Money in the Bank: WWE Committed a Huge Offense Last Night with AJ

Last night there was a match with a special referee, and the referee didn't do anything special to influence the match—a big no-no in wrestling.

The WWE Championship storyline with AJ, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan has been the most compelling story for the last month and a half.

We have seen Daniel Bryan versus CM Punk more than a handful of times in 2012. I'm not complaining, but the point is that we've seen it, and the hook to paying to see it again on Sunday night was: What does AJ do?

AJ had no effect in the match. Senior referee Mike Chioda could have been in the match, and the match could have gone the same way. AJ got knocked down once, left, returned, skipped around and cried. She was there without really being there.

What she did—or didn't do—is something to book at a Raw or SmackDown to set up a big moment in the story. Its not something you do on a pay-per-view when significant progression is supposed to happen.

How do you not utilize a special referee? I've been a special referee before, and I influenced the end of the match. That's what a special referee does. The audience knows it, but they scoot to the edge of their seat to see how it all happens.

Its like having a TLC match and not seeing one person go through a table. A cage match where nobody tries to escape or get in.

Everybody knows a table is going to be broken from someone falling off a ladder. Everybody knows the cage is meant to keep people out or in but someone will try to defy that. People pay to see it and see it done in a creative manner appropriate to the story.

You don't advertise a gimmick and not use the gimmick. The biggest offense in wrestling as a worker is to not show up when advertised without proper notice and a valid excuse. Its doing a disservice to the fans. In my opinion, not using a gimmick that is advertised is also doing a disservice to the fans who paid to see the show.

WWE realizes this has been the best story. I now fear they're going to attempt get every mile they can out of the story without giving us a proper ending, if we get an ending.

I'd like to say it would be unheard of for AJ to be accidentally hit by Bryan and Punk sending her into a coma which ultimately makes her forget about everything months later—but I can't rule it out of the darts that could be tossed on the creative wall.

I've made mention before on various broadcasts that WWE is in a unique situation with the Money in the Bank pay-per-view and 1,000th Raw separated by only eight days. Its almost as if the pay-per-view is an inconvenience in ways because WWE seems to want to set up as many big angles and moments at the historic Monday night show.

Perhaps the AJ story is a victim of this. Maybe they have a big climactic moment they want to happen on July 23rd rather than Money in the Bank. Even if so, you still needed the special referee to do something at Money in the Bank—even if that something is more of the same, where AJ helps or hurts both guys. It would be redundant, but at least the gimmick that we pay to see would have came into play.

Well, that's all I've got on this. You'll have to excuse me, I have to go prepare for a special radio broadcast I have tonight in Pittsburgh. It's advertised to be me doing an on-location broadcast at a bar before Raw. I think in the nature of ignoring the advertised gimmick—I'm going do the broadcast in the studio while the fans gather at the bar and listen to their radios.

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