Raw Thoughts: October 12

· I hated that opening segment, with only a few exceptions.
· The phonecall to Michaels was really quite lame. Not funny, didn’t go anywhere, and even the plug for the book didn’t work.
· The Bragging Rights exposition did not work at all. Not in my mind, anyway. I was under the impression that there would be a bunch of matches on the show and whoever won each match went onto a team for the end of the show. That didn’t resemble what Jericho, the apparent Smackdown captain said. Nor did it sound like what Triple H said, especially when he told Show there were no spaces. If the team is already made up, then surely it doesn’t matter about the winners of the matches?
· I think the only bit I liked was when Jericho said he would fight Bob Barker anytime anyplace. Other than that even Chris couldn’t save this segment.
· The forced infighting between Show and Jericho was ludicrous. Why have Show say they are equals, then say he carries the team? I don’t want to see them wrestle, because at some point I’d like to see a team actually be a team for more than a couple of months.
· Making the match didn’t make sense. How was Triple H, and therefore guest host Nancy O’Dell, able to know that Show and Jericho would a) interrupt him and b) start bickering. She should have come out at that point and made the impromptu match.
· Most of all, I hated Triple H’s little burial of Smackdown. Are you kidding? Smackdown has been superior for a long while now, and I fail to see what business sense it makes for Triple H, a major babyface with influence over the minds of impressionable fans, to bury the show. And to say they have great wrestling, then cite Great Khali, is pathetic.
· I’ll allow the Big Show/Jericho match. At least it looked like a spat rather than a falling out.
· Oh my God, that Divas section was HIDEOUS.
· Goodness knows what Mickie has done to deserve that (although her matches haven’t been great lately). Unless she is injured I guess. The first match was terrible, and Jillian of all people gets a three-minute reign. To make matters worse, guest hosts are now trading, and Melina appears on Raw. To cap it off, Melina and Jillian botch the big move. Credit to them, though, because I’m assuming they called an audible and changed the finish.
· So Cena will face both members of Legacy in a Triple Threat? That would mean if he wins he would be in an iron match AND the seven-on-seven?
· Wait, I got that wrong. Apparently Cena has no real motivation here.
· The only redeeming feature of the triple threat was the finish. I liked Cody sneaking the win by pinning Ted and causing contention, and I liked Randy Orton slithering in and out of the ring. Other than that, it was the usual SuperCena garbage, followed by an announcement of Cena/Orton v Legacy. Just..........what?
· So we get to see Cena AGAIN, Legacy AGAIN......MVP and Swagger are in the ring while I’m typing this bit and....wait, it’s finished. A throwaway match lasting about four minutes. We have to see double Cena and Legacy, all of whom are over. But only a few seconds of MVP and Swagger, who need assistance.
· Kofi and Evan didn’t even get to start on TV? Just add this to the point above.
· As a contrived main event, that was just about passable. I guess the most important thing was that after all the double crossing and second guessing, Ted DiBiase was the one who emerged with the high ground. He pinned Orton with a surprise roll-up in the main event.
· Just an odd show. No logic, and flaws up the yin yang.

Raw Thoughts - 28 Sept

· Oh no, tell me Lillian’s replacement isn’t that drone from Smackdown. Justin Roberts, the man with the random stresses.
· Someone tell those people holding the “Y-2-J” signs they’ve got it the wrong way round.
· Another guest host who I’ve never heard of, but it was very strange after a nice build up from both teams – Jericho/Show, MVP/Henry – that Rev. Al Sharpton got booed. I don’t know who he is that he got booed, but there you go.
· I don’t quite get why you would book these men in a title match just days before a PPV. Makes no sense.
· Reasonable tag match, I guess. Cole announced that Batista and Mysterio will now face Show and Jericho. The problem with having Show with Jericho, although it gives the team a good dynamic, is that matches become slow. Henry, and now Batista, will compound that. I hope Batista and Rey will, so that Jericho can go back to singles action.
· Matches like Mickie v Rosa just show there is very little depth to the Divas division.
· Legacy and DX – good exchange, but dragged a little. I am, though, very much looking forward to their cell match. Their falls count anywhere was really, really good.
· Although I’m fed up of Chavo and Hornswoggle, at least we saw a little development this week. God knows what it means, though.
· If you accept that matches like Bourne and Swagger are going to last three minutes, then that was more than acceptable.
· Gauntlet match was quite dull, really, although come bits of Cena/Jericho perked things up. Cena recovering to best Orton was ludicrous. The whole thing was a setup to lower the cell. I’m not sure why the cell was lowered from a storyline perspective, and it made no sense in a match context, but the reasoning was surely the visual.
· Cena and Orton taking to the top of the cell was spectacular, and WWE will hope that it convinced a few people that ordering a show with Hell in a Cell. I think it will.

