a program between the two that would light up the ECW crowd for the coming months.

Mikey and Nicky remain on Raw as a tag team with Mitch as their Squad Supervisor. They remain in a program with the Highlanders while some new tag team challengers are groomed. The tag title shifts between the waists of the Squad and the Scotts on a few occasions. The three Squad members left standing start searching for the perfect cheer in some light-hearted and humorous segments (thank you Will Farrell and Cherry O'Teri).

Over the Top:

As it stands today, it looks as if Ken Doane and Johnny Jeter are the potential stars of the group, with Mike Mondo getting honorable mention. The key to the split is getting Kenny over. Establishing Kenny as the unofficial leader of the group, while the others silently resent it, plants seeds for the break up. At this point in his career, Kane is best suited to put over younger stars. He doesn't need wins as he will always be seen as a monster who presents problems for any opponent, so he is ideal for Kenny's fist singles feud.

The double turn of Johnny adds intrigue to the program and also sets up the best possible match between the current squad members. Having him put over Kenny at Survivor Series to end the feud will cement Kenny as a contender. Having him get the win back the next night on Raw in the gauntlet match helps to redeem Johnny so he can move along with his head held high, while at the same time protects Kenny's push.

In the end, having Ken Doane as the rising star on Raw, Johnny Jeter as part of the New Breed of ECW and having Mikey anchor his tag team with Nicky is the best way to go. It accomplishes several things. We have new young singles stars born on two different brands and we get an entertaining tag team emulating the old SNL cheerleading skits.

Over There:

SmackDown!
- I have a shocking announcement to make. I was unable to watch SmackDown! this week. But as Snitsky would say, "it wasn't my fault!" For the forth time in five weeks SmackDown! was preempted. I set my DVR to record the show Saturday night. Sunday I was all set and ready to watch some sports entertainment and to my surprise, no Friday Night SmackDown! on my list! Yeah, to say I was pissed would be like saying Viscera (check out what that word means sometime) could stand to lose a few pounds. It may be true, but it's a vast understatement!!!

Raw
- Raw has been building towards Summer Slam for quite some time now. Summer Slam is on August 20th, they only have 4 weeks from there to build to their next pay-per-view, Unforgiven. I noticed this week that they are already starting the build for some of the matches that will be on that card. More than likely there will be a rematch for the WWE title, possibly with Carlito involved making it a triple threat (I can dream can't I). With Lita winning the women's championship it appears that Trish and Lita will fight for the belt at Unforgiven. They are also continuing to build The Highlanders vs. The Spirit Squad for the tag belts at the ppv. The McMahons are hinting at a surprise run in for their match with DX, so possibly a tag match between DX vs. Umaga and the mystery run in man. That's the WWE, Tag Team and Women's titles, plus DX. Throw in Randy Orton and an Intercontinental Championship match and all of a sudden your card is full. Credit needs to go to the bookers for knowing they have another pay-per-view shortly after Summer Slam and planning accordingly.

- I think they did the best ending possible for the Carlito/Edge match this week. Edge and Cena both needed to remain strong going into Summer Slam and in the process they didn't want to make Carlito look like a weakling. Having Edge hit the spear on Carlito before Cena interrupts the match was the right way to go. Edge looks like he PROBABLY would have won the match but there is still question keeping both he and Carlito strong. Then Cena beats a tired Edge down keep both of them looking strong. Great job booking the end of this match to accomplish all their goals.

- Speaking of the Cena beat down on Edge; did you guys get a good look at the security guards breaking up the fight? Did you see those vests? For a second I thought the Mean Street Posey returned to the WWE to separate Edge and Cena. Turns out it was just regular security guards wearing ridiculous vests.

