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And the WWE Wrestler of the Week is Cody Rhodes…just kidding. Though it seems as though Rhodes will be back after his wedding and honeymoon. In any case, this week was once again dominated by the WWE title picture. The last two weeks the challenger, Daniel Bryan was able to claim back-to-back awards. However, the WWE Champion has ended Bryan’s run. The true winner of WWE Wrestler of the Week is Randy Orton.

At the same time, there was one other WWE wrestler who gave Orton a run for his money…or gold. The challenger to Alberto Del Rio’s World Heavyweight Championship, Rob Van Dam, had an impressive week as well. Ever since Ricardo Rodriguez introduced RVD as his new client, the former ECW original has been on quite the tear.

Beginning with the August 30th edition of Smackdown, Van Dam defeated Sir Money in the Bank Damien Sandow. These two would square off once again on Raw. The outcome was the same. It baffles me when this happens. I don’t understand the point of the same match within days of each other with the same outcome.

Then again, I don’t quite understand the pairing of Ricardo and RVD. Rodriguez is a trained wrestler who has shown glimpses of potential while in the WWE. If you recall, I suggested it be Rodriguez to challenge Del Rio at SummerSlam. WWE had another golden opportunity for a feud similar to that of Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase and Virgil. Rodriguez should have a much better career than Virgil. Instead, WWE has continued to use Rodriguez as a manager. That is fine, but Van Dam was a poor choice. Van Dam should be there to put young stars over like Chris Jericho did. If Rodriguez was going to continue as a manager, WWE could have put him with a younger star.

Van Dam is likely another superstar for Del Rio to defeat as I don’t expect WWE to put the title on him. WWE should either give Del Rio a serious threat to his title (not like RVD or Christian) or allow Sandow to cash in.

As for Orton, he also finished this week with two wins. On Smackdown, he defeated the Miz after the show started with a MizTV segment. On Raw, Orton sent Rhodes packing home for his wedding and honeymoon.

Orton definitely has the right look to be the new corporate champion, but he doesn’t seem to get much of a reaction from the WWE Universe. When his music hits, you either hear nothing or cheers. Orton needs to reach a higher level of heel status in order to really succeed in this role. CM Punk became one of the most hated heels in WWE history as champion. Then again, it is not completely Orton’s fault. It seems like every episode of Raw and Smackdown are very much alike. Raw opens with Triple H introducing Orton. Bryan eventually comes out and talks about beating Orton at Night of Champions. Triple H puts Bryan in a difficult main event. I understand the choice of Orton as champion, but there is still work to be done.

Who do you think deserves WWE Wrestler of the Week? Will Ricardo Rodriguez ever become a full-time wrestler? Will anyone other than Orton and Bryan win the award? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Be sure to check out Camel Clutch Blog each and every Friday for a new (maybe) WWE Wrestler of the Week!

Seth Guttenplan is the owner of GuTTWrenchPowerBlog. When Seth is not writing about wrestling, he is a Special Education teacher in New Jersey. To read more from Seth, follow him on twitter ( @sethgutt ) and visit http://guttwrenchpowerblog.com

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