Raw Thoughts - May 6

· Usually a good sign when the advertised main event goes on first. Generally means that something bigger is planned for the end of the show.
· My God how long was that Orton entrance. It seemed to go on for ever.
· Great start to the match. That’s what Orton and Hunter should have done at Mania
· MVP saves before Batista? Interesting. I didn’t care for Cole saying that ‘the numbers game’ bested MVP marginally before it really did.
· I like the ‘win and you’re in’ stip. I always think things work better when matches have a purpose. Obviously the premise should be that the winner wins more money, but we all know that is forgotten, so having matches which actually you can have an emotional investment in are alright by me.
· Good news for MVP, by the way. He is new on Raw, and is being used as a top guy right away
· Oh dear – did King read from the script and not listen to Matt Hardy? That’s twice within the opening minutes that the commentary duo have jumped the gun. Why can’t they just react to the action? Very poor, either on their part or those who are controlling them – or both.
· I’m glad to see Kofi win again, I’m a big fan – and the finisher looked awesome – but I’m not sure Matt needed to be beaten. Nice recover of heat, though.
· Do you think William Regal might make a decent commentator? Do you think that was why he was out there, as a bit of practise?
· Why, when they are backstage watching a monitor, do wrestlers always watch at a 45 degree angle?
· I’ve just worked out who Jillian sounds like – not her singing, but when she talks – she’s the gingerbread man out of Shrek.
· Right, I hated that Festus segment. I truly think that Jillian is a terrific character, and does a great job, but that presumably was supposed to be a comedy segment and was just cringe worthy. I liked Miz’s intervention though. His character is also excellent, he draws real heat. If he can improve his wrestling just a little bit, he’ll be a very good hand. I see a US title in his near future.
· I spy a new catchphrase – MIZ: “Really?”
· So Cena won’t be ready until Judgment Day, then Show beats the shit out of him. So that would suggest to me that we add another couple of weeks to that comeback date
· Man that was a boring segment. I don’t care how many people say what a talented big guy Show is, or how many people (and there have been many) tell me what a nice guy Paul Wight is. He is torture to watch.
· Oh terrific, so Batista loses – and it’s 3-on-1. SuperShane again?
· Wrestling fans explained – “JOHN CENA’S NUMBER ONE FAN” sign held up. Upside down.
· Ugh – more SuperShane stuff and it’s just so ridiculous. It would be bad enough if Cena or Triple H was looking like a hero against three guys (including the WWE Champion)but when it’s Shane it just devalues Legacy.

Backlash Live Blog

01.00am
Welcome to the WWE show with the TNA theme. It's Backlash with a lack of bash, while in TNA Lashley's back.

01.05am
Speaking of TNA, it's Christian Cage! Did JR, one of the 3-man broadcast team, say that Christian has been away for five-and-a-half years? Is that really true? Swagger out and we're good for an ECW Title opener.

01.08am
Christian seems over in Rhode Island. In fact he is over.....the tope rope. Nice throw by Swagger, and a cool opener to make him look dominant. I like the idea of Christian chasing this match.

01.17am
A really sound opener. Of course, Christian winning the ECW title means relatively nothing, but you have to give the credit to the match itself. A lot of fun, both men on good form, nicely paced, and most importantly for me a really good story told through the action. It was the big guy who can amateur wrestle against the quicker, smaller, more experienced guy.

It was structured, and more importantly fun to watch. Nice, clever ending with logic to it, and I'll forgive my usual dislike of a babyface using a heel tactic.

Well done, gentlemen.

01.22am
Wow, Edge and Christian. New champion Cpt. Charisma takes a wander with his new shiny silver belt and encounters his 'brother' Edge. Totally understand the logic behind this, because it's allowing Edge to put over why he hates Cena. But Edge not quite on his game and perhaps the meeting of the 'brothers' should have meant more.

01.24am
Jericho to attempt to slay a Dragon. We know the fire still breathes inside him. Let's use it to toast our crumpets.

I went too far with that analogy, didn't I?

01.25am
JR talks about Steamboat wrestling Austin at WCW Bash of the Beach. I like JR in this role in a three man team, because Cole can become more of a presenter while JR can analyse and use his historical knowledge. I still think they could do with Striker, though, since King doesn't offer heel insight anymore. Striker could have a little more edge.

01.28am
Can somebody ask Jericho (ASK HIM!) about his hair? It's really bad. Is it mange or something?

And yes I did just want to say ASK HIM.

01.37am
HUUUGE near fall for the crossbody from Steamboat. Crowd have woken up to this match after a slow start.

01.39am
And that's the right ending. Some fun with finishing impact moves not getting it done and then Jericho gets Steamboat to tap to a second Liontamer. Held it just a second ot two more to make the point, too.

A really nice match. Didn't quite have the factor that Mania and Raw did, but still fun to watch. Ricky had just one moment where he didn't quite nail it, not quite finding the figure four he was looking for, but apart from that it was more than pleasant.

A nice send off for Steamboat, good to keep Jericho in people's minds. All good so far.

01.40am
Backstage filler with Santino, Beth and Rosa. Could have stayed with Steamboat saluting the fans for a few seconds more before cutting to Santino and the performing caterpillar on his forehead.

Analysis of the segment. Rosa looks like a cat. That is all.

01.42am
Punk and Kane out for their attempt to stall before we get to some meatier clashes. King talks up Punk's ability to use the briefcase at any time. Seeding for later tonight, perhaps?

01.44am
Good start here. More logic, which will always get a thumbs up from me. Punk works on Kane's chokeslam arm, hits a nice looking knee from the top, gets Kane to shout "get him off" when locking his arm round the ropes, then a really nice escape from a chokeslame attempt on the outside.

Unfortunately, King has just brought up whether Punk could cash in the briefcase tonight. Telegraphing usually doesn't work in WWE.

01.52am
Hey, what do you know? They conjured up a fun match. I'm not crazy about Kane beating Punk from a booking perspective if Punk wants to have another go at a legitimate title run, but once again the match was logically thought out, with Punk working the arm throughout and then Kane finding a way to hit the modified Chokeslam.

Two spots to mention. One was that not only did Punk and Kane try the same spot they had to repeat last Monday again, but they hit it and made it look awesome. OK, it wasn't exactly the same, because it was a pinning combination on Raw, but the new version still looked impressive. The second was a kick from Punk to Kane's head which looked like it rang Glen Jacobs' bell for a minute or two.

The undercard is doing it's job exactly how it should. The best PPVs should have a couple of high profile matches which deliver, with a host of moderate to good matches to build up to what people should have paid for.

01.57am
Time for a couple of Hardys. Just a small note, I'm surprised that Michael Hayes hasn't made an appearance in this feud, since he was the guy on-screen who built the Hardys up.

Scorecard for Matt and Jeff so far reads an average effort on a huge scale, and a good effort on a much smaller one. The extreme rules match at Mania didn't click, stretcher match on SD a lot of fun.

Third time lucky, boys........

02.03am
Decent start to this one. Two negative points to make, though. Cole called Jeff Hardy's deceased dog "the love of his (Jeff's) life" which is utterly ridiculous.

Second, the microphone is not being made enough of during the match. The idea is that they say I quit for the world to hear. Trash talking in the mic is allowed.

02.05am
Just a quick note I forgot to say earlier, I did call the Kane victory as being there to set up a future programme for Punk as champ in a potentially crowded title picture what with Edge and Cena chasing retribution too. That does get a step closer after The Big Red Machine's victory.

02.11am
That was ridiculous. This has been quite a nice match so far, but two things have just soured it. Jeff with a Texas Cloverleaf locked in elicited a tap from Matt. But then when asked to quit he said no. Why did he tap then?

Then, blatent miscommunication with Jeff and Matt having different ideas about whether they were going to hit a twist of fate or not. It looked bad. Still going here, Jeff now has a table........

02.19am
You know what, I liked that. It had some down moments, and was far from a classic. But I really admire them trying something. Jeff tying Matt to the table, Matt trying to talk his way out of it. The defeat doesn't hurt Matt because the reason he quit was because he was trying to beg off. The only real change I'd have made to the end was to have the ref hold the mic to Matt's mouth up until the point where the move hit. It would have sounded really dramatic.

02.21am
That was a really, really good build up promo from Randy Orton. I love the psychology tonight. Trying to get inside Big Dave's head is exactly what a clever strategist like Orton is supposed to be would do.

02.24am
Hey, SantinA doesn't have a unibrow. Whats up with that?

02.32am
Well, that dragged a bit. Some funny bits. Anytime Santinoa (not a typo) is on the mic it's pretty fun. Highlight for me was JR seemingly getting irate for real about Santina proclaiming her love for him, since I don't see anyone (read: Vince) liking him saying to Michael Cole "Who fed you that line?" after MC called him 'Mr Barbecue Man"

Time for Santina to come to an end now, and some sort of resolution between Santino and Beth needed too. It's getting a bit too silly. Santino is too brilliant a character to be ruined in this way.

02.35am
Legacy v McMahons now? PUNK TO CASH IN?????? It's the type of thing to go off the air with. I didn't think there was any way this show wouldn't end with Triple H. Interesting.

02.40am
Personal tally so far reads 2 out of 4, with predictions for Kane and Jericho coming, but I missed Jeff and Christian. I've just realised that I've picked five out of six heel victories. For the record I've got Triple H to win here.

02.43am
Judgment Day is here in three weeks (three weeks? Really? Oh man, I hate these short build ups. That's way too short.) and it's in..........CHICAGO? I didn't know that. I offer you once again my theory from earlier. That is that Edge beats Cena (possibly with help) and Punk appears post match. Edge escapes or Punk doesn't attack, they simply set up the match for next time. The fact that its in Chicago makes a Punk title bid more likely.

But then why beat him with Kane. Oh my head hurts. It's very late here, you know........

02.46am
Where the hell is Orton? An intersting though illogical start to the match. Triple H fights Orton up the ramp before the opening bell, they disappear, and only Triple H returns. Match starts and as I type is a couple of minutes in, but still no Randy. Benefit of the doubt given about the logic its mostly been sound tonight. I'll assume it plays out.

02.53am
Randy's back, playing the character to the hilt. His facial expressions are spot on tonight, and even his usual slow (dare I say, verging on boring) style is replaced with a dynamic, hard-hitting one befitting the situation. The match is not a classic - was never going to be - but you really don't know where the title will go at this point.

I wouldn't have minded seeing a little more teasing of count outs and DQs though.