Raw Thoughts - September 14

· Really solid opening segment between Batista and Randy Orton. I never really bought the retirement, but I suspect many did. I may be wrong, but I think Batista actually hurt his right arm, not his left one. As I recall they did the attack on Raw on Batista’s left arm, but his was really hurt the other side. So the fact that he had the brace on his left suggested to me it wasn’t needed.
· Was it just me or did Trish seem a bit lost? Maybe I’m being harsh. Interesting note about Barker “nearly making Jericho cry” – a little back reference to Wrestlemania 20?
· OK tag match. I liked seeing Swagger get a pinfall to boost him a little. There was no reaction for Primo at all.
· Mickie James on Alicia Fox: “Every dog has her day”. King quickly asserted that she wasn’t referring to Ms Fox as a dog. She said no. Good job too. The Korean Ms Kim would eat her alive. Ahem.
· Mickie v the Wedding Planner coming soon then.......
· I thought Mickie was great as guest commentator by the way. I like people doing that. I think they should have someone on guest commentary more often, especially newer blood trying help get their character over.
· Nice little seg with Trish being faced in her office by Beth and Jericho. Nice interplay between Jericho and Stratus, although interestingly no namedrop for Captain Charisma, who was instrumental in the ‘break-up’. Nice to see a little nod to history though.
· I hope Trish chooses Santino as her partner! Or at least they have a seg where he is campaigning to be her partner.
· I was really disappointed that HBK v Ted didn’t have a finish, but I guess I understand why.
· Oh wow, Hornswoggle wins again (note sarcasm). Chavo asks “What do I got to do?” Firstly, learn English, Pedro, because it’s “What do I have to do?” but secondly I got the feeling he was addressing that to more than just the little midget fella he’s been wrestling for the last seventeen years or thereabouts.
· I get whole thing of Trish having a win in her hometown, but it strikes me it would have been a big thing for Beth to beat her and use it to have an achievement to boast of, rather than Trish getting a fun, but ultimately fruitless, win.
· Ordinary Batista v Orton match. Actually an ordinary Raw overall. Nothing to write home about, although the initial Batista head fake was quite neat. If someone came up to you tomorrow and asked you what the story was from Raw, what would you say? Batista to Smackdown, and they announced a couple of matches we knew were happening anyway for HiaC.

Breaking Point Live Blog

01.02am
Shall I start with a moan? Yeah, why not.

What are the point of those little packages at the start of PPVs? Who has ordered the PPV that doesn't know the storyline or the matches? Even if they haven't watched, you've got 'em anyway. I don't mind if they are really arty or hard hitting, but that was just wishy washy standard dialogue with generic music in the background.

I won't be negative all night, it's just I really want to see Christian v Regal, and I'm still pissed off that they wasted time at Summerslam with tanks and all that nonsense then didn't let Christian and Regal do their thing.

01.10am
Slow start to the match, but I'm more interested in the crowd. Very mixed. Mixed reaction for JeriShow, decent pop for MVP then a really good reaction for Henry. All this on entrance.

No discernable support for Jericho in Canada, then a Big Show chant, now a Y2J one. Cool spot with Henry catching Show in the corner.

01.19am
Meh. Passable opener. MVP's flip onto his feet followed by a DDT was special, but the rest of the match was largely forgettable.

I am not a big tag team wrestling guy, so I'm biased, but I can't help watching Jericho and thinking he is wasted doing this. Nothing too much against the Big Show, it's just Jericho is THE man for my thinking. The biggest thing about Taker winning the World Title is that he might get to face jericho soon. It's not brand new, but Y2J could do big business with Cena, Triple H or even Batista if he comes back. Any brand, any babyface.

I hate the big punch as a finisher. Why wouldn't he just punch someone all the time? It isn't stopped for being illegal.

