Raw thoughts – August 25th.

· Very little annoys me more in wrestling than having my intelligence insulted by them throwing out a title match in a PPV then showing the match itself on Raw 8 days later. I know Punk v JBL was not a title match, but still.........
· Is Cole not capable of saying head? He said that CM Punk had “an injured skull”. I didn’t watch Smackdown as often as I watched Raw, and I’m far from a huge lover of Jim Ross, but Cole is dreadful.
· I quite like the idea that Beth helps Santino but he hinders her.
· People will say that the “Charlito” thing was lame........but I liked it!
· Haha, the best line of the night, unwittingly – “You don’t know the meaning of the word ‘Unforgiven’” Shawn Michaels to Chris Jericho. I don’t think it’s a word, that’s why. My spell check doesn’t think it is.
· Another great Jericho and Michaels segment, although I hope that the frequent mentions of ‘Unsanctioned’ and “I don’t want to pin your shoulders to the mat” don’t mean that this is just a mad fight with no real consequence or a stupid JBL/Cena ending. These two could still carry off the extra emotion while still having a wrestling match. That being said, I do like the realism of them fighting rather than the idea of “I hate you and want to kill you – here’s an armbar.”
· By the way, I think that the (paraphrased) “Sit your wife and kids down and tell them that you will never be Shawn Michaels” is one of the best lines I have ever heard in wrestling. Michaels using his injury, the storyline and his Christian beliefs to throw in the bible reference “eye for an eye” is not far behind.
· Not going to complain too much about the match between Duggan/Lawler and Rhodes/DiBiase, but wouldn’t it have been better for the youngsters to dominate, rather than just survive. It wouldn’t have hurt Duggan and Lawler, would it? But King could then get on the headset and put over just how good they are. “You don’t realise until you get in the ring just how quick they are. They are jackasses but they can go.” Does them the world of good. I don’t see why Duggan and Lawler need protecting.
· I cannot help laughing at Santino, and it seemed the announcers were struggling to hold it together this week. After a front suplex he just shouted “I win” and I broke up. Just so funny.
· Really lame ending to the match though. Beth could’ve low-blowed Kofi for Santino to use a small package. Falling onto Santino’s knee (The Marella Patella) was a bit weak.
· Great post-match action though. “You’re not mad?”
· I didn’t like Mike Adamle coming out with no clipboard. If he is going to be stilted and need assistance he could use the clipboard to look at notes. But if he has it all the time they can make fun of him for it, make it a character quirk, like Santino’s unibrow.
· Adding Rey makes sense. If Cena is really injured, which is a real shame, and they are firm on Orton being miles away, then Rey is the only real choice.
· I liked seeing the leg worked in the main event, offering some logic behind Kane. Sort of a twisted genius, I suppose. The match went a little long though, considering we got a DQ finish. I don’t mind the finish, but it was a long investment for that kind of outcome.

Raw Thoughts for August 18th

A few ongoing notes from watching Raw.

- Jericho was superb again. How is he more menacing in a suit? Exiting with no music was also a great touch.

- King says twice that the Cena v Batista match was one of the best matches he has ever seen, and that Batista would surely think that it was his greatest match ever. Look, I know I was more critical than most about the match, and I am happy to hold my hands up and say that if people enjoyed it then it was a good match, but it just sounds ridiculous building it up to that status. It was good, but nothing more.

- Cole says “A buzzsaw of emotion”. I don’t know if he means the arena or Batista....or what. That’s probably because ‘Buzzsaw of emotion’ makes no sense at all.

- Nice way to make a new Raw roster member look important – by running away to speak to John Cena. Must make Primo Colon feel dead special.

- Cole and Lawler are so fake and empty together. It is just a constant stream of plugs for WWE.com, WWE magazine, other affiliates and so forth.

- The women’s match looked overly scripted to me – at least there were certain spots where you could clearly see one girl waiting for another to hit their mark. Just slowed the match down and lessened the reality feeling of the match.