02.57am
An error there. Shane - in a frenzy, apparently - starts to take apart the announce desk. I'd have had Triple H run around the ring and stop his brother-in-law from potentially jeopardising his title belt. Instead, the camera moved to Trips standing idly on the ring apron.

03.07am
OHHHH, someone might get fired. Poor communication between referee, bellringer, booker or someone. Orton hits an RKO, Trips kicks out late but the bell rings. WTF? Confusion reigns as we try to take in whether that should have happened or not, and meanwhile Orton kicks Trips silly mid face. That really is it.

So Batista had a chair when Trips noticed it, and Orton capitalises. We could see that coming somewhat, but that doesn't always make it bad booking. It's an easy job people like me have. We complain when the booking doesn't make sense, and when they do exactly what we say we complain it's too obvious.

I think this makes sense. It allows more friction between Batista and Triple H because Trips can legitimately claim that Batista's near trangression with the chair cost the match, since Hunter lost focus.

03.12
Right now HHH is on a stretcher being wheeled out. (I think they make too much of this sometimes, as if it really goes wrong it seems like a storyline) Where are Steph and Vince? Wouldn't they be running down to show concern?

I wonder how long Triple H will sell this? Backlash? Whiplash, more like.

Good work by the three commentators, by the way, speaking sensibly about the ramifications of the Orton victory. I'm enjoying the three-man dialogue, by the way. I think it works terrifically. I just hope they let those left off the team join in occasionally.\

03.20am
Cena on his way to the ring as I type to face Edge, and I've realised didn't really give thoughts on the last match as a whole. In all honesty it wasn't terrific when you consider it went the best part of 25 minutes. As a guy who isn't a huge fan of tag wrestling bear in mind that I'll be more down on a match of this type, though.

It seemed a bit formulaic to me, and certainly dragged in the middle before Triple H came roaring in. It's storyline functionality was strong though, and once again delivered in the logic department like so much of tonights stuff has.

I assume that'll mean that Batista challenges Orton for the title in Hunter's brief absence. How about an early guess that HHH arrives to save Batista at the PPV from a 3-on-1 but ends up costing Big Dave, so they are effectively 1-1 on that score?

03.23am
Ding ding, underway for the main event. I make it thirty seven minutes before we run out of time. I wonder if Mr Brooks has his briefcase combiination to hand?


03.25am
I LOVE the start. Less than two minutes in, no move hit, but about four avoided, all signature moves. Really clever stuff. Good facial selling from both men, too.

03.37am
This is ok but no better so far. Once again, I'm perhaps not the best judge because it's a match type I don't like. The nature of the numerous ten-count means that the match struggles to ever gain momentum, it tends to be staccatto and not gain rhythm.

Too much steel steps action, too. Since Shane, in the previous match, took the steps a la Foley and Taker, i.e knees first and spiralling over them, these guys have done at least three collisions unnautrally with the shoulder first. One saw Edge change direction in running to collide with them.

Both men down as I type. Crowd seem as hot as they have been all night, having cheered and booed as they like at a series of punches.

03.39am
That was nice. Edge counters the "Attittude Adjustment" three times before hitting a back suplex.


03.55am
You know what, I like it because they did something different. The run into the crowd looked just right, had the right feel for the characters involved. The ending sort of worked. It gives Cena something to do on Raw (not that it will be that interesting, I don't think) but also may make people want to tune in for the explanation of why Show did it, explain working with Edge, etc.

I'll say it again, that finish, not just the last act but the last few minutes, were different. I'm not always a big fan of the big stunt ending, but I never saw it coming. Plenty will be impressed.

03.56am
By way of a nice irony, I'm fairly certain that the last wrestler other than Cena and Edge to be shown on screen was CM Punk, showing concern for the former champion. I wonder if that was deliberate?

04.00am
So then, I make that four minutes short of a full three-hour show. Not bad.

Overall, I had fun. There wasn't a bad match on the card, although there was not a standout one either. Swagger and Christian opened strongly, though I'd have liked to see a match where they were given a little longer and didn't have to curtain jerk. Kane and Punk exceeded my expectations, and once again Steamboat shone and Jericho was Jericho (and that's a compliment, by the way.)

Hardys didn't tear the house down but told a great story, especially at the end. Similar sentiments for the six man, where action got a little a sluggish but the storyline held up during the match and the ending was well executed.

Finally, a gradual build for a match between two guys who we've seen battle many times ended in something shocking, if perhaps not to everyone's taste.

No Money in the Bank. All three titles change.

Judgment Day looks tentatively Batista v Orton, Cena v Show and perhaps Punk v Edge bearing in mind the Chicago factor.

Big week of TV, since they have to set the draft out and start booking matches for a PPV three weeks away.

Good fun tonight, hope you enjoyed it.

RMc

Backlash Preview

Backlash. The latest WWE Pay Per View. Read about it on WWE.com backslash backlash.

Or, indeed, read about it here, as you have chosen to do. I have had a few of you write to me and ask why I haven’t been updating so much of late. I apologise, but my schedule has been mad as of late. I’ve hardly been home and working on the read means I don’t get many chances to Blog. Will try to rectify this situation.

By the way, I would blog with more frequency but I have a slight problem. Because I write about wrestling professionally, when I think of an idea I want to write about I pitch it to write on a website or magazine. (www.thesun.co.uk/wrestling or Fighting Spirit Magazine available from WHSmith and precious few other bloody stockists) To this end, if you want to throw me a question down the line I’d be happy to give you an answer on the blog. Email rob the green at hotmail dot com, changing the format as appropriate. (I get a shitload of spam, don’t want to add to it by typing my email address too often.)

By way of a final piece of housekeeping, I’ll be back live tonight for Backlash to give my usual live blog, which is updated far more regularly and quicker than any other live wrestling blog. That is a scientific fact (Disclaimer, may not be a fact.)

Onto the Pay per View then, and I feel myself saying the thing that so often comes from my keyboard on PPV days. The card doesn’t look that appetising, but WWE have come up trumps so many times in the last two years or so on PPV. The (longest running) weekly (episodic) TV might not be up to much, but the big shows (not Paul Wight) tend to deliver.

Tonight is a test (Not Andr.....leave it) though. No Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Big Show, Kofi, Miz or Morrison, no Colons, no MVP Shelton or Umaga. The main event is a flimsy six man and the hype for the show features a rematch of a bout which was poor, had a twice filmed ending and lasted three minutes on Monday (Kane and CM Punk) and a segment about a man in drag kissing a 7ft4 Indian bloke. Hmmm.

CM Punk v Kane

We’ll start here, as it is such an odd choice of match. I like both of these guys – one for their wrestling, one for their character, and I’ll let you guess which is which – but was live in London for their match on Monday and it was poor. It was sloppy, with a botched ending, and the timing (maybe 3-4 minutes) they were given was horrifically short.

Even worse, Punk won cleanly, so why are we supposed to care about them having a rematch?

I have a horrible feeling about this, which I hope I might be wrong about. How about Kane beats Punk but Punk cashes in Money in the Bank? Punk is then champ with Edge and/or Cena demanding a rematch, and Kane arguing that because he beat Punk he ought to be number one contender. Could happen.

Prediction: Officially Kane to win. If the full scenario plays out then I get bonus points.


Santino/Santina/Khali kiss cam
I know this isn’t a match, so I can’t count it as a prediction really, but I wanted to offer an explanation as to why it’s on PPV. I can see the major blow up of Santino and Beth here. I can’t give a full picture as I can’t think how I’d do it, but I can see Beth interjecting and somehow (maybe on Raw) Rosa ends up siding with Santino. Their problem in all this might be how people end up post-angle. I think they’d want Rosa and Santino to be a heel couple with a Beth face turn, but the people will cheer for Santino no matter what.

I’m saying something major (well, major in context) may well happen since they’ve bumped this to PPV from regular TV.


Matt Hardy v Jeff Hardy – I Quit match
Until I read rumours of Jeff Hardy leaving I would have had him down as a banker winner. Now, I’m not so sure.

I still think Jeff could be pushed in a major way. If he leaves, he gets a big send off and the stage is set for if and when he returns. If he doesn’t leave, then all the better. The fear will likely be that he takes time off for burnout then goes to TNA (it’s happened before) so the more likely explanation is that Matt gets the stronger push out of this feud.

It’s likely to end here, I would think, especially with the two brother being on separate brands now. I feel for Matt a bit, and like Kennedy and Mysterio before him he may get lost in the Raw shuffle a little.

The scenario I envisage here is a rehash of the Bret Hart v Steve Austin match as Wrestlemania. You can put Matt Hardy over his brother one more time, but rather than uttering the words I Quit, Jeff simply cannot continue. He overcomes all odds to make sure he does not give in, but it’s someone else’s decision to stop the match. As long as Ken Shamrock doesn’t guest ref this, then we’re cool.

Prediction: Matt to win, but Jeff not to say “I Quit”


Chris Jericho v Ricky Steamboat

I can’t decide whether to be excited about this or not. It’s basically a filler match and a small capitalisation on Steamboat’s surprise (to some) success at Wrestlemania weekend. As someone who was there, the adulation of Ricky at Raw the night after Mania was truly special. I was chanting “You’ve still got it” for days.

I’m not to keen on this match, as like the words to that song they played for Ric Flair said “Leave the memories alone.” Steamboat could be remembered for his last two matches being a beautiful surprise, and not a B-show filler match.

I’d still expect this to be good. We’ve seen how Steamboat really does still have it and Jericho might be the best about at the moment, so this’ll likely be fun.

Prediction: Jericho to win, and possibly a nefarious act post-match to keep his heat sky-high and put The Dragon out of the picture.


Jack Swagger v Christian (ECW Title)

I’m not confident of predictions on any of the title matches tonight. This one included. Most of me says Swagger to retain. Partly because of them seemingly wanting to hold back Christian, partly because the internal reaction to Swagger v Cena two weeks ago was said to be very positive.

However, there are some Christian pointers. Someone, somewhere must have noted that Christian got by far the best reaction in Money in the Bank. If you are not going to give him the ECW title, why leave him on the brand in the draft? And this match has been done before on PPV, with Swagger winning. It seems to achieve nothing if the former Mr Cage is simply beaten again.

Prediction: I’m going to for the old guess you one you don’t want to win, so if you are right you get a point, if you are wrong you are happy about the outcome. Swagger to win, and I hope I’m wrong.



