WWE Weekly Wows/Duds for the Week of 5/8/2011

After wasting a week of programming on the Rock's birthday on Raw and a controversial World Heavyweight Title change on SmackDown, WWE finally started to set up matches for Over the Limit this week. This week in WWE had some matches that caught my attention on the free TV shows, along with some of the usual issues that have been bogging down the quality of their company in recent years.

Here we go with this week's Wows and Duds for WWE programming. 

My Top 5 Wows of the Week

Let us start things off with what I found as the Top 5 highlights for this week on WWE.

5. Michael Cole Owned Twice This Week

The Jerry Lawler-Michael Cole feud continues to get stale. But that doesn't mean seeing Cole get some humiliation drove me giddy. On Raw, we got a tie choking and having Cole's face repeatedly slammed into the Cole Mine by Lawler. On SmackDown, he gets scared back into the Cole Mine when Kharma sets her sights on him after she delivered an Implant Buster on Layla.

Speaking of Kharma, I do think that WWE should be picking her first foe to fend off within a match sometime soon. As much as I like her current dismantling of the Divas division and her psychotic behavior, she needs to be doing more at this point besides the beatdowns she has been doing over the past couple weeks.

4. Michael Hayes Returns as Manager

I normally don't watch anything off Superstars. But when I heard of the former Freebird returning to manage former Hart Dynasty member Tyson Kidd, I had to watch to see what the fuss was about.

It has been a while since I last heard of a prominent male manager popping up in WWE. I have heard recent news of WWE considering the return of managers for guiding talent who have the right look and skills in the ring, yet are lacking with skills on the mic.

This could be a sign of things to come for more younger talent who could use the guidance of a manager to help them have a voice to put them over in WWE if they lack the skills to express themselves on the mic.

3. Randy Orton/Christian vs. Mark Henry/Sheamus Tag Team Match

SmackDown's main event made for a worthwhile match to check out, with the two men fighting one another at Over the Limit for the World Heavyweight Title going against the two heel superstars recently drafted from Raw to SmackDown. The match featured a number of spots that did well at showcasing the skills used by each of the men in the ring, as well as good chemistry between the teams.

2. Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Miz Triple Threat Match

The outcome to this Raw main event match for the No. 1 contender spot for John Cena's WWE title was going to be predictable considering Miz's current rivalry with Cena. But that didn't mean it would not be a good bout to check out.

The action to this match was fast-paced at many points and did well at telling its story of three men trying to get over one another for a shot at the title. The high points of the match for me included Del Rio's control of the match at the start as he dealt with Rey in the ring and kept Miz isolated outside, as well as some high-flying spots from Rey towards the end of the match before Alex Riley interfered on Miz's behalf.

1. Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan

Take Daniel Bryan's technical wrestling style and the high-flying abilities of Sin Cara and you have a recipe for a very interesting and worthwhile SmackDown match. The match had me giddy over seeing how these two men worked over one another in the ring and seeing a few holds from Bryan that I had not seen in years, such as the surfboard.

It looks like some sort of rivalry is beginning to brew between Sin Cara and Chavo Guerrero in the storyline, considering the interactions between the two in the past couple weeks. I've also heard of news behind the scenes of Chavo being a mentor to the young luchador as he adapts to WWE's style of wrestling.

It should be interesting to see what develops between Chavo and Sin Cara in the weeks to come.

My Top 3 Duds of the Week

And now I show off what were the worst moments with WWE this week.

3. Return of the Khali Kiss Cam

We had not seen the Khali Kiss Cam since a February episode of Raw. SmackDown chose to waste a segment to mark its return which featured Great Khali kissing a fat lady from the audience.

With this return comes the continued storyline of Jinder Mahal confronting Khali over his childish antics, and ups the ante this week with a slap to the face.

It looks like WWE is pushing Khali into an ongoing storyline. But considering how poor the guy is in the ring and widely considered one of the worst wrestlers in recent memory, I don't really find myself caring for what direction WWE puts him. I liked it better when he was hardly getting any TV time.

2. R-Truth Awkward on the Mic

With John Morrison shelved for the next several weeks due to recovering from neck surgery, R-Truth is left without any personal rivalry that could help push his new heel character.

Getting heat off bragging about causing John's injury in the storyline during the opening segment of Raw was a good direction for R-Truth's character. The problem, however, comes from how R-Truth expressed himself on the mic, which occurs during the 6 to 7-minute mark in the YouTube video I have above.

While WWE strictly enforcing the TV-PG rating has its merits, there are occasions where the flaws of it slip through. R-Truth's rambling on hospital food, as he talked about hospitalizing Morrison, had the flaws of the strictness slip-through as R-Truth came across as childish and awkward for his spot in the opening segment.

While I certainly welcome no blood and raunchiness in WWE's PG era, it doesn't hurt to have some language slip through so the superstars can properly express themselves on the mic. You could still get away with some profanity on a TV-PG rating, especially if "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is allowed to cuss away like a sailor on Tough Enough when it is PG-rated.

1. The Jerry Lawler/Michael Cole Feud Continues

Many of us can agree by now that Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler's feud has been stale for quite a while now. The fact that WWE continues to waste segments on Raw focused on pushing the feud every week baffles the mind.

The usual exchange between the two occurred on this Monday's segment which we have seen for several months now whenever Cole gets his way. Cole brags about owning Lawler and being undefeated. Lawler gets into the ring to shut up Cole and challenges him to a match. Cole refuses the match and makes cheap heat for himself by mentioning Lawler's dead mother. Lawler is provoked to attack and attacked from behind by Jack Swagger coming to Cole's defense. (Yawn)

At the rate this rivalry is going, I could definitely see it qualifying for Wrestlecrap's Gooker Award at the end of the year with how dragged out the feud has been and the amount of cheap heat Cole has drawn for himself.

I just hope the damn thing finally ends at Over the Limit. But knowing how stupid a good number of WWE's storylines have been directed in recent years, I don't think my wish is going to be granted.