01.23am
Interview with Cody and Ted. Cody is getting much better on the mic. What the hell did Ted DiBiase have in his ear???

Miz and Kofi in the ring. Nice little bit of average French to get the crowd against him. Seemed to work.

01.36am
I'm surprised at the retention of the title, but not as surprised as I am about the quality of the match. I said I thought it would be alright and that Miz is improving, but this was beyond my expectations. Really, really good action. Well done. Potential show stealer there.

01.46am
Credit to Montreal for not ponly being a hot crowd, but one with timing. They waited until Triple H paused during his standard rallying speech to do a "You Screwed Bret" chant. To Hunter's credit, after a pause, he came up with an answer (pointing at Shawn and stating "it was all his fault") which I think he ad-libbed. Also, he was careful not to diss Bret and get the crowd even more offside.

02.09am
Oh me oh my. Where to start? So what was that, the best past of a thirty minute match? That was a fantastic brawl. It so perfectly illustrates the art of the gimmick match if sparingly used. That kind of arena-wide brawl was ten a penny eight or nine years ago, but now they are rare, and this was brilliantly put together.

And chalk one up to me for predicting a Legacy victory. Miz has let me down, otherwise I'd be 3-0. That could be a career maker. It had all the ingredients of a great match for Legacy. Give and take was evident in the match, the heels gradually got the better of the situation, and the babyfaces had mini-comebacks to spike the crowd. Perhaps Shawn's fire was a little overdone, but on the whole that was a terrific effort. I liked how Legacy looked like proper bullies while going about their business.

02.14am
Whoa, tremendous promo from Randy. I thought he was channelling the Godfather early on. I thought that was captivating, and you had to sit up and take notice. I still think he'll lose, but it was a great promo.

02.23am
I took Khali to equalise this feud, but I prefer Kane winning. It makes more sense, because he can go on to now work with some mid-to-top babyfaces rather than Khali being elevated.

Match pretty much sucked, as you'd expect. Bad enough for them without following DX/Legacy.

02.25am
Nice speech from Punk backstage. Very sarcastic and condescending. Still taking shots at Hardy, even mentioning the mugshot. Doing the Jericho thing of coming up with words to have a go at the local fans (he called them derelicts). Cool effect for JWY (Yang) turning lights off and then getting his head kicked in.

02.34am
There is a trivia question. Striker says Regal would be the 9th person born outside the US to win a world title in the last 15 years. I'm assuming that doesn't include TNA, so lets try to work it out.
I've got Benoit, Bret, Christian, Edge, Khali, Eddie, Masato Tanaka, Chavo Guerrero. That's eight. Have I missed one, or are they being accurate?
Yokozuna is just outside 15 years, Rey and Jericho born in the US.

02.42am
Someone sent a tape of this to Lance Storm, he'll be delighted with this effort. Good match.

Well, I predicted four out of five title changes tonight, so far none through three matches.

Pressure on the big title matches, because aside from the combined bulk of Henry, Show, Kane and Khali dragging things down, the undercard has been very good.

02.54am
Pat Patterson hit the ring in his hometown to presumably bring out Morrison, but Ziggler came out to humiliate Pat with various age jibes. Crowd went with "shut the f up" and "what" taunts. At least they were reacting. Ziggler kicked Pat in the stomach and then shaped to do more, but Morrison interupted. I would have had Ziggler then attack Morrison from behind, because then Morrison would have more of a problem with Ziggler.

Small point, why was Dolph in his gear and Morrison wasn't?

03.24am
You know what, that Cena v Orton match will have it's critics, and I certainly won't rush out to buy the DVD for this one match, but I'll give them a lot of credit for doing something different.

I surmise that they must have taken a look at the show as a whole seen this: DX/Legacy were doing a big brawl, Miz/Kofi the fast pace, Christian/Regal the wrestling and one assumes Punk and Taker will have a more typical main event. They couldn't match any of the other styles, so they did their own thing. They played off their facial expressions, used Orton's sadistic character and Cena's resiliant equivilent and built the match around emotion.

It might not be your thing, you might not have enjoyed it, but you have to, surely, give credit where it is due.

