5 Things the WWE Is Doing Right and 5 Things It's Screwing Up

The WWE is facing an important period.

As we begin the build towards Survivor Series, potential WrestleMania feuds are starting to develop.

Titles are changing rapidly, as creative tries to do their best booking with each Superstar.

While many believe the WWE has improved in recent months, specifically since CM Punk's famous work shoot promo, there is still a long way for it to go to regain it's glory days from the attitude era of the late 90's and early 2000's.

While there are certain things the WWE is doing well, they are also dropping the ball on several Superstars and story lines. Let's examine both what the WWE is succeeding at, and what they need to improve on fast.

The Good: Mark Henry as World Heavyweight Champion

I admit it, I was and remain skeptical about Mark Henry as the World Heavyweight Champion.

Ever since I started watching the WWE, Henry has been nothing more then a mid card jobber who has transferred through various gimmicks, never being a serious contender for a World Championship.

It's been said that once a year or so, Henry receives a decent push that catapults him to the main event level only to get knocked back down the ladder.

But this time was different. Henry's monster heel gimmick fits him very well. He doesn't have to say much, other then the truth, which was that he was tired of not being taken seriously by fans and management alike. He uses his size and power to take out everything in his path even "injuring" two of SmackDown's largest Superstars Kane and The Big Show.

Despite all of this, no one really gave Henry a chance to beat Randy Orton for the World Title at Night of Champions. But beat him he did, and clean.

Henry not only deserves the title because of his loyalty to the company, but he truly is one of the best Superstars on SmackDown right now, possibly the best heel (him or Christian). He won't be able to keep up this gimmick forever, but booking him as champion now makes tons of sense. It establishes his character as someone who needs to be taken seriously instead of just getting his one push a year and then falling back down the card.

Who knows how long Henry will keep the title, but the fact that the WWE had enough confidence to give him the Heavyweight Championship shows a lot.

The Bad: John Cena as WWE Champion...Again

Unlike many people in the IWC, I don't have a problem with booking John Cena as the WWE Champion.

Cena is the face of the company, whether we want to admit it or not. As champion, he exudes the rare balance of being over with the crowd and generating serious heat.

But seriously, enough is enough. Booking Cena as champion every other time the title changes hands does absolutely nothing. It doesn't establish him as a dominant champion, and it doesn't let him evolve in any feuds that don't involve the Championship.

Money in the Bank is one of the most important PPV's of the year, it allows the winner of each MITB match almost a guaranteed Championship reign. Agree with it or not, Alberto Del Rio was booked to win the match, and eventually cashed it in to become champion at Summer Slam.  After defending the title once on RAW against Rey Mysterio you would expect Del Rio who, the week before had convinced the locker room to attack Cena, to pull a dirty tactic and escape NOC as Champion. Wrong. Cena won again for his twelfth WWE title reign.

Let's look at what the WWE Title has been doing in recent months. Cena was champion going into Money in the Bank where he lost the title to CM Punk. Then, since Punk was believed to have left the company, an eight man tournament for the Title was held on Raw, culminating in Rey Mysterio defeating the Miz for the WWE Championship. Later that night, Cena defeated Mysterio and took the title back from him. Then CM Punk returned and there were two champions, Cena and Punk. After Punk beat Cena in controversial fashion at SummerSlam, Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after Punk was attacked by Kevin Nash to take the title. Finally, at Night of Champions, Cena took the title back once again from Del Rio.

Confused? Let's recap, Since May the title has gone Cena-Punk-Mysterio-Cena & Punk-Punk-Del Rio-Cena. That's eight separate title reigns in three months. Three from Cena alone. This does nothing to give the title any relevance and is a classic example of overbooking by the WWE.

The Good: The Conspiracy Theory Angle

Yes, the Main Event at Night of Champions was confusing. I won't bother recapping it completely but the important parts are that Triple H defeated CM Punk after interferences by Awesome Truth, John Laurinatis, and Kevin Nash. 

Last night on Raw, Triple H and Punk put aside their differences to an extent, Johnny Ace tried to pin the blame on Punk and Awesome Truth got fired at the end of the show and thrown out of the arena by the locker room.

Whoa. I'm not really sure what's going on here, but as a fan I definitely am interested in seeing where this goes.

The Punk/HHH/Nash feud failed because Nash could not cut a descent promo and the text story was played out too much. But now that Triple H is no longer the bad guy, the conspiracy has serious potential.

HHH, Punk, Stephanie and Vince McMahon, Nash, Ace, Awesome Truth, Cena and even ADR all could potentially be involved from here on out and it's hard to guess where it's gonna go. Main Event WWE Superstars + Shady behind the scenes executives + anything CM Punk does = a storyline for success in my opinion.

The Bad: What Is Going on with Daniel Bryan?

We've already touched on the Raw Money in the Bank winner Alberto Del Rio, so now let's examine what the WWE has decided to do with the SmackDown winner Daniel Bryan.

Since winning the briefcase, Bryan announced that he would be cashing in his contract at WrestleMania for the World Heavyweight Championship. Other then that he's done, well, nothing.

He lost to Wade Barrett at Summer Slam, had a mini feud with Sinister Cara and has generally been jobbing to Alberto Del Rio and other stars.

At Night of Champions, though, Bryan had his chance to shine in a dark match vs. Heath Slater. Oops.

Not exactly how a future World Champion should be booked, is it? Sure there is time to build Bryan back up before WrestleMania, but at least keep him relevant. Bryan needs a good feud. The feud with Barrett could be picked back up with the briefcase on the line. Or maybe he becomes a contender again for Cody Rhode's Intercontinental Championship. Whatever it is, Bryan is serving no good in the way he is being booked right now.

