Except that Joey did a Richard Gray impression when he said "Michaels leaving" in the headline. He should have said "Michaels taking time off..." That way, it doesn't sound like HBK isn't returning.
The other thing is that this news is from Monday, so it's pretty damn old, especially since it referred to the RAW on May 24.
As far as Booker... they really dropped the ball, but his feud with Cena could be intriguing. IMO, though, if they were going to do that, they could have had Booker actually cost Cena the title, then have them feud in a main-event-level angle. They don't need the belt, because a storyline like this would get over on its own. Dupree, however, got buried with his losses to Cena. Why build him up only to tear him down? He could have made a fantastic US Champ.