- Now I am watching this in England and on Tuesday afternoon, so I am not going to change the channel, but it strikes me that flashing up the graphic that more viewers watched Raw last week than Monday Night Football is self-defeating. There must be people who would see that and then think “oh yeah, the football is on, I wonder what the score is” and switch over to see.

- JBL squashes Noble. Boring to watch, and frankly shows how little they think of CM Punk that he has yet to be seen after winning his biggest match so far – and the show is in his hometown.

- By the way, a completely nonsensical ending. The referee allows Jamie to get beaten down, but doesn’t allow the pin. What, lying on his back for three seconds is too much punishment. Just get down and count.

- Terrible Raw so far.

- Adamle with a clipboard actually looks good. Kind of gives him an authority – he should carry it everywhere.

- The new concept for the title is idiocy. The “Scramble” just sounds so desperate and bush-league, no matter how many times they call it ‘innovative’.

- Why did Shane and Stephanie make Adamle say it? Why couldn’t it have been his idea, just like the Elimination Chamber was Eric Bischoff’s? This isn’t an Adamle original?

- Was it me or did Lillian take ages to say the tag team champions’ names?

- I liked seeing Ted do his father’s fist drop. Nice touch.

- Why must every interesting tag team get killed before they have a chance to shine? If we are supposed to believe them beating a team of Cena and Batista, why are they in a handicap match with one of their previous opponents. Cena doesn’t need building back up, this just brings the champs down. I know the champs got a lot of offence in, but them losing was unnecessary.

- Jerry says that it’s obvious that Jericho didn’t mean to hit Rebecca Michaels last night. Not obvious enough to you to say different earlier in the show, King.

- It’s also obvious, from seeing the footage from after Summerslam, that HBK forgot the coat he took to the arena.

- How in the name of Clarence Mason does D-Lo Brown get a title shot? Oh wait, not he doesn’t – Cole screwed up.

- As pissed off as I am with this show so far, I can’t help but smile at Santino. God that man is awesome.

- Hey, I got to see Trish too. Albeit in a 24/7 clip. This show has risen to about 2/10 so far.

- The best bit of the show so far. Kane does a promo which serves a function. With nice lighting, he explains why he attacked Rey Mysterio. We are even treated to a bit of continuity, as Batista emerges to attack Kane for his comments. I like that, because Batista and Rey are acknowledged friends on TV. Suspect this means Kane v Big Dave next week.

- Hmmm. Not crazy about the main event outcome, but at least Punk lost to a man who deserves it – Jericho – and it wasn’t completely clean.

- Cole finishes with another ludicrous statement. He said that Jericho was “basking in his irreverent glory” which doesn’t really mean anything. Cole just throws word together. I’m expecting next week to hear something like “Kane is a congenital statement” or “look at John Cena – he is a conflicting example of serendipity” – just nonsense. Remember JR’s voice ending a Raw – I miss it.

Just such a poor, poor, Raw. I’m hoping to put my thoughts into words later in the week, hopefully on The Sun’s site.

Summerslam live notes

Summerslam Live

01.03am
We’re live for Summerslam, the biggest blockbuster of the summer. I’ve got my popcorn, I’ve sat through the trailers, there’s a bloke in front me getting in my way, and there’s a kid behind me kicking my seat and eating crisps loudly. Maybe I took this cinema thing too seriously.

01.04am
Jeff Hardy is out for the opener against MVP and Tazz is with JR on commentary. Still with the sell of the Mick Foley injuries. I speculated earlier today that Mick may appear in the HiaC match, but an online report says otherwise.

01.08am
There hasn’t been a bad build up to this, but it does seem at this juncture that the feud is over who has the best cornrows. You’d have to go with Montel, but then if he is that highly paid he can afford a decent stylist. Jeff’s house burned down, taking with it all his hair-care products.

01.16am
Well, I nearly got it right. I said that MVP would win by cheap means, and he sort of did. With Jeff set for a Swanton, Shelton Benjamin appears and Jeff dives onto him. The pause means he misses the swanton, and MVP hits the drive by kick.