Edge v John Cena (Last Man Standing match, World Title)

Well there are three theories, and all stem from two obvious points. Those points are that Cena will be off House shows soon because he is shooting a movie, while Smackdown is shockingly without a World Title.

So, either they do the logical thing which is Edge wins and take the title to SD, or they have Cena win to swerve everybody, or they do either of the above and have Punk come in and steal the title like he did last year.

Going on the Punk theory for a second, that can work two ways, because it could be used to give Cena an excuse for dropping the belt. However, that makes little sense, because a) he’d then a) be mad at a guy on a different brand and b) would deprive us of the logical Edge v Punk feud. And Edge v Punk feud which would be more intense because Edge would be doubly mad since Punk cashed in last year MITB briefcase against him too.

The most likely thing, I think, is that a dirty rotten heel from Raw (maybe Jericho) helps Edge to victory, giving Cena both a reason for losing and a ready made feud on Raw while the title picture continues to revolve around Triple H.

I’ll offer this up, as something that I would do. I’d end the show with this match (already you know this isn’t going to happen since the build up is all about the Game) and have Edge win out in a really close one. Maybe both guys are counted out to nine and Vickie appears to throw water over Edge or something. Anyway, Edge wins, and Punk’s music hits. One of two things happens. Either Edge runs away and Punk can’t catch him, or Punk is just appearing to scare the shit out of the new champion, and the paranoid Edge character continues for a few weeks with Punk hovering and waiting to pounce.

Prediction: I’ll take the straightforward Edge title switch, for sensible reasons, and assume that he gets some help from somewhere. Would be wonderful to see post-match Punk, but no impromptu title match, just a build for the future. It’d make me watch Smackdown, that’s all I’m saying.


Triple H, Batista and Shane v Legacy

Even though I predicted this long before it played out on TV (obviously with Vince instead of Big Dave) I don’t want to see it. I hate the stipulation of someone other than the champion being pinned and there being a title switch, and I hate the fact that bloody Vince and Shane are powerless over Vickie to block this match. And what is Vickie’s motivation anyway?

That aside, looking at where the match goes, well it goes one of four ways, but with all but one leading to the same conclusion.

I foresee a Triple H and Batista rivalry, folks, and I see it being started tonight. So, either Batista gets pinned and Triple H is pissed off with him, Batista wins the match for Trips and later accuses his former Evolution chum of being ungrateful or Batista turns on his partners and wins the title for Randy.

The fourth scenario is that Shane is beaten costing Trips the title, but I don’t really see where that leads post Backlash. I suppose a further scenario is that Shane turns on his partners but that makes even less sense.

I like the Batista-loses-Trips’-belt angle the best. I think that’s the most likely, because there are logistics for two programmes then. The first leads a triple threat match between Triple H, Batista and Orton, which Orton wins after the other two beat the crap out of each other. Then, Orton can go his own way with the title while Trips and Dave face off, maybe at Summerslam.

Prediction: Triple H to pin someone and retain. I know that contradicts everything I’ve just said, and isn’t even in the list of about six scenarios I gave, but I don’t care. Logically, everything goes out of the window, and Triple H wins. That’s how things usually work.

Enjoy the show everybody, remember to keeping logging in during the PPV and I’ll keep you updated with my thoughts. Feel free to email in too. Robthegreen, followed by an at sign, with a hotmail, a dot and a com to follow.

Raw Thoughts - April 13

· Long, long opening seg to recap last week. Interesting to note that they edited Vince saying “Dave Batista” down to Batista. Wait, is that interesting?
· Is that a fair system? Inter-promotional matches where the winning brand gets a draft pick? Strikes me that I wouldn’t want more competition on my brand, so I’d deliberately lose.
· Did they really talk about announcers being eligible to move? Didn’t they notice that Todd Grisham is now sat with JR in the Smackdown booth? Sort of kyboshes that doesn’t it?
· Doesn’t make Batista very tough, does it, if Shane and Vince can come back after a punt in about a month, where it takes Big Dave four.
· Very dull, formulaic opening (“No, I hate Randy more than you, you stinkyhead”), although as I type I’ve just heard “excuse me” – this could be fun.
· I like the idea of Vickie on Raw, but it’s a risk. She certainly hasn’t been as convincing over the last two weeks, which suggests that being live, i.e. not being cleaned up in post production, is not so easy for her.
· MVP to Raw. Keep an eye on either Rey moving with his IC belt or the two having a little unification bout at some point.
· Did you see JR’s face when Kendrick emerged to represent Raw? Didn’t look too thrilled, did he?
· Sorry to all those that frequently tell me that Big Show is the best big man ever to lace the boots, but as much as he seems a nice guy, I am just not entertained by him. Not too thrilled with him appearing on Raw.
· I like Cena pointing out to Swagger that his name is ridiculous. I was waiting for Kennedy though, during that bit where they were extending the names of things.
· Firstly, that was a pointless “six diva tag match” if they are just going to have two girls “wrestle” the whole thing.
· Second, Melina to Smackdown is very interesting. I’d expect to see Maryse to Raw now, but I’m hoping that they’ll both female champs together and have unification battle there. I truly believe that where belts are concerned, less is more.
· Aaaagh! Where to start with my annoyance? Maybe with the fact that Swagger v Cena was excruciatingly boring, right up until the point where Swagger started a comeback? Or how about mentioning the fact that that as the comeback started we went to break? Or perhaps I’ll mention that the exact second the break came Swagger was about to knock Cena off the ropes.
· So are we going to get a big Swagger push now? The way he was doing average moves at a slow pace and the commentators were going crazy for him suggests only that.
· I guess we knew one Hardy was moving after their stretcher match on SD, but I expected it to be Jeff.
· The stupidity of the whole brand split and draft came home there. Triple H drafted to Raw. I really thought he was on Raw, until I thought about it harder. How many weeks has been on Raw, consecutively? 6, 7?
· Haha, that’s hilarious. Punk is drafted to SD along with his briefcase, but both all world champs are now on other brands. Brilliant.
· See, Edge is gutted about having Kane on his brand. It makes no sense at all for him to work hard to get people to challenge him.
· Wow, this show lost my attention after less than the allotted two hours, it was a huge mistake to go three.
· Koslov’s move to ECW makes total sense. That’s basically a relegation, thanks to his disappointing Smackdown run.
· Maryse to Raw I called earlier. If they move Melina, makes sense to switch the other title I guess.
· Bit harsh from Grisham? “If Dreamer is a legend then so is the Brooklyn Brawler.” Mi-ow, Todd.
· Mysterio to SD was perhaps the biggest lock. Good potential for IC battles with a heel Punk, Shelton or Kendrick.
· I like Jericho to Smackdown too, mainly because I’ve said for a while that I’d love to see a nice build, maybe to Summerslam, of Jericho and Undertaker. Would have preferred it on Raw, but beggars can’t be choosers.
· I can’t decide if I liked the main event or not. I at least like the fact that they tried to do something different, and watching the match was made more interesting by not knowing the outcome. However, the concept, just a week after Batista’s heroic return, seemed a bit premature. Shane should step aside as a non wrestler, while Trips only wrestled Orton (smashed him with a sledgehammer and pinned him, no less) eight days earlier. Just led Dave fight him.
· Triple H v Orton next week at the O2. I’ll be there. Is it a good main event or not? We’ll see........

Raw Thoughts, March 30th - Final Raw before Wrestlemania delivers, big style

· So that’s 18 Divas in the opening contest. Was there anyone from WWE (other than those injured) who was not represented? I guess that means 7 guest spots open.
· Vaguely pointless match. But Santino’s appearance got a huge pop in the arena and in my house for the Jack Tunney reference. Daft stuff, but mildly amusing.
· Jericho and Lawler serves as a passable piece of TV to continue the build to Jericho’s Mania match, but showed exactly why the thought of these two facing each other at the big one itself was rightly ditched at an early stage.
· Another nice little touch by Michaels. Didn’t ham it up, but just appearing and saying “expecting someone else”. I’ve loved this build-up, and can’t wait for the match.
· They showed Lawler coming back to ringside, and I couldn’t help but think that Jericho should have attacked him from behind. That would have been just perfect. Jericho backs out of a fight after the match, and then cracks Lawler from behind like a coward. Makes sense to me.
· I don’t like showing a match on Raw that will feature on the Wrestlemania card, especially since it basically went nowhere, had a break in it, and featured some action at the start of the match you would expect to see near the end.
· I would suggest the idea will be that the Rey winning means a few people will tale this to mean that he’ll win at Mania and thus will buy the show for the joy of seeing Myserio win a title.
· Dull match with Cena and Show, but interesting to see Show win clean and perfect character booking for Edge to appear and feast on Cena’s carcass post-match. I really don’t know who’ll take this match, you know.
· Another tremendous HBK/Undertaker segment. Although there were a few extra points I’d like to make:
o Kudos to Shawn for mentioning 24 years and not 25.
o Where did he get that black eye and cut on the nose from?
o Nice nod to history in that the attacked always comes from the casket, and this time it looked that way twice and didn’t happen.
o Shame the Superkick missed.
· Fun little Battle Royal. Common sense to have Kane win it as he has traditionally been good in that kind of match. I was disappointed they didn’t reference Punk’s elimination of Kofi, seeing as they won the Tag Titles together not long ago and now Punk is throwing him out of the ring.
· That final segment - the final segment of Raw before the biggest show of the year, remember -was absolutely tremendous.
· I thought Orton’s structure explanation of all his actions was cold, calculating and well put to get the fans to strongly book him. Then, the Limo arrival, which I have to admit had me fooled. I fancied a Triple H sneak through the crowd, a demolition of Rhodes and DiBiase before an RKO and a closing scene of Orton standing tall over Hunter with the title belt. Instead, we got Shane and Vince, with a crowd going batshit insane.
· Perfect pacing, beautiful setup, and I couldn’t be more ready for Wrestlemania.
· Taxi! London Heathrow airport, please. I’ve a plane to catch.

