Intercontinental Championship: Wade Barrett (c) vs The Miz/Chris Jericho
On Monday Night Raw, Wade Barrett defended his Intercontinental Title for the first time in ages in a triple-threat match against Chris Jericho and The Miz. The three managed to put on a great match, with Jericho engineering a match full of twists and turns with the two younger superstars. Each superstar looked close to taking the win at some point, but eventually Barrett would successfully retain his title, rolling up The Miz for a win just as the latter was about to pin Jericho. With Barrett taunting the desolate Miz as he walked away with his title, there was a sign of where this feud would continue. On Smackdown, The Miz would face US Champion Antonio Cesaro, beating him with the Figure Four. Let us just pause for a second there - this is the United States Champion, jobbing to The Miz just to make him look strong in order to challenge another midcard champion. Not just that, but this is the same US Champion who The Miz tried and failed to beat numerous times for his title. Cesaro has clearly annoyed the same person backstage as Kofi Kingston, because his push has disappeared down the toilet at a rate of knots. If The Miz can beat Cesaro so easily now, why would he not just challenge again for the title he originally wanted, the US Title? Anyway, abandoning all logic or continuity, as the WWE so likes to do, The Miz beat Cesaro with Wade Barrett watching on from commentary. After the match, Barrett taunted The Miz with his title. I can't say I am particularly excited about a match between Barrett and Miz - it hardly feels like a match with the stature to make it on to the Wrestlemania card. Barrett is big and works stiff, while The Miz still has his lack of in-ring nous exposed on a regular basis. Plus despite the WWE's efforts with The Miz, neither man has the name or stature to get people invested in their match. Barrett vs Jericho would be an enticing property, but Barrett vs The Miz, not so much. On the subject of Jericho, I can't help but wonder if he has upset someone backstage too, for it looks like he has been thrust into a programme with the atmosphere killer himself, Fandango. The latter has been coming out recently with his salsa dancing gimmick, and eventually refusing to wrestle. This trick only works though when a crowd or audience actually gives a damn whether the person wrestles or not though. Clearly the hope is that by putting him in a storyline with one of the most over wrestlers in the industry, some of the reaction will rub off on him. Don't bet on it though. On Monday Night Raw, Fandango interrupted a Jericho interview, leading to Jericho ridiculing his name. The dancer was unimpressed, and on Smackdown, he would distract Y2J in his match against Jack Swagger, allowing the All-American to take the win. Afterwards, we would finally see some action from Fandango - which we've all been desperate to see obviously - as he came in the ring to beat Jericho down, complete with a top rope leg drop. Jericho deserves so much more than this, and if he is to face Fandango at Wrestlemania, do not expect him to get the win. The only reason Fandango is in a programme with Jericho is to build him up and put him over, so a loss would instantly ruin that. Jericho putting over CM Punk or Dolph Ziggler, I can deal with. But Jericho having to put over someone who is yet to wrestle a match under his current, so far awful, gimmick, who gets no reaction, is barely known, and is yet to show any spark, is just an insult, and a waste of a supreme talent. Prediction: Barrett to face The Miz at Wrestlemania, with The Miz perhaps taking the win. Jericho and Fandango to face off at Wrestlemania, with the dancing nobody somehow taking the win. As for the US Title, your guess is as good as mine - perhaps Cesaro will get to clean up once the show has finished?