No acknowledgment of Shelton by MVP – maybe a triple threat for the US title?

01.21
After more awesomeness by Santino, we have the combined IC and Women’s title match. No mention of Kofi’s countrymen winning medals, like the mention Michael Phelps got earlier. On refelction, probably because Ghana haven’t won anything.

Note in case WWE lawyers are reading. He is Jamaican. He’s called Kingston. It’s so obvious.

01.28am
Points to me. I went for Santino causing Kofi to me out of action and Beth to beat Mickie. OK match without being anything other than you’d expect. Santino absolutely spot on with his mannerisms, and a typical superb post match celebration. Beth carried Santino out on her shoulders, as he told the IC belt “I missed you.”

01.34am
Shawn’s out here with his wife Rebecca. He says that the Doc has told him to walk away. He says he will heed the advice of the docs. He’s explaining the reasons he is leaving, including virtuous reasons like being a good husband and father.

Meanwhile, though, we see a shot of someone in the crowd wearing a HBK hat. You read that right. Someone bought that horrible straw cowboy hat thing. Mind you, he has got a Spanish flag, and they dress in dopey matador outfits and wear sombreros so they are beyond salvation.

01.43am
Jericho comes out to confront Shawn, to claim that he is responsible for Shawn’s retirement, not a build up of injuries. They are in each other’s face, suitably angry, but in a tone that makes it look real. Full of emotion and such a great lesson that you don’t have to shout to get the point across.

Segment ends with Jericho getting the admission out of Michaels, but with HBK getting the vocal upper hand. As Rebecca tries to get Shawn to leave, Jericho swings, misses HBK and clocks Rebecca. Wow, she took that well. I don’t think there was contact, but she fell well. HBK plays the concerned husband rather than attacking Chris, and Jericho in turn looks concerned and embarrassed.

Just a wonderfully done segment. Tremendous stuff. I would think that this will be the impetus for HBK to reverse his retirement decision.

01.51am
Striker on commentary with Todd Grisham in the brand new line up, and I’m really pleased for Matt. I really enjoyed interviewing him last year, and although he basically had nothing interesting to say about his storylines an position in the company, he was a very funny, likeable guy, who I remember stating that he’d like to be a commentator. Pleased for him.

01.54am
Err........ok. ECW as an afterthought once again as Matt hits an early Twist of Fate, but Atlas pulls Matt out. The bell rings after less than 30 seconds and we have another piece of bullshit to further bury the ECW legacy.

Atlas continues to beat on Matt, before Jeff comes out to save him. Wow, that doesn’t make Matt look good. Not really sure what the point was of that. The Hardys suplex Henry on the outside, but it’s basically a farce. What was the point of that? Seriously.

02.02am
Decent reaction for Punk as we get the World Title match underway. Nice video package to help build this. This needs to be a decisive one for CM, because otherwise, if he can’t look good against JBL, how would he be against Cena or the like?

02.14am
Clearly not a priority match this one, and I’d simply describe it as functional. Punk gets the clean win he needed, and there was a sick clash of heads which may have caused this to finish a bit early.

02.18am
Looks like the other World title match is next, so they’ve really gone with the high-profile non-title affairs in the main event slots. Surely they’ll close with Undertaker and Edge.

02.33am
I am on a roll tonight! Triple H, as predicted, builds the attempts at the Pedigree during the match, but fails a couple of times. He hits it at the end to a huge – and I mean HUGE – reaction to win. Not horrific, certainly not as bad as could have been.

02.40am
Cena and Batista to get it on with 80 minutes of the show to go. I don’t think they’ll go right to the very end of the time, but if you allow for this to go twenty, and the show to finish at 3.45am, that still gives the Cell to be 45 minutes. Hmm. I’d expect a long, long main event.

02.56am
Right, plenty to say.