Raw Thoughts - Feb 17

· Practical explanation to the Edge as champ issue, and nice to see that he and John Cena have the chemistry they had previously. Loved Edge’s arrogant promo which riled the crowd in attendance, and I always like it when Cena plays humble, and does the opposite of the thing he was bemoaning –is courteous and deferential, then says “I’ll beat you next time”. I think that makes the man all the better babyface. If he just gets in the ring, shouts at Edge and hits him with a Fattitude Udjustment (not a typo) he is no better than the heels.
· Shane challeneges Randy to an ‘unsanctioned fight’? Ugh. Please say it ain’t so.
· Not sure I like the quick naming of Cryme Tyme and CM Punk as “CTP”. Highly unlikely Cole and Lawler would come up with that so quickly without being told to. And is it the right kind of link-up? Cole even mentioned Punk as Straightedge during the match, so should the allegedly clean cut fella be linking up with the petty criminals?
· I don’t like the fact that they only ever use the weaker of Roddy Piper’s theme music s – they must have the other one because they don’t cut it out of old DVDs – but very happy to see the Rowdy one back.
· There you go, what did I just say about Cena? That’s why Cena was nice to Edge and played the sensible babyface, because Jericho was going to cut the rug from under Piper. From Lawler’s comments I expect him t get involved at some point too.
· Piper’s promo was tremendous. It will be well-received online, although might not go over brilliantly with the targeted younger audience who won’t know who Mr T and Adrian Adonis were.
· I typically watch Raw on my Sky+ (That’s like TiVo to those in the States) and type while I watch. Sometimes these thoughts and sometimes other work I do. Right now, as I type, I’ve paused it, because I just sat open mouthed watching Piper. I was captivated by it. Beautifully pitched, and it made me realise something else.
· Although he obviously did a dastardly thing in kicking Piper’s leg out from under him and so forth, there is a prospect of turning Jericho babyface with this. I’m not recommending this, because it’s basically Orton, Edge and Jericho as major heels in the company (with JBL not far behind but not able to back it up with interesting wrestling) and that’s it. Jericho would be a babyface too many unless one or two men were to make the opposite transition. However, it they wanted to bring Jericho back as a face, the set up is there for Jericho to lose to a legend or narrowly beat one at Mania, and then realise his ills.
· Let’s book Noble v Santino for Mania. Winner leaves town.
· If JBL is going to arrive in the main arena in a limo, wouldn’t it be best if they don’t show him WALKING backstage?
· Nice to see HBK back and a nice little set-up for Wrestlemania. Taker v JBL made sense until Shawn’s music played. I’m not saying I want to see it, but I know that they are real-life friends, so it isn’t completely unlikely. The only thing I’d say from a business point of view is that I don’t see anyone buying the show for Taker v JBL, whereas I do with Shawn v Taker. I also don’t see anyone buying JBL as being able to beat Undertaker. It’s slightly more likely that Shawn could beat him. And what a great match that could be.
· Rey is out next, and I feel I ought to say something about him that I didn’t really say enough at No Way Out. I thought Rey was amazing in the chamber match. Regulars will know that I’m not really a big Mysterio fan, that much of his work is too contrived. But he was superb in the chamber, and he deserves huge credit for that. I suspect he will be the star of the Money in the Bank, too.
· Ugh, horrible ending to the Divas title match. The three-diva run-in was awkward, and then the cameras basically missed the finish. Weak, weak ending, and I feel really sorry for Beth and Melina, who were doing fine, and have had a bunch of really good matches before now.
· Wow, what to say about that final segment? So much by way of good stuff, so much also ruined. Some things ruined by poor acting, some by poor execution.
· Firstly, the fight, I suppose, did it’s job. It was basically a set up for Orton to punt Shane, but I’m not sure he should have had Legacy’s help to take Shane out, but we’ll allow it for now.
· I’m not crazy about the neck brace and screaming family member thing, because it is a bit uncomfortable, but it is a reasonably accepted part of wrestling, so again let’s allow it. Steph’s acting is so poor, I’m afraid. All her facials are too forced and exaggerated. (And by the way, this is not part of the usual Internet bashing of Steph. All those who hide behind a forum avatar and slag her off for her writing or what she is like don’t know the ins and outs of how backstage works – neither do I, for that matter. Also, most people I’ve spoken to who actually KNOW Stephanie generally comment about how nice she is. They hint that she is pretty ruthless, but most like her.)
· The RKO? Perfect. That was unexpected, to me, and Stephanie took it very well indeed. It might well have ended the show, I think. Going off air on that would have been a good hook. Will Orton get punished next week? For dramatic effect you could even have had Steph coming to and whispering to those coming to her aid “he never made it”. Speculation would then be about who “he” is. Of course we’d all know it was The Game, but we can play along sometimes.
· So I wouldn’t have had Triple H come running down to send Legacy scattering. I certainly wouldn’t have had him shaking his head like he was have an epileptic fit. More ridiculous over-acting, and frankly I expect better from Triple H. It just made it all really cartoony. Less is more in those situations.
· I just feel that you could have got two weeks of endings out of this situation. End Raw on Orton smashing Steph and doing his IED reaction. Triple H could then do his gallant hero bit the following week, giving a huge babyface moment to send the evil heel cowering. Much better Trips makes Orton recoil than Shane.
· One final point – proof that Steph cannot be an effective babyface. If you have the footage, go and watch the RKO again. Tell me that isn’t a huge cheer.

No Way Out - Live Blog

00.59am
Good morning, good evening, good afternoon, wherever you are in the world, and welcome to my No Way Out ongoing blog.

Comments during my last effort, the Royal Rumble live notes, asked for a little more detail on who won matches and how, so I'll endeavour to do that. If you have any suggestions, questions, predictions, joke, observations or anything, feel free to contribute - robthegreen(@)hotmail.com is the email address to use.


01.02am
Decent opening video, as it usually is. encapsulated what we needed to know - although if you didn't know and you are watching the show, whats up with you??

By the way, this will be the last live blog for about two months, because (whisper it) I'M GOING TO WRESTLEMANIA. Not really a whisper, that, was it? Anyway, yes, there will be no Mania live blog because I will be in Houston, Texas on that day. Sorry about that.

Actually, I'm not really sorry. I'm going to Mania, baby!


01.04am
I was expecting 'diddly-dee' style Irish fiddles and pennywhistles to open this show. Not an ominous BONG! The only person who would have expected this night to start with a bong would have been RVD.

Chamber to start, then, and the match I had pegged for main event is on first. So, will this point to the Raw chamber having a shocking twist and not be Cena emerging victorious? Or maybe Orton and Shane on last with something major happening there?

Don't forget at this event last year Floyd Mayweather turned up and clocked Big Show. No-one expected that at all.


01.08am
Speaking of Big Show, here he comes, and my attention turns to whether my fantasy booking of this one works out. I'm bound to get something wrong,because I said Taker and Trips would start, I think. Oh well.

No time for an attack on Jeff before this match, either. Maybe Matt will show up during it?


01.12am
Jeff and Edge to start then. Hardy survives the opening pyro, which is a bonus. Interesting to see that Jeff starts, so perhaps can use the excuse that he got punished throughout, where others didn't wrestle as long, if he doesn't win the match.

Also interesting to see that Edge, who you might feel (I certainly did) might be set to enter late and play up using his stroke with the GM.

Presumably they've asked the two more mobile workers to last the duration and have the rest make impacts in snatches. I don't expect Koslov to last long.


01.20am
Damn! Do you think Edge has failed a wellness policy test or something? A fast start, including an early Twist of Fate and failed Swanton by Jeff set Edge for a spear. Hardy countered it into a cool looking small package and pinned him. Edge is gone.

Some might call this short-sighted. Right now I call it shocking, and a moment I genuinely gasped at. We're going to have a new champion.

Koslov is next.


01.23am
I make it another minute or so before a new guys comes in. Koslov has dominated this section. Crowd are chanting for Undertaker.


01.26am
Show comes in next with both Koslov and Hardy down. Show dominates Hardy, then Koslov is up, but the big guys work together. Pace has slowed to a walk from a blistering start. Triple H and Undertaker major, major favourites now.


01.31am
Triple H is in. Just a small point about commentary. JR called the Harley Race Knee as he often does, but then went with the "Double A Spinebuster" when Hunter levelled The Big Show.

Not only did the move look awful because Show jumped into the Game's arms, but the whole point of the "Double A" reference in the spinebuster is that Arn Anderson used to turn through 180 degrees to hit the move. Triple H didn't. I know that's really picky, but I hate calls like that. JR is still the best, but I wish he a) wouldn't be so predictable and b) if he is going to be predictable, at least be accurate.

More action going on now, although the pace still isn't that quick. Perhaps because of Show. He does not look in good shape.


01.35am
Taker in, and wow, what an entrance. Bursting to get out of his pod, straight into Big Show, and then a stiff kick for Koslov after the big Russian didn't go high enough for Snake Eyes. All Taker right now. I still think Trips will win, though.


01.38am
And there goes Koslov, pinned by Undertaker. Sorry to be picky again, but I am often a critic of Undertaker's matches (not necessarily the man himself) because they are so formulaeic. When are his foes going to learn to not mount the ropes for the ten-punch in the corner, since it always ends in the last ride.

Show on top as I type, after stiff looking bumps by Triple H and Jeff Hardy on the steel outside the ring.


01.43am
And there goes Big Show. Undertaker with a great superplex from the corner/pod, then a pedigree sets up Show in position for a Swanton by Jeff from the top of a pod, after he had logically ended up there. The second great spot of the match, and Triple H covers to eliminate Show.

Down to the three most likely contenders, really. Triple H is taking a beating, by the way.


01.45am
I seem to remember this happening last year, actually, in the Smackdown chamber. It started real slow and plodding (ignore the Edge elimination for a second) before ending really well. We've just seen a great combination which got rid of Jeff Hardy.

Taker got crotched on the ropes trying an old school, with Jeff in the ring and Trips on the outside. Taker on all fours meant a springboard for Jeff to hit the od poetry in motion to the outside on The Game, but Jeff leaning back on the ropes meant Taker could flip him over and pedigree him. Awesome looking spot, and they've done well with Jeff, because he hasn't looked weak.

Anyway think he'll beat Matt at Mania then go to Raw? Hardy v Cena, Hardy v Orton, Hardy v HBK. All appetising contests and feuds. .


01.50am
I was about to lessen the mark for this match (not that I grade them) for basically stealing last year's finish of Batista and Taker with UT using the ropes to roll into a Tombstone, but Trips got a foot on the ropes. Taker now kicks out of a Pedigree, and we are still going here. Crowd are very pro-Taker - first boos for Hunter in months.


01.52am
It's over. Triple H wins and is champion once again. Step one of the plan to take Randy to Smackdown goes in, if you believe that particular theory. Triple H, the cerebral assassin, went with the aforementioned punches-in-the-corner-into-last-ride combo, but evaded the powerbomb and hit a second pedigree with Taker sold terrifically. Match over.

