What's up with Christian?
By JEFF WILEN
The Daytona Beach News

When we last saw Christian, it wasn't at Summerslam like it should have been -- Christian was left off the pay-per-view card. The last time we saw him was on last week's Smackdown.

Christian has been tabbed by WWE to be the one who suffers at the wrath of the Mexicools. His segment last week saw him get beat down by the Mexicools.

So, what has happened to Christian's character? Christian seemed to be the one who would most benefit in WWE's draft. When he was moved from Smackdown to Raw, he got away from the ever-controlling Triple H. He brought his character's momentum, strengthened mostly by his "peeps" and his consistency as a singles wrestler, with him to Smackdown.

But that's where it stopped. Ever since he's been on Smackdown, Christian seems to have been stuck in a rut. It hasn't been his fault, though, at least from my perspective.

No Christian shirts were for sale at some recent Smackdown tapings, reportedly because they would not be a good seller. Are you kidding me? Christian is not only one of the better wrestlers in WWE, but he's also one of the best on the microphone. His "peeps" have every right to be disappointed.

The current Smackdown champion is Batista. As a face, he really has no rival face on the show, seeing how Chris Benoit -- as the U.S. Champion -- is suffering a similar face fate as Christian.

The key heel in Christian's way has been JBL, who will likely go down as the surprise wrestler of the year in WWE. The new JBL, or heel, will now be Randy Orton, who beat the Undertaker on Sunday.

So, Christian is right up there at the top on Smackdown, but only in the upper-tier.

Now, stuck with Batista vs. Orton for at least one month, if not two, Christian sits on the sidelines and waits for his title shot. He may have to wait even longer if Brock Lesnar returns to Smackdown.

So, what's next for Christian? I see Christian needing some help in his feud with the Mexicools. The Mexicools will never work as faces, so I expect Christian to be the face in this feud. Which means he'll get a face partner. I'm thinking it's time for WWE to move away from Rey Mysterio-Guerrero (please!) and team Mysterio with Christian in this feud. The two can then feud each other afterwards.

As for a world title in Christian's future, he's going to have to wait until next year. WWE missed continuing his heel push when it should have.