8 years ago, Triple H was the most despised man in the business. His on-air marriage to Stephanie McMahon, preceding their real-life nuptials by a few years, dominated WWE programming. Today, there are two men who are making those days seem so innocent by comparison.

Start with Smackdown. Current World champion Edge has wormed his way back to the top by "falling in love" with Vicki Guerrero, the current GM (although by rights she shouldn't be). Guerrero has turned back heel and is now abusing her power, which doesn't include overselling the effects of a tombstone piledriver from the Undertaker nearly 2 months ago. Luckily, Vicki only appeared in 2 segments on last night's show.

Meanwhile, Edge has been recast as a coward who needs help when he's shown in the past that he can get by on his own. Curt Hawkins & Zach Ryder, the Edgeheads (formerly the Major Brothers), are a pair of brainwashed rookies who blindly follow their new leader. When all else fails, there's Vicki to change the stips on a whim, such as happened the last two weeks when she insisted on having Batista compete in handicap matches. When Edge was the arch-heel on Raw 2 years ago, he didn't need this. All he had was then-on-camera lover Lita, and that was enough.

Basically, it's a card WWE has played way too often in the past and has to retire, preferably sooner than later.

Meanwhile, down in Orlando, TNA champion Kurt Angle has put a different spin on things. He's actually reliving the McMahon-Helmsley Era himself, with himself as HHH, wife Karen as Stephanie (but lacking any real charismatic charm), AJ Styles has been thrust into Kurt's old role as the lovesick puppy quick to defend not just Kurt but Karen as well, and, to make matters worse, announcer Jeremy Borash is playing Ahmad Rashad to Kurt's Michael Jordan. Anyone who follows the NBA knows what I mean. Add to this the political union of the Angles and past-his-prime scribbler Vince Russo, who never met an old idea he didn't like, and you have the dominant storyline in TNA, one that is also driving people away one after the other. Ron Killings left a month ago. Chris Harris just got his walking papers. Christopher Daniels was "fired" in storyline last month, and Senshi appears to be headed out the door next. Why? Mostly because the Angles take up way, way too much TV time, and TNA co-owners Jeff Jarrett & Dixie Carter are so far unwilling to change the game plan. The more people that they sign away from TNA takes away air time from "home grown" stars like Harris and Daniels.

We know what the solution has to be in TNA. I've said it here before. Vince Russo has to go. Luckily, in WWE, because they've been down this road before, they can downsize and end the Edge-Vicki angle in due course, probably around Wrestlemania 24 in March. Vince McMahon & Michael Hayes are smart enough (we think) to recognize that the fans will tune out Smackdown if it goes too far beyond Mania.

The quickest way to faciliate change on Smackdown, in my mind, may be to bring Stephanie back---as a babyface once more---to remove Vicki Guerrero from office. Rightfully, Teddy Long is the GM, not Guerrero, who had the interim label taken off after stripping Hornswoggle, Steph's storyline half-brother, of the cruiser title without due cause back at the end of September. I would have Vicki bounced from office no later than No Way Out. I'll go over that in detail next time.