Classic Bite Commentary: July 4th, 2008

A few days after posting one of the most hardest bits I ever had to put together (and I mean it), it's time to add some illumination to the proceedings and continue as usual with the Bite. Short and sweet, but that's okay. Not much happened this month. Only two things worth mentioning in this commentary.





First off, there's a possible Mega Man 9 in development.

Next off, indy sensation CM Punk is WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

That's it. Thanks for reading.

Okay... maybe more elaboration is needed. Let's start in reverse order.

Anyway, the June 30th edition of RAW saw CM Punk cashing in Money In The Bank and beating visiting hobo Edge for the World Title. Let me re-iterate what I wrote on the blog: Wow. That didn't take long. Good to know there's a new World champion not named John Cena, Edge, Batista, Undertaker, or Triple Ahh... um, yeah... well he's not on RAW anymore so... yeah.

CM Punk celebrates and JBL is not happy. So he challenges CM Punk to a World title match and suddenly things look blue. I wouldn't have put it past WWE to hotshot the title to Bradshaw in quick fashion. But something wonderful happened at the end of RAW; CM Punk, the new World champion, actually beat JBL and retained his title. When I saw this happen, I almost shit my shorts. It was that good of a feeling... well, not that good of a feeling, but it was great nonetheless.

Hey, kids! WWE is pushing someone new to the forefront! It's amazing, I know. I almost thought for sure that they would have CM Punk win the title from Edge to bring it to RAW, only to lose it to goose-stepping JBL. The signs were all there - no nameplate until the very end for Punk, plastered World title graphic over his portrait during those intermission sequences. It was a likely scenario that even he of the three Hs didn't survive... but then Punk actually wins? He actually walks out of Monday Night RAW as World Champion? An amazing, breathtaking moment in time that will be remember for years to come until someone else new is pushed to the forefront.

Punk isn't the only new face in RAW's title picture. We also have new World Tag-Team Champions in the form of Ted Dibiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes, a relatively young tag-team combination that looks like it might go places. We haven't done a generational deal in quite some time and to have two guys doing it is a twist. Also, I actually enjoyed Koffee Kingston's last couple matches, as he offers something different and dynamic to his matches that will probably get boring in a couple weeks, but hey let's not ruin the flow. Let's not forget Chris Jericho, who isn't new but always delivers the awesome.

All in all, I actually enjoyed RAW. I mean, I genuinely enjoyed the show for the first time in almost... ever. It seems like WWE is finally getting their shit together and pushing some new faces to the forefront. Again, I don't see this happening in the long run, but my god, what a wonderful show this was. New faces holding championships, just absolutely amazing. Top notch, kids.

So aside from the great episode of RAW (which is actually better than the PPV, a worthwhile show with a smattering of decent matches) and the possible new direction, I guess the best news I've heard all week was the actual confirmation of a Mega Man 9 in development. Someone had posted scans from another issue of Nintendo Power (not the one with the Castlevania cover, apparently - so this must be the new issue) which confirms the news... You know what, I'm just pissing myself right now. Some of the screenshots leaked make it seem like a distinctively new NES game, which I am totally into. Hopefully, the game will play as well as past incarnations in.

People will piss on the 8-bit spritework, but you know what? I dig it. It harkens to the ancient times when gameplay was king and stories were simple and none too complicated. Will there be any connections to the X series? Who cares? It's a classic Mega Man game for the new generation. My only gripe, if any at the moment, is that I have to play a next-gen console to play it... unless they shoot out on PC, but that's doubtful. Still, this is very good news and hopefully this will lead to future MM games of the same ilk to made and no more of the bullshit MM games plaguing the GBA and DS (although I guess you can exclude the ZX games from the lot).

That's it for now and remember... CM Punk is still World Champ.

Later,
Dave