Firstly, I did not expect Batista to win that cleanly. My predictions, which were flying until now, take a hit, and I can’t decide whether or not I approved of the match or not. I quite liked the way it was booked, with a heavy emphasis on two things – on them trying to hit their signature move, and on each man trying to break down the other’s leg.

Seeing Batista break out a figure 4 was a surprise, as was a Rear Naked Choke, although the STFU was less of a shock. I was disappointed that the holds were put on very sloppily, though, so that some realism was lost. Both men wrestle very staccato, so can put on decent matches with great workers and ring generals like Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, but together they didn’t completely click.

The ending was decent though, and I suppose it is hard to criticise them for the effort very much. I thought the finish, after a couple of false ones, was pretty creative.

You have to look at where they go from here? A rematch so that Cena can even things up? Possibly. Punk is now free for action with someone, and Batista would be the logical number one contender, but they went at it on PPV and on free TV not long ago. I don’t know where Cena goes apart from back to JBL, which no-one wants to see. If Rey is with Kane, and Jericho v HBK continues, I’m lost for ideas.

03.20am
I was still typing when this match started, but we are not well into Edge v Taker, and Edge is well on top. I love Edge’s mannerisms in this, and this really has the big match feel – the first time tonight. Good so far, and props being set up indicate big stuff to come.

03.38am
Very, very good cell match. Very good indeed. Plenty of good, innovative spots. An Edge jump into Taker on the Cell wall broke the structure to allow for an Edge spear through an announce table after running over the other two.

A chokeslam through two tables that had been set up earlier was a nice touch, as was Edge missing Old School but Taker hitting a spear.

Plenty of false finishes (not helped by the referee’s lack of conviction on the third count) ensued before the end arrived – and it wasn’t simple. Chokeslam through tables, then the spear, then a camera broke over Edge’s head. One man con-chair-to next, before a Tombstone to finish. I’m all for Edge looking good, but thank God he didn’t kick out after all that.

Post match was a bit unnecessary, with Taker returning to the ring to Chokeslam Edge off of ladders through the ring, and the gap eventually going on fire.

Terrific main event though, and the really interesting thing to take out of the Pay Per View is that a lot of matches were blow off matches. Edge, Taker, Triple H, Cena, Batista, Punk, JBL – all looking for something new.

A pretty decent show. No terrible matches, just the abortion that was the ECW ‘contest’. Terrific main event to cap off a better than average PPV.

Summerslam Preview

Summerslam

The hottest night of the summer, the biggest blockbuster of the summer..............or the biggest letdown of the summer?

Tonight is Summerslam, which we are often told is considered to be the Number Two PPV on the WWE calendar.

To this end, they’ve hotshotted John Cena v Batista to feature in this card, with the very strange admission from Cena before the match was made that it should be at Wrestlemania, not Summerslam. As I noted in a previous commentary, I agree with this sentiment, and think they could have built a really decent Mania campaign. However, they haven’t, and I wonder if it may get lost in the sprawl. More on that in a minute.

It’s an odd card all round, really. The two biggest matches are not title contests, and these championship matches have been given a secondary position on the line-up. I can understand both pieces of booking, and would think they are for character development purposes more than anything.

Elsewhere there are a couple of bouts with possibilities to be good, bad or indifferent. It’ll be interesting to see which way they swing and what bearing they will have on the show.

Onto predictions and thoughts..........

Matt Hardy v Mark Henry – ECW Title
I thought I’d get this one out of the way. ECW has become such an afterthought that the only reason I can think of that ECW now exists (apart from the money it may make from syndication) is as a glorified development territory. Give some of the fellas you have nothing for some time in “The Land of the Extreme” and fill the rest of it with emerging talent.

Ricky Ortiz (Atlas DaBone) and Evan Bourne (Matt Sydal) are on the show now, and apparently, according to Teddy Long, there are still more to come. Perhaps Colt Cabana, having debuted last week as Scotty Goldman on Smackdown, may end up in ECW too.

