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WWE Champion CM Punk is set to defend his title against Daniel Bryan at Money in the Bank, who earned the number-one contender spot after pinning Punk in a triple threat elimination match on Monday Night RAW (which also included Kane). The match was made later in the night, and two former friends and rivals look to tear into each other once again, giving us, the fans, yet another fantastic match between two of the absolute best wrestlers in the world.
Tonight on Smackdown!, however, a new stipulation was added to the match. Guest General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced that, after Monday night, she conferred with the Board of Directors about what role AJ, who is currently in a love triangle with the two men, would play at the pay-per-view. She informed us of this after Bryan demanded AJ be banned from ringside during the match, saying the Board of Directors decided to create a poll on WWE.com for the fans to decide how AJ would be utilized.
The options were given that AJ could either a) be a guest color commentator, b) be the guest ring announcer, c) be the guest time keeper, or d) be the guest referee. Not surprisingly, the guest referee option won by a very large margin, garnering 76 percent of the vote. Based on the poll results, Vickie Guerrero announced that the Board of Directors has made this official, and AJ will indeed be the person officiating the big title match.
While I normally don’t like special referee matches, I think AJ could really add something to this match. Currently, she is one of the most compelling characters on WWE television, and this angle between her, Punk and Bryan has been nothing short of brilliant. All three are playing their parts perfectly, with Bryan as the jaded ex-boyfriend, Punk as the confused champion who doesn’t know what to make of the situation, and AJ as the psychotic, emotional train wreck who may not be as crazy as she’d like everyone to believe.
It will be interesting to see how this angle plays out at Money in the Bank, and regardless of the result, I think we’re not only in for what is pretty much guaranteed a classic between Punk and Bryan on that night, but some very interesting television now that AJ is playing such an important role. Does she side with Punk, who she refers to as the coolest guy she’s ever met? Does she side with Bryan, who she seems to have trouble getting over? Does she call the match right down the middle and side with no one? And what role will Kane, who she seems to have a thing for, play in all of this?