03.51am
I guess that was sorta creative. It looks very much like WWE just did Montreal in Montreal. Having Long come out and reverse the decision on Hell's Gate was a terrific idea. I love the continuity in that, and was a great get out for not having the Undertaker win. To have Scott Armstrong call for the bell quickly and everyone to scarper was odd, but presumably done to once again recall the incident of November 1997. (Oh Google it if you don't know - everyone else does)

Storylines sit easily enough don't they. Brace yourself for a bunch of rematches in three weeks time. Punk and Taker are unclear of how they stand - rematch in the cell. Orton demands a rematch. It happens in the Cell. And now DX and Legacy are one apiece. Into the Cell for them too. To accompany - Ziggler v Morrison, Christian v one of Regal's henchmen and perhaps Batista and a partner v Jericho and Show?

Hope you enjoyed that folks. I did more than I expected to. Creative stuff, if nothing else.

Good Day to You.

Unforgiv.....dah, I mean Breaking Point Preview

Haven't a lot of time today, so very little intro, straight on with predictions.

Oh, but before I do, a reminder that I will be following the action with my usual live blog, if you'd like to stop by and read my ongoing thoughts on the PPV.

Singapore Cane Match - Kane v Great Khali
No, this is not a submission match, as many have pointed out, but I'll point out at this stage that most of the hype for the event has stated that 'main event matches' will be submissions based. Not the whole card.

Anyway, from what I gather, the Singapore Cane match basically means a normal match but the cane is legal, and I would think it will be suspended on a pole in the corner of the ring.

WWE had the sense to only give this match a short amount of time on the last PPV, perhaps sensing each man's lack of mobility.

Prediction: Khali. I'm going with the big Indian to even the score after Kane won at Summerslam

Kofi Kingston v The Miz
This kind of match might suggest that there is a lack of long term planning in WWE right now, since it comes from Raw, but was not even promoted or announced on Monday's show. On the other hand, perhaps we ought to cut a little slack, because this match is ostensibly replacing John Morrison v Dolph Ziggler, which is in turn replacing Rey Mysterio v Dolph Ziggler.

I think the Miz will win here. I like Kofi, and I think WWE are high on him, but his limitation is his ability to vocalise his part in a feud. He is over by virtue of being a babyface in the early 90s mould. Smiley, wearing bright ring gear and executing flashy moves, Kofi would have been over fifteen or twenty years ago. However, the fact that his is a Ghanaian portraying a Jamaican and an unconvincing accent holds him back. He gets no interview time, and it is hard for him to generate a long term feud with anyone.

Miz, however, is the opposite for the most part. A heel for the new millenium, he is cocky, spouts modern buzzwords verbosely and rubs people up the wrong way with words and not action. His wrestling, though, has improved greatly. He makes more sense as a United States Champion.

Prediction - He might do so by way of cheating, but I'd expect Miz to win gold tonight


Mark Henry and MVP v Big Show and Chris Jericho
A couple of interesting notes by way of WWE.com. Firstly, in talking about Jericho and Show's opponents, the site says that they beat Rhodes and DiBiase, but then refers to Cryme Tyme as "younger opponents". Hmm.

Secondly, and more importantly, I can't see a reference to this match being a submission encounter. If it is, it'll be interesting to see how they work the stipulation in. Jericho obviously has the Boston Crab varient we are all familiar with, and Show has been known to use a take on the Camel Clutch.

Henry due to his size and power could probably be effective with a submission hold, but MVP doesn't have a recognised hold in this ilk. I'm suprised, if this is a submission match, that they haven't attempted to build something.

If this is not a submission match, then it says a lot about the tag titles (even unified Tag titles) if they are not considered to be part of a main event set of matches, especially considering the prestige of the current champions.

I can't see MVP and Henry winning, with or without this being a submission match. It doesn't make sense to me, unless they decide to go with Jericho as a prospect for a World Title challenge. This wouldn't make a great deal of sense, because by rights he ought to go back to Smackdown, and it appears that Taker and Punk are set for the next month or two.

Prediction - Jericho and Show to retain

Christian v William Regal.....finally
The match that I was most looking forward to last time now occurs at Breaking Point. I considered this a blessing in disguise at one point, since a submission match seemed right up Regal's alley. But once again I can see no reference to that stip being upheld in this one. It seems ECW is considered a 'World title' but not a 'main event'.