Anyway, this match is simply two Smackdown middle carders dressed up as being World or potential World Champions. I feel sorry for Matt, as I feel that he was doing well for himself on SD, and if anything would have been more suited to a move to Monday nights, where he could have been a good candidate for the IC title.

Anyway, I can see quite a babyface night on this PPV, so for the interests of balance, I’ll go for Henry to win. I can see them giving Hardy a bit of a longer chase, so I’d day he loses through interference courtesy of Tony Atlas, prompting a cage match or similar at Unforgiven.


Prediction: Mark Henry to retain

Kofi Kingston and Mickie James v Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix
Beth and Santino have been a riot thus far, and I think this is set up for them to win and gain some more television exposure. WWE are known to react strongly to positive feedback on certain characters and scenarios, and many people have given the thumps up to duo of Glamarella.

Look for Beth to beat Mickie, probably with Marella distracting Kofi. This allows Kofi to drop the title without looking bad. Beth beating Mickie doesn’t destroy Ms James, since she has is pretty over and has beaten Beth cleanly. It also gives Beth a timely boost, and would give a focus to Beth and Santino’s relationship.

Prediction: Beth and Santino, as described above. Also, I’d suggest that developing this further Santino would keep defending the title and look like losing, but Beth saves him.


MVP v Jeff Hardy
These two met in a surprise match at Judgment Day which felt like a regular TV match (It hadn’t had any build up) but this will likely be better. The build to this match has been pretty good, as MVP is a very good antagonist, and Jeff Hardy just a naturally popular babyface, so the chemistry seems right.

I am slightly put off by the last few drops of preparation for this one, though, since it has caused a couple of decent Jeff v Shelton Benjamin matches to end in non-finishes, and I can see this either going a similar route or at least having some sort of conclusion other than a clean one.

I’d most likely take MVP to win, since his is the character worth building up more, and heels are needed on Smackdown. Apart from the brilliant Edge (Superstar of the year thus far, for me) you are only really looking at The Great Khali, whereas babyfaces at a top level range from the champ Triple H, Jeff himself, The Undertaker and the Big Show.

Umaga is injured, (he would have likely faced Big Show at this PPV) so the landscape is barren for the heels. I can’t see Khali winning nor having another shot at the belt (oops, spoiled my prediction for later) so MVP may well be needed to make the step up and be a top heel, if only temporarily.

Prediction: MVP to win, but not cleanly. Probably a feet-on-the-rope job, or maybe a pulling of the tights. He needs the win more, but they won’t job Jeff out.

Triple H v Great Khali (WWE Title)

They’ve teased on Smackdown that Triple H can’t put the pedigree on Great Khali, so I’d think that this will be the story of the match. Trips all over him to begin with, and trying to apply his signature hold, but Khali fights back. Triple H keeps coming back, to no avail, often trying for the pedigree and failing. Khali hits the brain chop, but The Game kicks out, and suddenly hits the Pedigree.

Or something like that.

Prediction: Triple H. Because Khali is That.........Damn.........Bad


CM Punk v John Bradshaw Layfield (World Title)
The battle of the paradoxes, this one. CM Punk is the world champion but doesn’t really get pushed. He is the champion but not on top of the card. The writers (allegedly) don’t like him, the agents (allegedly) don’t like him, but Vince (maybe) does.

JBL is probably the best hand the company has on the microphone. He has sold this match brilliantly, and sold himself brilliantly, in the mic time he’s had to pump this one up. Unfortunately, as my editor at Fighting Spirit James Denton says in the current issue, his in-ring work “sucks a dick”. (So eloquent, that boy.)

Hopefully this is the clean, high-profile win that Punk needs to raise him up at least half a level. Other than beating Cena in a gimmick match, JBL’s wins of late have been a little scarce. A loss to CM Punk wouldn’t really hurt much, but it would give Punk a fillip he sorely needs. I think he will win, I just hope it isn’t a cheap win, because that if they are going along that route, then it’s just pointless.

