WWE Best of the Month: July 2012

Here are the highlights from July 2012:

Superstar of the Month: The Miz

The beginning of Miz' 2012 has been arguably, the worst part of his career, but in July he came back with a vengeance.  Many superstars impressed throughout the month, hungry to make their mark after Raw 1000 became the official signal for the Reality Era.  Miz, determined to make a statement, successfully captured his first Intercontinental Championship and officially put his name back in the main event hat.  Make no MIZtake about it, he may be holding a secondary title, but around his waist, it's a top prize.  July 2012 will be remembered as a month full of surprises, but only one triumph.  Yes ladies and marks, The Miz is back.  The Miz is your new IC champion.  And if we took notice of anything in July 2012, it's that he's still awesome.

Match of the Month:: WWE MITB 2012: No DQ match for the WWE Championship: CM Punk(c) vs. Daniel Bryan

These two just don't know when to quit.  This past month, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan crafted what has to be their 1,000th classic match waging an epic battle for the WWE title at Money in the Bank.  AJ was sublime in her role as special referee, leaving doubt as to who's side she was on throughout the entirety of the match.  As captivating as she was however, she still could not take away from the intense level of action these two brought to the ring.  It was easily one of the most brutal matches of the year thus far and another solid Match of the Year contender for the WWE's top two elite performers.  If for some reason you were in some sort of "WWE exile" this past month, do yourself a favor and check this one out.

Match Rating: ****1/2

 Moment of the Month: Are You ready?

On the landmark 1,000th episode of Monday Night Raw, the WWE gave us what was easily the best opener of 2012, the return of D-Generation X!  No not your average 8-year-old's fun loving and watered down HHH/HBK DX.  I'm talking about the New Age Outlaws and face humping X-Pac backed DX!  Seriously, I never thought we'd see this incarnation of the stable on WWE television again.  That made this moment even more memorable.  To be honest, the entire episode was eventful, but only one moment made me feel like a kid again, only one moment made me mark out harder than Brodus Clay at a cheeseburger festival and only one moment was the most memorable of the entire month.

Surprise of the Month: Hello, my name is CM Punk

It's rare that one episode of Raw has both the best opener and closer of the year, but I think it's safe to say that Raw 1000 will be in that argument come year's end.  The main event was a WWE Championship match between MITB winner John Cena (who was cashing in his contract for the opportunity) and reigning champion CM Punk.  Everyone expected this match to be the most talked about of the night, what they didn't expect was the unpredictable turn of CM Punk. Fed up with being the most overlooked WWE Champion in recent memory, Punk hit The Rock with the GTS and stood tall over both the great one and the leader of the Cenation as if to say "move over, the new face of the WWE has something to say".  It was the perfect ending to a historic episode of MNR, but more importantly, it was the perfect surprise.

Top Ten WWE superstars Pound for Pound 

*The number in parenthesis is the superstar's rank in the last month's list

1. CM Punk (1) WWE Champion: Punk extended his reign to 254+ days with big time victories over the likes of John Cena, Big Show and his bitter rival Daniel Bryan.  He also re-established himself as "the man" by laying out The Rock on Raw 1000.
2. Sheamus (2) World Heavyweight Champion: Sheamus also continued his impressive 121+ day reign and continues to be the WWE's best example of a fighting champion.  No one put their title on the line as much as the great white and to date, no one has been able to beat him.
3. Dolph Ziggler (5) Smackdown MITB Winner: Last month's top superstar capitalized on the momentum he had gained by winning his first MITB briefcase.  He is now guaranteed a World Heavyweight title shot whenever he pleases. 
4. The Miz (-) Intercontinental Champion: In just over two weeks back, The Miz captured the IC title, earned two consecutive victories over previous champion Christian and looks as dangerous as ever heading into the next half of 2012.
5. John Cena (6) Raw MITB Winner: Cena is having the most inconsistent year of his career, but he still managed to snag the coveted MITB briefcase along the way.  He failed to cash in and win the WWE title, but still earned another shot on the final Raw of the month.
6. Big Show (7): Show's ironclad contract may be the biggest mistake John Laurinaitis made as Raw GM.  The giant has caused nothing but havoc across the WWE and looks to have no intention of slowing down. 
7. Alberto Del Rio (9): The number one contender to Sheamus' world title looked rather impressive in his battles against United States Champion Santino Marella, Christian and the returning Rey Mysterio.  Still, he did lose a bit of steam after taking the fall to the great white champion at MITB.
8. Daniel Bryan (3): Even though Daniel Bryan has had arguably, the worst losing streak of the month, he is still the most physical and relentless competitor in the WWE and no one will underestimate that.  Look for him to lock his sights on a secondary title and earn some major victories in the coming months.
9. Chris Jericho (-): Jericho currently has the upper hand in his feud with Dolph Ziggler, but he still has been a bit of an underachiever since his return in January.
10. Christian (4): Captain Charisma lost his IC title after just over 60 days as champion, but don't count him out yet.  He's still one of the most consistent and experienced superstars on the roster right now.