The match ought to be good though. Just let the men wrestle for 12-15 minutes and then work the finish. As long as they don't constanly feature Jackson and Koslov I'll be happy. Use them a bit, possibly, but not overkill. I wouldn't be surprised to see one or both interject early, and then one of two things to happen. Either they are sent to the back, much to Regal's consternation, or two babyfaces, perhaps Dreamer and Reks, emerge to sit in Christian corner.

I think there is a real possibility of a title switch. Regal has all the momentum in ECW right now, and it would make sense to have babyfaces fighting the smug champion rather than the three-strong group being made to look like fools.

Prediction - Regal, probably with a little help from his big friends

Triple H and Shawn Michaels v Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase
Here is the big question: Are Cody and Ted hurt by not beating DX? Are their careers elevated solely by working with these two (go on, say it) legends or are they made to look small time?

I personally think that in the last couple of weeks they've come over quite well. Perception is the key here, not fact. Because, well, fact isn't fact in wrestling, is it? It's about making the audience believe that Cody and Ted are equals, or at least stand a chance. I can't speak for the world and say whether this has happened or not, but it strikes me that their characters have built nicely in the last few episodes of Raw.

Will they win tonight? Possibly. Maybe not, but possibly. If I was forced to wager money then the safe bet is always Triple H, but I smell an exchange win to lead to the structure known as Hell in a Cell. (hold that thought, back to it later)

I'm interested in the stipulation. That this is a Falls Count Anywhere submission match, and their little brawl on TV, suggest to me they will explore the arena a little tonight. If they do so, perhaps there is scope for others to get involved. Perhaps Orton helps his proteges - or perhaps Brett DiBiase shows up and helps - getting initiated to Legacy the following night on Raw.

Prediction - Going deliberately against the grain, I'll take Legacy for the upset

John Cena v Randy Orton (WWE Title)
There are two major aspects to this which heavily point to Cena coming away with the belt. One is that any interference on Orton's behalf would lead to him being stripped of the title, and the other is the nature of the I Quit Match.

The loser has to, as far as I am aware, say the words "I Quit" into a microphone. Cena isn't going to do that just to Orton. The only way I can possibly see Cena not winning is if somehow he does the Austin-Bret pass-out-rather-than-tap-out finish, but even then that means Orton has dominated him.

Tonight has to be Cena's night. Although logic suggests to me a heel keeping the belt because of all the challengers being babyface, I can't see how Orton comes out of this match with a win that doesn't hurt Cena. Hey, I'm not saying Orton shouldn't win - why shouldn't he show he is a great wrestler, a nasty heel and get the win? - but tonight has to be Cena's night. And he, despite his detractors, deserves it too.

Prediction - JC all the way.

And another thing.........The next PPV is Hell in a Cell, right? Here's a thought - Orton, DiBiase and Rhodes v Triple H, Michaels and Cena. If you are going to have a HiaC themed show, I think it is a stretch to have two one-on-one Cell matches, and you'd think Punk v Taker was nailed on for the SD main event. Would be an idea to have a six man on the either side of the bill.

You could take this in many directions. One would be for Cena to cost DX the match and them to get pissed off at him, leading to either Shawn or Hunter getting the next shot at him. You could even throw in some sort of "If DX wins, Legacy disbands" and vice versa stipulation to the mix.

CM Punk v The Undertaker (World Title)
This is a little similar to Cena in a way. Would they really put Punk over Taker cleanly?

I'm not looking forward to this as much as I'd like to, because I think they'll either just limply end Punk's reign by him losing to Taker as normal, or they'll have Punk somehow obliterate Taker with help, chairshots or something, because I simply cannot see Undertaker ever losing a submission match. It doesn't scan.

Prediction - short and sweet. Taker wins. Punk taps. Yet another new champion.

Enjoy the show, folks. Come back for the live blog.