Prediction: Punk cleanly, and hoping that my heart isn’t ruling my head.

John Cena v Batista
This is the one I talked about above. The one match that you could forgive the probably poor quality of it if you can exchange it for the spectacle. Think Rock and Hogan at Mania. I’m not saying that either Cena or Batista are at the Rock or Hogan level, but that match back at Wrestlemania X8 is recalled as a classic, and the workrate wasn’t exactly stellar

The name value was, though, and when it comes to Wrestlemania the WWE can pull out all the stops, marketing wise. I keep going back over this in my mind, and I envisage Cena and Batista drawing one and two in the Rumble, with one nearly eliminating the other on more than occasion. After 30 have entered, both men are still there, but neither end up winning, with someone perhaps eliminating them both while they are fighting.

Now, however, this is simply the slinging together of two names in the hope that people will buy the Pay Per View because of it. This happened last year with Cena and Lashley. The two men were the unstoppable, runaway trains of WWE and you really didn’t know who would win. Instead of a heated clash, we got the old ‘respect’ angle, which nearly always fails to draw.

I truly wish this was a mania match, and I am truly fearful this will be very dull. Batista and Cena are the archetypal WWE-style main eventers who the company will be proud of. They are not great wrestlers like Hart, Michaels, Flair, Jericho, (whisper it) Benoit, Hennig, Steamboat or any other you care to mention of this ilk. Therefore, I see no reason to want to watch these two wrestle, especially with no belt on the line. Apart from Batista saying “stay out of my way” and the hackneyed “tag team champions who hate each other” act, there is no real animosity here.

Sorry, but apart from kids who won’t know who to cheer for, I sense a big dud here.

Prediction: Oh yeah, I have to pick a wrestler, don’t I? You know what - I smell bullshit all over this. Either a double count-out or double DQ. Or perhaps one of those deals where Batista gets the visual pin but the ref is down, and then Cena wins over all. I’d say that Cena to win is most likely, with Batista feeling he was screwed over, and showing more signs of a heel turn.


Edge v Undertaker (Hell in a Cell)
This is the money match here, if any. Edge v Taker has been done over and over this year, but Edge’s work the last few weeks has been off the charts – probably the best of his career.

Now I’m not really salivating over this because frankly the Undertaker act is not one of my favourites. That is not a slight on the guy. He is a certifiable legend in the WWE, deservedly so, and I am very much in a minority in finding him a bit stale.

I sometimes worry that the Hell in a Cell format is overused, because matches like Triple H v Kevin Nash and DX v Vince, Shane and Big Show have watered down the format.

Fun facts – this is the 16th Hell in a Cell. The only HiaC to not feature either Undertaker or Triple H was Mankind v Kane, but that was on Raw not a Pay Per View. So the intention is that you will only pay money to see Trips or Take.

Back to this match, and I do think the timing of this one is good, and that the match will likely deliver. I just want to know what route they will go with each competitor post-Summerslam. Edge has been the main man of late, and Taker is basically untouchable.

Typically I would suggest that the Undertaker should lose a match like this, because he will always retain his aura, whereas Edge beating UT would send him to the moon.

However, two things go against that. Firstly, I don’t see Edge v Triple H happening again, so soon after it was done recently, and quickly. Secondly, my booking card wants Triple H and Undertaker fighting at Wrestlemania.

That. Is. Money.

And although it was a previous Wrestlemania encounter, with Taker back as the Deadman (last time they fought he was a biker bad-ass) and Triple H a babyface makes it a completely new concept. If The Undertaker is going to face Triple H for the title at Wrestlemania, then he has to be protected.

I’d have Taker win, for the reason above and for the fact that I still believe in the fact that most long term good versus evil storylines ought to end with redemption for the good guy.

Prediction: Undertaker. Sending Edge even more over the.....ahem.....edge.

Other stuff – Shawn Michaels is due to make an announcement about his future. Perhaps I’m over-thinking this a bit, but I’d suggest that if he was going to simply say “I’m not going to retire” and Jericho then attacks him, that’s a third quarter segment on Raw, not a PPV feature.