ECW
- I'm very excited about the Big Show/Sabu ECW Championship match at Summer Slam. Sabu has officially won me over, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I am now a Sabu mark! He is definitely one of the reasons to watch Summer Slam this year. In fact, I can't wait for Sunday. The whole card sounds entertaining. From a historical stand point, I don't believe there has ever been three World Titles decided on one pay-per-view, so that adds to the excitement. Sunday night can't come soon enough! I love being a wrestling fan!!!

Over My Head:

I do this column to provide you guys with some entertaining reading material, so I love hearing your thoughts on the column. Let's take a look at what some people are saying…

Tarek sends in a compliment any writer would lover to hear: "Im a Shelton fan through and through and I loved this coloumn another home run buddy way to go!

I got a great way to give some more heat and crowd interaction with Shelton Apex thing. He starts by ratttling off one of these numbers: "Im had the longest intercontinental run, I've been part of the greatest tag team ever, I've beaten Triple H in my Raw debut, I the APEX dammit.!" Edge comes out with this reply. "Yeah Shelton you've done this, you've done that all in the past , you're the ex-intercontinental champ, ex tage champ, ex biggest rising start etc... you aint the Apex but youre just the EX and soon the Ex will have another accolade, he will be the EX number one contender but never the champ."

You should so be on the writing team of the WWE. Your ideas are fresh and no joke but when i read them its like when i read a spoiler, I want to know what happens next…"

Some people felt that I gave Shelton the belt too quickly last week, I disagree, but here's an example of what a few people said, this one coming from Todd: " Okay, first of all let me start by saying any idea that helps Shelton become the star he should be is a good start. With that being said, I think you are off to the right start. I do think however, that Survivor Series is too soon for him to be getting the title. No offense to Charlie Haas, but he is hardly an upper midcarder that Shelton can benefit from beating. I think Haas can be beneficial in the grand scheme of things, but not as a "push him up the card" type of feud. People have to care about the person you are turning on for it to be effective.

Here is where I would book it differently. Start the same way you did, but Shelton and Haas win the tag titles, with Haas getting the pin. The next week on Raw Shelton is in a single's match with say… Val Venis. Shelton doesn't even wear his tag strap to the ring with him. The following week in a tag title rematch, Shelton drags the title out with him, almost acting as if it is a burden. WGTT successfully defend the titles, but Shelton looks less than enthused. The following week Shelton and Haas are both booked in Singles matches, against singles wrestlers. The following week a tag defense against Eugene and Hacksaw. Again the champs retain, and Shelton looks kind of bleh about the whole thing.

Now stuff picks up and Shelton is wrestling more and more singles matches, and not wearing his belt. Even shooting dirty looks at Lillian when she announces him as one half of the tag champs. Finally Shelton beats Nitro for the IC title, and starts wearing the belt proudly right away. The announcers make not of him seeming happy to have won the title.

The next week the show opens with Shelton's theme playing. He walks to the ring wearing the IC title, and has a black briefcase with him. He gets in the ring and calls Charlie Haas to the ring. Haas comes out proudly holding up his half of the tag titles.

Here Shelton tells Charlie that he doesn't want to be tag team champs. He is above the tag rankings. He says how he used Charlie to get his name back on the mind of management. How the hell was he supposed to know Charlie would actually win the match. Charlie never wins matches. Shelton then hands Charlie the brief case. It contains Shelton's tag title. He says he doesn't want it, he never wanted it. Shelton just starts to walk away until Charlie grabs his arm. Shelton turns around and drills Haas with a superkick. The next week it is announced that The tag titles will be vacated, and a tournament will start. With Charlie Haas and a partner of his choosing getting a buy to the finals. On the show this week it is Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas one on one. A match requested by Charlie Haas. I think Shelton should beat Haas and move on. From here he needs to move into a non-title main event feud before he gets to Cena. Maybe a restart between him and Triple H. With Shelton as the heel this time around, it could be something fresh.

My reasoning for going a different direction for Charlie's involvement is simple, if the "Sports- Superstar" persona is going to work, Shelton's main goal should be himself, and the biggest prize on the show, the WWE title. BY winning the titles and then not giving a shit about them, he will seem more like the T.O. type.