The Good: The United States' Title Picture

While many were surprised with Mark Henry winning the World Heavyweight Championship, perhaps the most surprising result of the day was Dolph Ziggler retaining the US Title in a Fatal Four Way match with Jack Swagger, Alex Riley and John Morrison.

Many expected Ziggler to drop the title to either the up-and-coming Alex Riley, or Jack Swagger to further the Vickie Guerrero storyline. Dolph held on though, and the US Title Picture really seems to be heating up.

Swagger has fallen completely off the map recently, so seeing him get a descent push is good. Although a Heel vs. Heel feud is odd, Swagger seems to be leaning to be more of a tweener at this point, as the two fight over Vickie's services and the title.

Then there is Alex Riley, who lost two matches against Ziggler for the United States title the last two pay-per-views, but still seems to be in the mix. Which fits very well for a guy who has a lot of potential and will be a main event star someday.

Finally you have Zack Ryder. Ryder scored a surprising pin fall over Ziggler on RAW this week thanks to interference by Hugh Jackman. Let's hope the WWE is serious about Ryder's push because he is seriously over with the fans.

Any one of those three men (along with John Morrison) would be suitable opponents for Ziggler to feud with in the future. The WWE is doing a nice job of keeping this title relevant and giving itself several options for directions to take it in the future.

The Bad: Who Is Cody Rhodes Going to Feud With?

While The United States Championship has several directions it can go, the Intercontinental Championship with Cody Rhodes cannot say the same.

After beating former ally Ted Dibiase, Jr at Night of Champions, Rhodes seems to be in limbo without a serious person to feud with for the title. The WWE did a poor job creating heat for the DiBiase feud, announcing the title match just two days before the pay-per-view.

Rhodes is trying to reestablish the prominence of the IC Title, but without a serious competitor to feud against that will be impossible.

Instead of developing a feud for Rhodes, the WWE booked him in two matches with then World Champion Randy Orton, which is great for building him up but does nothing to create an opponent for him to feud with.

So what are the options? Rhodes can drag the feud with DiBiase out longer, but that seems very unfavorable. Former IC Champion Ezekiel Jackson hasn't been doing much of lately so maybe the WWE will re-feud the two of them. The best option to me seems to be Daniel Bryan, who I talked about earlier as being sort of in limbo, before he decides to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. Another option could be John Morrison, who is on the outside looking in at the US Title picture and would be a credible face for Rhodes to feud with.

The Good: Sheamus vs. Christian

This feud was a no-brainer for the WWE.

Since Sheamus turned face, he has needed a Main Event level heel to feud with, and since Christian is no longer involved in the Heavyweight Championship picture he is the perfect fit.

This feud can do one of two things. It can develop into a serious personal rivalry that lasts several months, or it can just be a filler until one or both of them are ready to jump back into the title picture.

If Mark Henry retains the title from Orton at Hell in a Cell, then Sheamus would seem to be next in line for a Title Shot. If Orton wins it back, Christian could get involved again, but it is likely he will remain out of the title picture for the time being.

Both of these superstars know how to carry a feud, and Christian's whiny heel persona fits well with Sheamus's always up for a fight face character, and I am interested to see where this feud goes in the future.

The Bad: Burrying Wade Barett

Seriously, WWE, what is going on with Wade Barrett?

Barrett, who is a legitimate World Title contender, has been completely buried on the card and has now been reduced to being just another name to appear in random, eight-man tag-team matches.

Barrett is one of the best heels in the company and is very solid in the ring. If you're not going to make him relevant in the title picture, at least give him someone to feud with.

After Barrett beat Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam, the opportunity was right there for WWE to continue the feud and have Barrett challenge Bryan for the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Instead, Bryan went on to feud with Sin Cara and Barrett has done, well, nothing.

If Randy Orton becomes World Champion at Hell in a Cell, Barrett should be the next heel in line to face him for the title after Henry's rematch. Until then, find something to do with him to keep him relevant because, right now, he is serving absolutely no purpose.

The Good: Revamping the Tag Team Division

This slide comes with a slight asterisk. As of now the WWE has done a good job revamping this division, Air Boom are exciting champions who both are legitimate superstars and Awesome Truth, well they're just awesome and the two put on a great match at Night of Champions.

Now I know that Awesome Truth was never really meant to stay in the Tag Division, Miz and Truth are both too high up on the ladder for that. But one match? Awesome Truth lost their tag title match against Air Boom and then immediately asserted themselves into the Main Event.

So now that they are out of the picture it is crucial that Air Boom finds a legit heel team to pair up against or the WWE risks losing the credibility of the Tag Division once again.

WWE, please, we are begging you, DO NOT give David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty any more Tag Team Championship matches. Make a new heel team, turn the Uso's heel, do something different like you did with Awesome Truth.

Air Boom has the potential to be Tag Champs for a long time, but in order to keep and their titles relevant they must be defended against credible teams.

The Bad: Kelly Kelly Still Is Divas Champion

Much to the chagrin of the IWC, Kelly Kelly defeated Beth Phoenix once again at Night of Champions to retain her Divas Championship.

The match was the second straight victory over the Glamazon at PPV's for Kelly Kelly, this one even coming in Phoenix's home town of Buffalo.

So now that Kelly has already beaten her twice, Phoenix seems to be out of the title picture, which is a shame.

After turning heel, Phoenix along with Natalya looked like she could possibly be turning the Divas division back around, but was unable to capture the title from the WWE's golden girl Kelly Kelly.

Now it seems as though Natayla would be in line for a title match, but that makes little sense considering she is by far the lesser of the two in her alliance with Phoenix.

Other then the two of them though, there are few other heel divas for Kelly to face. The Bella twins anyone? Didn't think so.

WWE really dropped the ball on this one by not having Beth take the title by now and at this point it might already be too late.

Thanks for reading everyone and I hope you enjoyed it.