Nearly an hour for the segment of the first match, 35-40 mins being the bout itself. If the Raw chamber goes that long then the 5-match card is a great decision.


01.54am
Correspondance to bring to you - Colin in Fife writes.....

Rob, how's it going mate? You're doing well already I see! Trips kicks out of a chokeslam, gets the leg up on a tombstone and Taker has just kicked out of a pedigree! Anyone would think you had inside info.....

Anyway, I'm wondering if I'll get to the end of this email before HHH gets the win??!!

Answer, Colin, not quite. Or at least it hit my inbox AFTER the bell.

No inside info, but I'd defer any praise since my 'crystal ball' booking took in the end of the match, but very little else.


01.58am
Decent match. Not as good as I remember the ones last year, but then time can sometimes make things feel better. I enjoyed the end of that, and it was booked as logically as could be really. Some really nice spots and a shock elimination of Edge kept things lively.

Orton v Shane is next, so Raw will surely provide the main event with their Chamber. Big swerve? Mike Knox for champ? Rourke as guest ref?


02.07am
KillaB365 writes

Rob, seriously, only 'decent'?? That was so good chamber match. What more could you ask for? Shock early champ elimination, kicking out of tombstones, swanton from the cell, sick bumping? That was an excellent match.

Ok, I'll upgrade 'decent' to 'good'. Maybe 'very good'. It was not 'excellent' to my mind, mainly because it had ten minutes of Koslov and Show plodding. If you break it into sections, the first was terrific. The second and third very boring, the four, after Trips entered, it picked up. The after Taker came in it was very, very good. The down periods brought it down, but I'm certainly not having a go at the match. I enjoyed it and am praising it.

Meanwhile, are you Brunzell or Blair? I gotta know......


02.14am
Woah. Orton is busted open, and that's got to be hardway because the camera was on Orton the whole time as he got smashed in the head with a monitor while Shane was clearing the announce table.

However, Shane is withstanding a three man attack, in essence, because Cody and Ted have interjected. They stopped Shane going for the big elbow to the table he is famous for, but he fights them off by spinning a Cody chair shot intended for him into Ted, then hitting a DDT onto said chair and a coast to coast to Cody.

Missed the big elbow attempted now, though. A heavily bloody Orton avoids contact and goes to check on Cody. Tells Ted get Cody checked out. Which is odd considering the left side of his face looks like someone has tattooed a red forked lightning effect on it.

Match goes on.....


02.27am
Ok, you've got two schools of thought here, and you can tell me at robthegreen(@)hotmail.com which one you belong too.

On one hand, the most dominant heel in the business, as of three weeks ago, needed help and about half an hour to beat a part time 38 year old greying son of the boss. Shane has nothing to lose, isn't going to be built for a title shot and become a future megastar. Orton could have beaten on him, alone, for 15 minutes straight then pinned him, and it simply makes him a bigger star. Shane can afford to be brushed aside whereas other babyfaces on the roster can't.

He didn't need to kick out of so many nearfalls, Orton didn't need to have help assist him, Shane didn't need to get so much offense in. A wasted opportunity.

OR..........

What a great match. Forget the build to anywhere else, forget logical booking and enjoy the match for what it was, which was an incident packed, hard-hitting back and forth contest which ultimately had the right ending. And the spots - The monitor, the coast-to-coast, the missed elbow, several chair shots, the suplex through the table and a phenomenal looking RKO to round things off. If you replace Shane with, say, HBK, and watch it as a one-off, people would be talking about a match of the year candidate.


Which side do you fall on?


02.34am
Grisham and Striker just reference Jack Swagger as the 'second youngest ECW champion' - anyone care to venture the youngest. I can't think of one.


02.39am
Lots of mat wrestling in this one. Crowd are not heavily into it, but perhaps they need a break after two quite emotional and high octane matches. And they may have two to come.

Meanwhile, although I've suggestions of Lashley and John Morrison, I'm thinking maybe it'll be in the old ECW, so maybe Mikey Whipwreck?


02.42am
Swagger takes it reasonably clean. The champion pushed Finlay into the ropes as Hornswoggle jumped onto the apron, knockng the leprechaun off. Swagger soon grabbed Finlay and hit his gutwrench powerbomb. Straight 3-count and the win. No sign of Christian. Very little mention of him, either, save from an early call from Striker and a "we want Christian" chant near the opening bell.


HBK v JBL next.


02.50am
The bell rings and this "all or nothing" match is underway. Rebecca, Shawn's wife, is at ringside.

I have a way for Shawn to start saving money - stop your missus using fake tan. Rebecca is a shiny orange hue which is not natural, not for a human being. An oompa-loompa, maybe. Not a person.

Still, Rebecca took the best punch of the year in 2008 from Chris Jericho, so I'll let her off.

Meanwhile, nice early touch in the match, as JBL offers Shawn a chair and tries to induce the DQ. Remember if he wins, Shawn is his bitch for life. They didn't say that in these PG days, but that's what they mean.


02.56am
Too late to change a prediction. I've a feeling JBL may win. I can see this going a couple of ways.

JBL said to Shawn "One mistake" hinting that he thinks HBK will try to hard, make an error, and get beat. That's one possibility.

Or what about Rebecca herself running in to stop it. She has been on camera and mentioned so much by the commnentators it seems like they are building something up. How about JBL beating on Michaels so bad she hops the rail and hits Bradshaw, or covers up her husband?


03.05am
I actually thought of a third reason for JBL to win during the match, but before I got to it, Shawn won. I should have shut up about changing predictions. Rebecca did get involved, though - should it have been stopped? Perhaps JBL will argue that her intervention should have meant a DQ was called for.


OK match without being sensational. JBL matches are never that amazing, so this was perhaps a better one. Fair enough ending (if it is so) to the saga, allowing Michaels to go to.........face Taker?


03.08am
Jericho did a promo in which he sort of challenged Ric Flair to a match at Wrestlemania. He then took it back, so lets hope that's not true. We don't need to see that.

Meanwhile, Cole just said that the frequency of champions losing the belt in the chamber is 67%. I'm not sayin he is wrong, because I may have my numbers wrong, but I was under the impression that figure was 2 in 4 and therefore 50% before the first chamber match tonight. Edge lost, so that would mean 3 in 5. I'd make that 60%, then. What have I, or Cole, got wrong?

Cena and Knox are podded, so far.


03.15am
Quite the night for surprises, then. It seems Rey and Jericho will start this one, but the story is that EDGE struck Kofi down, and gave him a conchairto against the steel steps. He then places himself in a pod and for some reason the refs allow it. Edge is in the match. Wow.


03.21am
Great looking spot as Mysterio missed the shoulder charge in the corner and ends up headbutting Kane's pod. Whether head or hand that hit first, the sound was great.

Ever better spot as Rey ascends the chamber's chain link wall and leaps off onto Jericho, hitting a huracanrana.

Meanwhile, the commentators continually refer to Edge. Getting this much attention.......can he afford to lose this? I'd suggest he could very well win now.


03.23am
Loads of you (well, two) have asked what my other JBL theory was. Well, I wondered if maybe someone would appear out of nowhere and attack JBL, seemingly feeling sorry for Michaels. This would mean JBL winning by DQ and getting Shawn's services. You could then play this for a week or two before revealing that the guy who did the run in was paid off by JBL. Shawn cries foul, and it sets up another all or nothing match, perhaps in a cage.

Still, it's irrelevant now, isn't it?

Kane's in by the way.......and now out 619 by Rey then Codebreaker by Jericho. It looked like they'd left Kane to survive, but Rey ascended a pod and hit Kane with a......."seated senton". That isn't the right description, but you know what I mean.

Now here comes Mike Knox.


03.30am
Domination by Knox for several minutes, but Jericho comes up with a Codebreaker and Knox is history. I may have had Knox attack Rey again before he left, just for the hell of it.

Penultimate entry.......and it's Edge. Instantly attacked by Rey. That's why Knox didn't attack Rey.


03.37am
Some cool interaction with Rey, Edge and Jericho, and now Cena is in. And there is not much love for him. This match has a much bigger feel to it with Edge in. His presence throws the seemingly obvious Cena victory into doubt.


03.38am
Oh I say. 'pon me word, Cena is history. What did he last, two minutes? After a few unanswered moves, he had Edge set for an FU/Attutude adjustment, but fell foul to a Codebreaker, then 619 and then spear. 1-2-3 and he's out.

03.40am
The hits keep coming. Tremendous sequence as Rey goes for a double 619. He only gets Jericho. Edge misses a charge on Rey and hits the turnbuckles on the outside. Rey springboards in 'seated senton' position but Jericho into a Walls. Reversal into a cradle by Rey and Jericho is gone.

While I was typing that Rey has had two really nearfalls. Oh my, this is quite some match now.


03.50am
So Edge is the champion.......but on Raw. I've got to give WWE credit. That was compelling storytelling, and it was a terrific match. Some crazy action, including another phenomenal Rey bump into a pod after my last update, propelled by Edge over his own head. One spear later and this one is over.

Good stuff on commentary too. Asking questions like "Is Edge really champion?" "Does Raw have a world title?" and so forth ought to create a bit of intrigue for tomorrow's broadcast.

Mega thumbs up from me. Five matches, of which only Finlay and Swagger really disappointed, but that was likely only because the two matches before it were so good. HBK/JBL was good enough, with a satisfactory ending. Orton/Shane, if you remove the emotion that the booking of Shane is ludicrous, was a very good standalone match and spectacle. The first chamber exploded into life for a superb ending, and only fell short of a better rating from me because it dragged for too long.

And what can you say about the last match? As soon as Edge entered you fancied him to win, but until Cena was eliminated you couldn't say it with any conviction. Even afterwards Rey had sufficient nearfalls to raise the heartrate. Even if you are sitting there and saying "I knew Edge would win" when it was just he and Rey, I put to you that you are in a minority, judging by the live crowd, who were oohaing and aahing for every Rey nearfall.

Killab365 - that was Excellent, my friend. That match right there.

Fantastic main event to end a great show. WWE keeps it going with these awesome PPVs.

No Way Out preview

I, like most wrestling fans, love this time of year. The Royal Rumble is my favourite PPV there is, and who can’t emotionally involved in the build to Wrestlemania, positioned at the biggest show of the year?

It used to be great that there was nothing between the Rumble and Mania, but since the calendar was flooded with PPVs, that is no longer possible.