This is also not a big enough thing to draw a PPV spike. A TV rating for a quarter-hour, maybe, but not a reason to part with hard earned cash.

Therefore, I’m of the opinion that this goes two ways. Either it’s a strong “I’m not retiring, and I challenge you to a Last Man Standing/Ironman/Two of out Three Fall/invent your own concept match at a future PPV” or it’s “I’m retiring.”

Now I’m not advocating the latter, but I can see it happening. I personally believe that Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho has been the best feud in wrestling in 2008. Maybe Edge the standout single guy, but HBK/Jericho has been just superbly scripted. Better than Angle/Styles, better than anything, anywhere.

They may look to do the following: Michaels says that he will listen to the doctors. He’s finished. Jericho spends more time bragging about how he ended HBK’s career, and wins the title. He is the main man, and he is oh-so-cocky because of what he did to Shawn.

From afar (kayfabe) Michaels sees Jericho with the glory and realises it is bogus. Jericho never beat Shawn Michaels, Jericho sneakily injured him. Shawn says he couldn’t look at himself in the mirror (and I don’t mean because his eyes are fucked) if he allowed Jericho to lord it over the WWE when he (Shawn) knows that he is better than him (Jericho).

This gives Michaels the opportunity to come back and challenge Jericho once more. Maybe it’s for the belt, maybe it’s at Mania, but it could feasibly work.

My worry is that what they will do is have Michaels retire (so that would be Taker and Shawn within six months of Flair’s emotional send-off.) but come back by Survivor Series, panicking that people will have forgotten about the situation. I wouldn’t blame them for this, because HBK is one of their top men, and to not have him for an extended period of time might be bad business. Although maybe Shawn is injured and needs a rest.

Either way, I think he’s going to retire. If they can keep the storyline tight, play up Jericho’s elation about his shelving of Shawn, and emphasise Shawn’s disappointment at being out of commission, it’ll work. And I hope and pray that it does, because this fabulous story does not deserve to end (and the two protagonists don’t deserve it to end) in a flimsy manner.

Also to consider:

Kane and Mysterio
We probably won’t see anything from these two, but just keep it at the back of your mind, should Kane wish to play up the madman angle.

By the way, now we are looking a PG product rather than a more adult-oriented one, so things ought to be considered aimed at kids, anyone else think it could have sounded to kids like Kane had killed Rey Mysterio?

Mick Foley
I know Mick is alleged to be leaving (and even heading to TNA, so we’re reporting, from a credible source, at The Sun) but is there a chance that he could come back, to spite Edge, and take a leap off the cage? Maybe that’s his grand exit from WWE, (nearly) re-enacting his most famous moment.

William Regal
Is there a chance that Regal could appear? They have kept talking about him as a free agent, so I wonder if they’ll use that to switch his brand. I’d especially love to see him go to ECW, just to have him wrestle Finlay every week. Regal can also do comedy, so if you insist on using Hornswoggle, then Regal would be a good foil for skits, and could also have great matches.

For Summerslam, maybe he’ll appear to attack Matt Hardy, or to get involved in MVP and Jeff Hardy. It’s more likely you won’t see him, but it might be a way of getting him involved in something more important than beating up Jamie Noble.

Randy Orton
Tricky subject. Maybe Randy Orton had a motorcycle accident, and maybe he nearly died, and maybe he will be out for several more months. If this is the scenario, then I hope Randy has a speedy recovery and feel genuinely sorry for the guy having such a harrowing occasion.

However.........

Over the years we have been trained that WWE.com comes up with bullshit. There have been no reports from the local press when Randy is supposed to have had his accident. Plus, he is said to have been thrown 300ft. Three Hundred? Are you sure? Think about how far that is, then consider that he broke a collarbone that was already weak. Seems odd.

He may be there tonight. He may not. If he is, then I don’t know where he would appear. I’m just saying it is possible.