Chad returns this week thanks to showing love for my boy Carlito and for using the word "salivating": " Loved the the way you got my boy Shelton over. I think he could totally pull off your gimmick idea. Also, starting him off against someone he is so familiar with, such as Haas really paves the way for some great interaction & great matches. The Benjamin/Edge program could blossom into something awesome, but I'm afraid Edge would overshadow Shelton a little by using his superior mic skills. The ladder match idea is right on point. It makes absolute sense. Lastly, the possibility of HBK & Shelton at Wrestlemania has me salivating already and it isn't even scheduled to happen. Their Gold Rush Tournament match from last year was the best free television match displayed in 2005. Overall, superb ideas for all the men involved. On a side not, I see we share the same love for Carlito. I'm glad I'm not the only that thought the inter-gender tag match could lead to a program somewhere down the line involving CCC in the main event. I spit in the face of people who don't like Carlito!

Andrew had an idea for Shelton that he likes better than mine, it involves reforming the Four Horseman: "Flair runs the Horsemen ala J.J Dillon (though Flair can still can get in the ring now and it works...when JJ got in the ring it was almost a joke...no it was a joke)...Flair with less of a wrestling roll and leading the gang works...Naitch in a suit each week..interfering...etc...Nice....

Randy Orton - The cocky Ric Flair of the 2000's?? Maybe that is asking too much right now but with the right writing and storylines he could be top dog in the Horsemen as Flair was in the 80's....Orton champ again...?? It would work if done right....

Johnny Nitro (with Melina..she can be Flair's Executive Assistant in the Horsemen)... good young cocky wrestler and has impressed me big time..I didn't think he would shine like he has since coming to RAW...Heis a perfect IC champ... If not my first choice would have been Chris Masters whenever he gets back....He would be perfect in an IC roll and Horsemen thug (ala Arn Anderson)

Last but not least...Here it is....Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas as The Horsemen tag team....What a team this would be....Champs...no question...6 man and 8 man tags involving them would be great (in my opinion of course)....Flair interfering in their matches to help them win....The possibilities are endless...

Feud possibilities...DX of course....Bring Taker to RAW and Taker and Kane together battling the Horsemen.... Benjamin and Haas would match up well against any team.....What about the possible reunion of The Hardy Boyz....these two teams locking up would be great... The Tag Team division needs serious work and teams like Benjamin and Haas could revivie the art of Tag Wrestling again ...like it was in the 80's

Thanks to everyone who wrote in. I enjoyed reading your ideas on how you would get over Shelton. I have some creative readers out there! So get your thinking caps on and let me know if you would have done something differently with the Spirit Squad Split. I can't thank you guys enough for sending me your feedback!


Over and Out:

I know I'm an excellent writer (yes my head is swelling as I type this…I kid, I kid) but I'm not the only one around here who puts out an entertaining column. Here are the links to some I especially enjoyed…

You'll see this one on here every week, it's JT and JP with the weeks HiddenHighlights!

No matter what your opinions, you'll probably agree with one of these three guys in the TripleThreat!

Not getting enough fantasy booking from Getting Over? Well, the Fink's Payload is back and better than ever!

For those of you gearing up for Sunday's Summer Slam, be sure to check out Julian Williams's Top Ten Summer Slam Matches to get your fix!

And finally, don't miss out on Larry and Geoff tomorrow in the 3 R's!

Ok guys, that'll do it for me this week. Hope you enjoyed the ride. As always be sure to send me any comments, questions or concerns. I write this column to entertain you, so it means a lot to hear back from my loyal readers! In addition to that, in my continued quest to become the most accessible writer on 411, I invite any and all of you to instant message me anytime. My screen name for AIM is Lafavioheat; I look forward to hearing from you. Join me next week as I get over, William Regal. Until then, over and out!