Until a few years ago, No Way Out was a pain-in-the-backside, somewhat redundant, show which actually trod on the toes of the other two. The Elimination Chamber was used at this event last year in two matches, and apart from the obvious synergy with the title of the Pay Per View being an expression apropos for the situation, it was a good fit.

The John Cena comeback storyline dominated the Rumble and the subsequent show, so the Chambers determining the number one contenders was a reasonable decision.

Having the matches as title encounters is an interesting call, but a plausible one and not one which I have a problem with. Some say that the Smackdown line-up is stronger than Raw, which is a statement I would tend to agree with, but I’d put to you that a match which involved Big Daddy V, Khali, Finlay, MVP, Taker and Batista last year was a belter. No reason that the Raw chamber match won’t be as exciting as that was, even though we probably know the destination of the belt.

There are only five matches on the card, so before I get to those, I’ll try to pinpoint where any other matches or segments can be added.

There is an obvious Raw bias to the card. Aside from it’s chamber match, they also have the high stakes JBL v Shawn Michaels bout and high profile Shane McMahon v Randy Orton encounter. ECW has Swagger v Finlay, while Smackdown isn’t represented other than their main event.

Smackdown is the logical destination for more activity. Neither the US Champion Shelton Benjamin nor Primo and Carlito, the tag champs, are involved at the moment, so perhaps they could find themselves in action.

This is where TNA have a strong suit in their X division, because if they want to add a spectacle to the shoe, they can put a bunch of guys out there and let them have fun. Because the Cruiserweight division is no more, it doesn’t really work for WWE to stick a bunch of guys together. Plus, they have the Money in the Bank, so they may feel they are watering down the concept.

Other potential matches may involve wrestlers who are in line for a certain push. Umaga is not in the chamber, so could potentially be given a chance to beat someone, although obvious contenders are at a premium. Khali, perhaps? It wouldn’t be pretty, but the message of Umaga being a monster would be reinforced.

Mr Kennedy is on his way back, so he may get involved somewhere, and other notable matchless individuals are (in no particular order) Matt Hardy, Christian, CM Punk, William Regal, R-Truth, Mark Henry and Mizorrison.

Here’s a bold suggestion, since I was on the money with them last time – I’ll take a backstage attack by....someone, with the suggestion it’s Matt Hardy, on Jeff Hardy. This would either mean Jeff can’t compete, or more likely that he competes injured, putting paid to another title effort. Another step towards the logical Matt v Jeff match at Wrestlemania.


Jack Swagger v Finlay – ECW Title match
This has to be a strong contender for opening match, and you’d think will feature Christian (just Christian. It’s hard not to write Christian ‘Cage’) in some respect. I think they’d be well served to sit him on commentary if the idea is to have him face the winner. It would allow him to re-ingratiate himself with the audience, give an opportunity to explain the kayfabe reasoning for the return and build some foundation to a feud with either man.

You’d think Swagger wins here. It’s hard to see why they’d give him the belt to have him drop it, and if Christian’s destiny is the ECW title, winning it from Swagger makes more sense. Not that I wouldn’t like to see Christian v Finlay, mind you.

My big problem with Finlay, which I’ve probably stated before, is that as great a wrestler he is, he hasn’t won a match cleanly for about three years. He always has to use the bloody shillelagh, and I really dislike heel tactics being used for a babyface as a regular habit, because it waters down the heat for the heels. Imagine if, for example, Regal started to use brass knuckles again. The commentators would moan about the nefarious tactics, but fans would be thinking about Finlay getting away with using foreign objects too.

Anyway, that aside, I think Swagger will win, and win clean.

Prediction.....err, what I just said.


Shawn Michaels v JBL – “All or nothing”

This has been one of the oddest feuds in recent history. A weak setup and now quite a flimsy, possible blow-off match, but has been punctuated by tremendous promos filled with well-conveyed emotions.

I don’t anticipate a fantastic match here, because watching JBL wrestle isn’t nearly as interesting as listening to him talk. However, expect a well told story with umpteen false finishes. They can afford to play with the ending more because the other three main matches involve different setups, so this the biggest straight up one-on-one wrestling match on the agenda, if you see what I mean.

WWE have a luxury with these guys, because they can take it wherever they want the storyline to go, and not worry about either guy losing momentum. JBL is a gifted orator, and can get his heat back at the drop of a hat. He could lose every week and still get the right reaction. Michaels, meanwhile, is so loved because of his history, he will likely be cheered forever, so could afford to lose also.

I tend to think HBK will triumph, here. I don’t see them having JBL beat him straight up, so unless they have something up their sleeve whereby Bradshaw has an accomplice who can help him win and set up Michaels v Accomplice at Mania, you’d think the babyface has to prevail.

Prediction: Shawn wins, and by this time next week has had an incident with another superstar, building to a big Mania match.


Randy Orton v Shane McMahon – No Holds Barred, Hardcore, Street Fight, No DQ match

Shane only competes in matches where the rules are flung out of the window, so this’ll be however they are currently defining a match in which they can do what they like.

Logically Randy would go over here in a nasty one, but logically Shane wouldn’t be so dominant in the last couple of weeks, either.

I still think Orton will win, but I have an unsettling feeling that he’ll rely on Cody and Ted to help him out. I’m going to be quite non-committal on the details of the match, but I’ll say that after Orton gets his hand raised he contrives to kick Shane in the head....sorry, SKULL, and put him out of commission.

The setup is then there for it to go a couple of ways. One theory that I’ve seen doing the round is that Randy will brag to have rid the WWE of two McMahons, and that Steph’s response will be to unleash her husband, Triple H, as the man to stop Orton. This is logical in a couple of ways. One in the sense that it would recognise the relationship and have Trips stand up for his wife, and also in that Randy has the main event slot at Wrestlemania, and could choose to head to Smackdown and challenge The Game.

I have an alternative one, in the spirit of trying to come up with extra ideas. Try this one.

Orton wins and destroys Shane, then does the aforementioned menacing speech to Steph. He is interrupted by champion John Cena, who defends the honour of the Raw GM. We build to Mania with Orton v Cena, and have Cena beaten down a couple of times by Legacy. Maybe a couple of Raw superstars try to stand aside Cena, like Kofi or Rey, and Legacy take them out.

Randy them threatens Cena on the last Raw before Wrestlemania, and says that he’ll win the belt, and that his backup will help him. “You’re three on one, John, the odds are against you,” Randy will say.

Cena refutes this suggestion, and says that he indeed will have someone in his corner at Wrestlemania. Cue Vinny Mac to return, and the last raw ends with Vince and Cena aligned.

At Mania, a give and take match has the obligatory ref bump, and Mr McMahon steps in to try to revive the official. As he is bent over, Orton gets ready for a big punt. He doesn’t get a chance to, and Vince stands up and gets in Orton’s face. As the two men face off, Cena staggers to his feet. Vince grabs a weapon, and levels the Champ. Ref recovers, Orton covers, and we have a new champion.

Vince’s reasoning for helping Orton could be that when Orton slapped him and realised that Orton had that characteristic that Vince likes: Ruthless Aggression. Leaves things open for a Cena chase of the belt and Vince trying to hold him back. I know it’s been done, but most other stuff isn’t working right now.

Plausible, no?

Anyway.....

Prediction: Orton to win, probably not as convincingly as he should do


Raw Elimination Chamber – John Cena (c), Chris Jericho, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Mike Knox, Rey Mysterio.

I’ve not really hidden who I think will win this, but then I don’t think I’m being revolutionary in picking John Cena to retain. I’d go so far as to say the only people who are predicting anyone else are doing so out of either boredom or simply taking a chance that if a shocking swerve happens that they can claim they predicted it.

I’d break out the patented, much sought after McNichol Eliminator, but I don’t want to overuse it. I may use it on the next match. Tell you what, I’ll use the travel version.

Knox, Kofi and Kane won’t win. No-one beginning with K. Outside chance of Mysterio, but frankly very, very unlikely.

Chris Jericho is the only real candidate, but with his Wrestlemania future looking like it will have something to do with Flair, or Mickey Rourke, or some such escapade, he doesn’t need the WWE title for this. Cena, meanwhile, has nothing obvious lined up, and makes more sense as a headliner.

As for the match composition, I’d go with two of John Cena, Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston to start the match. Add Jericho at three, and have five minutes of these guys bumping around and having fun. Kane or Knox enter next, and do the monster thing of dominating the smaller three. This takes up most of the time until Cena is next, destroying all and eliminating Kane/Knox. The final monster is introduced last and gets rid of Kofi, evening the babyface and heel quotas. Rey then falls, leaving two heels to beat on Cena. Jericho sneakily rolls up Kane/Knox, and leaving him and Cena. We all know what happens then.

Prediction – Hmm, seems I jumped the gun again. I’m enjoying the fantasy booking, though


Smackdown Elimination Chamber – Edge (c), Big Show, Triple H, Undertaker, Vladimir Koslov, Jeff Hardy.

What’s that? No waffle this time, just get into how you’d book it? Ok, you’re the boss.

We start with Triple H and Koslov. Standard action for five minutes, before Jeff comes in next. Jeff has been selling injuries from an earlier beating, but seems to overcome this to be the star of the match to this point. Show is next, and Jeff takes one chance too many, missing a move and running into a Big Show KO punch. Jeff is history. Big Show dominates, and Taker enters next. The Deadman stands tall, eliminating Koslov as he goes. Triple H, Taker and Show battle while Edge lies in wait. Perhaps accusations of favouritism from JR as Edge has the best draw.

The three in the ring hit big moves on one another, so when Edge enters they are vulnerable. Spear on Show, and the big guy is history. Edge doesn’t leave it there, mocking Show, who forces his way back into the cell with a steel chair. He smashes Edge with it, sending the Rated R Superstar into Takers waiting clutches. A Tombstone later, and Edge is gone.

We are left with Triple H and Undertaker, with the former kicking out of a chokeslam/or reversing a Hells Gate, while Taker survives a Pedigree. Gotta make both look good, haven’t we? Eventually Triple H gets hold of the chair Show left in, and cracks Taker. A cover, but Taker still kicks out. Taker gets back in charge, but somehow Trips engineers a Pedigree on the chair, and finally wins it.

Prediction – Triple H. I don’t see two champions retaining in the Cells, and it strikes me that Cena must do, and therefore this one is the most open for the title to switch. Edge and Show seem to be building something, and it strikes me that they are likely to tangle in some manner at Wrestlemania. I can’t see Koslov winning, and Jeff, as previously discussed, has his issue with Matt. That only leaves Taker or Triple, both with great records in the Cell. The only problem with Triple H winning is where that leaves Undertaker for mania, and vice versa.

Maybe Triple H v Taker at Mania? I’d like to see that, although not for the belt, since Taker’s streak v someone’s title has been the theme of the last two years.

Anyway, we’ll soon see. I’m really looking forward to this show, and hope you are too.

Don’t forget, live coverage will take place on this here blog, with my continuing updates keeping you posted on the action, as well as offering my opinions and predictions. Those that followed live last month will recall that I called the Matt Hardy turn during the show, down to very close detail. Maybe I’ll be equally prescient tonight.

Hope to see you during the show – you can join in the blog by emailing me at robthegreen at hotmail dot com.

Enjoy No Way Out

Rob

Raw Thoughts - February 9th

· Jericho and Flair kick off Raw. Ironically, having not met for months, they’ll meet again next week in their traffic anger management class. If this was WCW they would book some sort of Road Rage in Cage match or a gearstick on a pole match.
· I’m not sure what the segment achieved, though. Jericho doesn’t need any more character development to get himself over as a smart ass arrogant heel, and very little was accomplished. I’ll reserve judgement mostly because this could be leading somewhere, but if that was a one-off excuse to have Flair back, it was weak.
· Standard built to a title match with Beth and Melina. Have the challenger win to make it look like she is favourite to win it back. I don’t like the treatment of Melina on commentary, though, with them acting surprised when she was on offense. She is the champion, and supposedly on merit, not by fluke. If you sound shocked when she is doing well, it is pointless having the belt on her.
· Good, strong win for Cody and Ted. I’d suggest that if Miz and Morrison were not doing so well and were not heels then Priceless would be prime candidates for the belts, to do a similar thing as they did with Evolution, showing the stable’s dominance by having lots of gold. Would have like this match with Cryme Tyme to have gone a bit longer, mind you.
· What a terrific finish to the six man tag. Very innovative twist into the Codebreaker, great decision to have Jericho make the fall as he is the most likely contender to Cena’s title.
· I really like that idea – to have HBK lose via DQ in seconds. Why would he want to have a long match against a big guy? Makes no odds if he wins or not, really. Cut to the chase and let JBL do what he does best.
· JBL wants Shawn to bring his wife to No Way Out? I thought he was going to say Joey Styles.
· Good, hard-hitting action between Punk and Regal, but again way, way too short. This was treated as such an afterthought, and far from a big deal. It wasn’t promoted throughout the show, even when Cole mentioned Regal as a passing reference, he never pointed out that Regal would challenge for gold late that night.
· Right, the main event. I’ll bet there are plenty of you out there who are unhappy about a bullshit finish, but every now and again it has to be done, and this is one such occasion. It’s slightly worrying that they have to bring in Taker and Flair one on night to try to spark a rating (perhaps due to the dog show? Don’t forget they used to get shifted for that, so maybe they are looking for a big number to show USA how valuable they still are) and I was expecting Taker to perhaps get involved with Shawn again, hinting towards a Mania programme. The thing to look at in the booking of this is that Orton is the Raw top heel and Taker is......well, Taker. Neither man could really lose clean, so having Legacy join together and briefly beat down Taker made sense as an ending, and they managed to work Shane’s appearance in such a way that Taker didn’t look like he was being saved. Also, Shane’s “Coast to Coast” was a big moment to end a show, helping to build the show.
· One other point I wanted to make – to sell the PPV as a Shane v Randy spectacle is a risk given that they have not done a lot to build Shane up. It shouldn’t be forgotten that this guy has had two or three excellent matches in his life. Well, maybe not excellent MATCHES, but very entertaining spectacles, at the least. I’m thinking tangles with Kurt Angle and Steve Blackman, and to a lesser extent X-Pac, Test and Big Show. But nothing of late has really had Shane showing what he can do, so I think I would have had a video package with some of his major moments remembered. Don’t forget some of the audience won’t know who he is, at least wouldn’t know what he can do. A few rubbish punches and one, badly filmed, coast-to-coast would not excite someone who doesn’t know what Shane O Mac is all about.

Raw Thoughts - 26 Jan

· Strong Raw opening with sound reasoning and a new approach to simultaneous apology and defiance.
· The only negative thing to the opening Orton speech was that he could have been cheered for what he did. However, the “you suck” chant seemed to put paid to that.
· Interesting that Orton admitted to being the father of a newborn child. Didn’t he (kayfabe) sleep with Kelly Kelly a month or two ago?
· Pretty basic filler with the Mizorrison v Cryme Tyme match. Very standard stuff – I have little, either positive or negative, to add.
· Why would anyone sanction the HBK v Cena match to let JBL into the Chamber? And why didn’t JBL at least attempt to explain the actions of his employee during the title match last night?
· Do you know what? I nearly wrote down that I thought this would be a perfect sort of match for Kofi to win and get a helping hand to the next level. But I decided it was never going to happen, so left it.
· I’m really pleased that they’ve chosen to put Kofi over Kane there. It gives him a short-term boost and adds his brand of wrestling into the Chamber match. Put Kane in the chamber and he won’t win anyway, so you may as well have Kofi, who also obviously won’t win but will offer some more interesting fare.
· Rourke v Jericho? That’s not the bigger story for me. I’m more interested in the fact that Jericho kept talking about Flair. If Rourke gets in the ring is Flair going to be in his corner? Does that mean Naitch will be at the Hall of Fame for Austin?
· A slightly weak start to a Jericho v Rourke feud. After seeing Mayweather get involved like that last year, it might have been cool to put Rourke in the ring and have Jericho attack him or for Jericho to somehow wangle an appearance on a TV show and attack Rourke there, for extra publicity.
· I think they don’t know what to do with JBL and HBK now. They’ve done the double superkick and don’t know why, and are floundering. That exchange with JBL, HBK and Cena offered nothing.
· Classic stuff from Santino – “JR, have you been working out?”
· Spectacularly idiocy from the commentators, acting like they couldn’t work out who attacked Melina. Well who else would it be? That is a stupid, stupid move to let the announcers do that, because it means the audience won’t trust anything they say, since the audience will have worked out it was Rosa straight away.
· Mysterio in the Chamber makes perfect sense. That makes it Rey, Cena and Kofi.
· I liked the fact that they played up the fact that Jericho and Punk actually had a history rather than ignoring it like they sometimes do, but you just got the feeling the match couldn’t really be any good because it was so rushed.
· I can’t decide if I like that ending to Raw or not. I don’t like the fact that Shane was made to look tougher than all three of Legacy. I assume we are looking at Shane v Orton then at No Way Out. Was that the ‘bigger plan’ or is there more to come from Steph and Shane. What was the purpose of the roster standing on the stage?
· More questions than answers leading to next week, which I suppose is a good thing. Now looking forward to seeing what the Hardys have to say on Smackdown.

Maybe I was a little harsh.....

Some things to clear up, I think.

Firstly I was a bit grouchy in my Raw review yesterday. I’d just got home after a four-and-a-half drive from Manchester and wasn’t in the best frame of mind for watching and appraising a show.

I think that I should give a bit more praise to Punk and Regal. I think my comments suggested that I didn’t enjoy the match. I did, but felt that it could have been even better. I thought the advertisement break and the commentary team vastly detracted from the match. Overall, though, this was a good effort and I’m pleased for Punk getting a moment in front of his home fans.

I’d love to see Regal get the chance to work with other younger or up-and-coming talent. I get the feeling he could get a lot of out of MVP, Ken Kennedy, Carlito and so forth.

As much as I like Punk, if he is not going to get back into the main-event picture (and I don’t see it, to be fair) I think he’s due a heel turn. He is a terrific heel, and I’d really like to see him get a chance to shine in a different light.

Next I’d like to say that the ending was probably a lot better than I first indicated. The more I think about it, the more shocking it was, and there are plenty of possibilities for development. Will Orton and Priceless be fired? If Steph and Vince supposed to be babyfaces they weren’t very sympathetic characters, and this may help Randy get over more.

I still like my idea of Shane McMahon being the brains behind the Legacy group. There are a few holes in the theory, such as why Shane would have waited for so long, what influence he has on the company and on Orton.

Another possibility with Orton is that he could win the Royal Rumble and jump to Smackdown. This would get him out of Steph’s hair and would logical in that manner, but then what happens to Rhodes and DiBiase?

My biggest problem from Raw really was that ending wasn’t a pre-PPV ending. It was a good one for making sure you tune in to next week’s show. Is Jericho still in trouble? Is Jericho working with Orton? Is Orton going to be fired? Will Vince be back? And so on and so forth. However, we should have been focussed on Cena, JBL and Shawn and the Rumble competitors, in my mind.

Perhaps the theory is that people love the Rumble so much that they’ll buy it come what may. Therefore after a good contract signing segment and the natural attraction of the Rumble match itself it may be assumed that people will be on board and need a little added incentive for Raw next week.

By the way, if the Rumble is amazing – brilliant rumble match, Christian return etc –then adding this to the exciting finish of last week may mean a monster Raw rating. They got a 3.9 apparently this week, so anything above 4 next week would be a great sign for WWE.

I’ll try to get a Rumble preview up tomorrow. It’ll come before I’ve had a chance to see Smackdown, but I’m off to London on Saturday for TNA and don’t know when I’ll be back on Sunday.

I will, of course, have the live blog going during the Rumble itself. Stay tuned.

Raw Thoughts - 24th November

· Really liked the opening to Raw, with Shane arriving in a Porsche (or maybe a Ferrari, I’m not good with cars) then running to the entrance.
· The Shane and Steph ever-so-slightly arguing is getting old already. I don’t mind the concept, it’s just that you know that this is going to be all McMahon for several weeks.
· Shane is a natural babyface, but Steph is just no convincing in that role. Or in any role.
· Cole says that Rey was “One of the sole survivors” – they aren’t going to do this are they? Not another phrase (Like ‘Unforgiven’ or ‘25th anniversary’) they can’t get right.
· What do you know, Rey took a move from Sonjay Dutt!
· I loved HBK’s crawl along the ropes to make a tag.
· JBL kicking Morrison to save HBK? I have no idea why, but I love it when stuff like that happens. Gives you something to think about.
· Did Kennedy say he was going to Cross the Line?? Can’t think where he got that phrase from.
· When Lillian was introducing the IC title scenario, and mentioned Regal, I’m sure she said ‘lime’ instead of ‘time’. I know Americans called us Brits ‘Limeys’ but come on......
· Excited by the triple threat, but seems a strange place on the show to put it.
· The advantageous Chris Jericho? No, Michael, one who takes advantage is not known as advantageous. Problems with your tenses again.
· Now I love William Regal, but his commentary was a little muddled. He talked at times about how great CM Punk was, and they would have a ‘feud for the ages’ but then said he’d destroy him.
· Err..............divas match – Candice’s music, and Melina’s video? Oops. Jerry Lawler covers, but Cole makes an even bigger ass of himself by pretending not to have seen the Melina graphic on the huge Titantron.
· Not sure what destroying Jericho like that achieved really. I’ll reserve judgement in case somewhere down the line it is explained, but Cena beating the hell out of Jericho hardly builds a title match fans would want to buy. That’s essentially two nights running that Cena has got the upper hand.
· We end with Kane looking on. Cena v Kane? Is that really going to assist a higher rating?
· Odd Raw. We tease McMahon sibling rivalry (again) and Cena dominance (again) deliver a lacklustre start to an IC title tourney which Punk is likely going to win anyway and see little of the stuff that has made interesting viewing. For example, short stuff from Marella and just one shot of Orton with Manu and Cody.

Raw Thoughts - November 3rd

Raw Thoughts

· I love how the 800th episode was several weeks ago and WWE have just pretended that it didn’t happen and called this special the 800th one.
· How come Orton gets the Kane mood lighting for his promo?
· Yeah, the Hardys! Because the 800th episode of this show is so huge we can’t rely on the people who are actually ON the RAW roster, can we?
· Anyone tuning in and not knowing Jeff Hardy is going to wonder what the hell happened to Alice Cooper. Nice eyeliner, Jeffrey!
· I quite like that – the heel team were the ones who lost via the ref not seeing a legal tag. Nice bit of variety. Well, for WWE at present it’s like a change.
· Ah, episode one of Raw, showing the best and worst of things. Bobby Heenan and Sean Mooney. In that order. Wow, and Max Moon was on that show. Part of me misses those days............but most of me doesn’t.
· Cool, the Razor v 123 kid match. If this is going to continue I’m going to enjoy it.
· Regal wins a neat little Battle Royal. Some interesting things to take from it, mainly the pointer to DiBiase looking very strong in the match and eliminating both Cody and Manu in the same spot.
· Oh, and Santino can do commentary every week, as far as I am concerned.
· Damn – I was hoping we’d have a sort of linear background of Raw, but we have to jump to McMahons, don’t we, since Shane has now arrived.
· Right, so Adamle has gone has he? So that’s interviewer, commentator, GM done.........next? Manager? Could happen!
· Ok – a nice twist with Orton. I liked Shane’s thoughts, the angle of Orton hiding his injury. But Orton v Punk is a nice grudge match that could have been saved for a PPV, or a ratings pop on next week’s Raw at the very least.
· Always it’s a bit self-indulgent by Michaels and Hunter, but it was pretty funny stuff. Even if they did steal a joke from Friends. That’s how you run for 800 episodes. Steal jokes off of the other long running shows.
· Good effort from Miz and Morrison. Obviously DX were going to win, but nice rub for the cocky young heels.
· They tease that briefly with JBL about him being GM, but that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. JBL’s strongest suit is his work while on the mic, and I firmly believe that he’d pull it off well.
· Terrific storytelling with Orton and Team Priceless tonight. Absolutely terrific. I’d have preferred the commentators to refer to DiBiase costing Manu and Cody their place in the Battle Royal previously, but you can’t have everything.
· Ok – maybe a bit of McMahon dissention, which may well lead to Shane and Steph at odds, which will then likely lead to the return of the only man who can mediate between them. (Clue: his surname is the same)
· A clip of Undertaker’s entrance on the first ever Raw. Hmm, they didn’t mention his opponent. Funny that. Anyone remember who it was? Answers to the usual address.
· Khali as a babyface. We could see it coming, of course, but dear God we don’t want Mark Henry v Great Khali matches. That could set a new record for atrocious wrestling.
· Batista falls crotch first on the top rope – Michael Cole says “This could be the opening....” He’s right, it could be now!
· Decent cage match. In fact, better than decent. Good stuff. Some nice spots, and in a match which has been done umpteen times it’s difficult to be innovative, but they were. Well done guys. · Nice to see Jericho win the belt cleanly too. Shame it’ll likely be a stop gap before Cena regains at Survivor Series.

Playing Wrestling Nostradamus

Sitting here of a Sunday night having just watched Smackdown, I thought I’d have a little look at the WWE landscape and offer some thoughts and predictions.

I cannot believe that The Great Khali has been promoted into another main event slot. Obviously the recent publicity tour over in India by the Punjabi superstar has done good business and India appears to be a thriving WWE market. I expect that Vince and co. like the fact that the Indian press seemed to report that the people over there think that Wrestling is real. I would highly doubt that Indian WRESTLING fans think that it is real, but if the media do then WWE will try to capitalise.

If India is loving the WWE right now, why not put Khali into a position to challenge for the title? Makes sense.

However, for the rest of us, it’ll be torture. As much as I respect the Game, and as good as Paul Levesque has been for many years, Triple H matches are no longer something I eagerly anticipate. Not saying they are not satisfactory, but they don’t get you excited the way that matches involving the likes of Edge, Jericho, Michaels and Jeff Hardy do.

Triple H will surely win, and I guess it’s just something for him to do while Edge has to deal with the Undertaker. Look at it this way – Edge has been THE story of Smackdown for the past couple of months, and of the Undertaker transcends titles, so HiaC will be top billing - at least from Smackdown’s point of view. (Although, saying that, they aren’t exactly piling all their stock on Punk, so I’d think that Edge v Taker would headline the whole show)

I guess we should be relieved, because this could be an opportunity for them to put Jeff Hardy or Mr Kennedy into a top spot only to have them lose to Triple H. At least Khali getting squashed isn’t much of a loss. Hardy or Kennedy getting the shot and losing would enable the opportunity for their doubters to argue to their fans that they had a chance and blew it – that the match wasn’t important and the reaction very little.

By the way, how many times did JR and Mick call Jeff Hardy “the Charismatic Enigma” on Smackdown? Surely they haven’t ditched the Rainbow Haired Warrior epithet and nicked a TNA one.

Elsewhere amongst the bigger names on Smackdown, we are looking like heading towards Umaga v Big Show and Jeff Hardy v MVP, although whether we will see all the matches at Summerslam is unknown.

Over on Raw, it’s Punk v JBL at Summerslam, which will have precisely no-one excited. I’ve talked on the Sun website about how Punk having the belt isn’t necessarily the best thing for the Straightedge Superstar. I think Punk will beat JBL, as there as even less point in Bradshaw having the title, but I’m doubtful it will be clean.

Other matches are unclear, as Chris Jericho has laid up Shawn Michaels once again in the storyline almost unanimously considered to be the best of the year – by miles. We may see another match between these guys, but I think more likely is that they’ll let HBK sell the eye injury a bit more, and then have a blow-off down the line. Also, backing up that theory, a blow-off match is already taking place at Summerslam, between Edge and Taker. It would be wrong for Jericho and Shawn to go under the radar in that fashion.

Then there is Cena, Batista and Kane. If they do the slow burn then Cena v Batista is a possible Wrestlemania encounter. (more on that in a minute) For now, I’m not sure where they are going to go. Kane’s insanity has lost a bit of momentum, but he is still in the mix. The biggest problem with Raw right now is that although having JBL, Punk, Batista, Cena and Kane featured prominently and in each other’s business keeps them strong and promotes the belt, because that’s what they are all aiming for, you cannot get excited about many matches between them. The only match two matches I’d like to see out of that group would be Cena v Batista (but only with the right build up) and Punk v Cena.

I mentioned Mania just then – I’d suggest three contests that you could get hold of and build Wrestlemania around.

John Cena v Batista
Triple H v Undertaker
Shawn Michaels v Rey Mysterio

What do you think?

Cena and Batista are modern day Sports Entertainers, with the package of the look and character being more important that the wrestler, but while I’m not a fan of Batista and don’t go crazy over Cena (although I respect the hell of out the guy for his work rate and what he has achieved) even I’d be interested in them building this one and manipulating the fans. I’d have the belt involved, too, because without it I don’t think you’d generate the right kind of dislike between the two men.

Over on SD, I think there is enough of a roster to sustain Triple H repelling contenders and Taker having some fun as well, without them needing to meet. Edge could step up and meet The Game again somewhere down the line. It wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. I make it eight Pay Per View events before Wrestlemania. A combination of matches with Khali, Jeff Hardy, MVP, Kennedy Big Show, Umaga and Edge again would sustain Triple H and Undertaker before Mania. With perhaps the odd hint dropped between Taker and Game that their paths will cross at some point.

I can envisage Undertaker and Big Show locking horns a couple of times, certainly, and Triple H having another little episode with Jeff Hardy could help Jeff out.

Mysterio v Michaels is a match I can’t recall seeing, and one which would whet the appetite like Angle and HBK did a few years back. I think Michaels is the best in the business right now, which is amazing considering he has just turned 43 and basically retired in 1998.

I’m not as crazy about Rey Mysterio as a lot of people are, but I think the anticipation of these two locking up would be mouth-watering, and the match would likely steal the show.

Finally, the GM situation on Raw. And another Mania match I can foresee.

Apparently Shane McMahon will be on Raw this week, and I’d like to lay a marker right now that this is step two of the Mr McMahon angle.

I’m saying that Shane will address the rising chaos on Raw. Citing the example that for months before Mr McMahon’s accident things were ok, needing to install an experienced hand and not having time himself, he will re-appoint William Regal as General Manager of Raw.

Regal will go back to his character pre-Suspension, although perhaps not to the extent of the frequent lights-out jobs. Order will be restored of a fashion, and things will pan out very slowly but leading to...........

Regal being revealed as the man behind the attack on Mr McMahon. Regal would know the setup of Raw, he would know the stagehands etc, so he would be able to engineer the attack (I know WWE doesn’t always worry about legitimate set-ups, but at least I can offer background). The motive would be that Mr McMahon sorted out the firing, and that Regal wanted his job back and showing it was chaos without him proved he was needed.

Vince tries to fire Regal, but Regal produces a contract he signed when Shane re-hired him which says he is guaranteed a contract for a certain amount of time. In the end, they go head-to-head at Mania for control of Monday Night Raw.

Vince McMahon v William Regal at Wrestlemania 25. You heard it, on July 27th 2008, here first.