Raw Thoughts: September 7

· So I guess Bruce Forsyth will be guest host in the UK?
· “I wish I had a refrigerator for every one of you” might be one of the oddest opening lines I have ever heard on a wrestling broadcast.
· To American readers, you should know that in the UK we have no idea who this guy Barker is.
· I can’t wait to see him come off the top rope, mind you.
· Santino coming out of the crowd was hilarious. I could watch him for hours.
· I’d have a game show every week.
· Not as good a match as last week with MVP and Jericho, but I was impressed wit how they played the crowd with some believable near falls, getting a tremendous reaction. MVP is starting to become a bigger player.
· Oh my Lord – an actual, real match for Chavo??? Surely not.
· I suppose it was too good to true to hope that Hornswoggle would stay hidden, but at least it is a step in the right direction.
· AJ Piersinski (that’ll be spelled wrong, don’t write in) is a TNA guy isn’t he? Why didn’t I read about his defection on the sheets?
· That Santino section of him winning the Price is Right was a little dull. A little too much Barker.
· Uh-oh. Big Show and Mark Henry was also a bit of a drag, and now it seems to be a sit-down interview with Josh Matthews? I enjoyed the start, but its starting to drag now.
· I’m fairly certain that Triple H just did a gay innuendo and then, without irony, said that he’s going to get ready to suck it.
· An extremely odd decision to put Masters in the main event with Orton, yet no Carlito, Miz or Swagger on the show. The last named being the most obvious candidate.
· Quite a slow main event, and another bizarre moment as Orton just hovered around the stage for a couple of minutes.
· The backstage brawl with Legacy and DX made sense, but you almost feel it should have happened a couple of weeks ago, and then the stipulation added because of it.
· In the end, the Bob Barker stuff got boring, what him plugging a book and talking about his career. I guess it helps if you had heard of the guy before last Monday when they said he’d be hosting this week.

Raw Thoughts - August 31

· You heard what Cody said. It’s “thrictly bithneth”
· Hard hitting opening to the show. You get this when you have a wrestling GM, rather than a celeb. We got a quick announcement of two matches later on, followed by a match booked to create intrigue in this show and also to help sell the PPV. That’s a strong start, and it is genuinely interesting to see where they go in this main event.
· Did you notice the camera work during the long Kim v Hall portion of the battle royal? The camera was in a close focus all the time so that you didn’t see Beth lying on the apron, heightening the sense of surprise.
· Sound-as-a-pound, give and take match between Jericho and MVP. Did the job, had the right outcome and built for the tag match nicely. Did you notice the really subtle Jericho touch as he went to put his foot on the ropes for momentum, but didn’t quite do it.
· DX and Dusty plug the rise and fall of WCW DVD. Do you think Dusty had more to do with the rise or the fall? Or the fall before the rise?
· Did you notice Cade and Murdoch’s music playing while Hornswoggle was walking backstage?
· We want Mantaur! (clap-clap-clap-clap) We want Mantaur! (clap-clap-clap-clap) Poor Chavo.
· I’m a DX fan, but their inclusion is a little laboured this evening.
· Really fun fatal fourway. It’s a good way of using the fact that they have loads of titles, to have regular showcase matches with titles on the line. If they can re-establish the US/IC titles as ‘workers titles’ then it will greatly help the product.
· Kofi’s stock is rising all the time. I don’t really see that he has the total package to be a world champion, but he’ll be a huge asset to the company where he is.
· Wow, there was no atmosphere during that Divas title match whatsoever. And it was a decent match, too.
· I enjoyed that Shockmaster bit, but they have to be careful doing stuff like that. What percentage of the audience know anything about Dusty, let alone know that his tenure in WCW creative.
· SA-WERVE, Baybeh! I bought that. The Dusty finish takes new meaning.
· That was a fun Raw. Plenty of action, twists and turns.

Raw Thoughts - August 25

· Interesting to open with explaining who the ‘fan’ is. I thought that might have been a hook through the show.
· Hey, Vince is out here. Maybe he’ll fire Lillian for last night.
· That should have been Edge and Christian’s fat Elvis.
· Cole said it was the Honky Tonk Man, which is as funny a thing as Cole has said.
· That was largely quite funny, but admittedly it did drag on a bit. There will plenty of people who say it is self-indulgent DX nonsense, but I genuinely find them amusing, and we forget this show is supposed to be entertaining and, as WWE say and genuinely mean, about putting smiles on faces.
· That was funny to dress Jillian up as Marilyn Monroe, but she actually sang TOO well.
· The trouble with Mayweather having that many guys with him is that he looks weak. Wrestlers don’t have ten men for backup, so you build this guy as a really tough fighter, but Freddie Prinze jnr and Jeremy Piven didn’t bring all these men.
· Shaq and Floyd v Jericho and Show? Maybe not.
· The trouble is with Mayweather is he is a natural heel. To have Jericho and Show after him and MVP backing him up somehow feels wrong.
· To MVP’s credit though, that was a good babyface promo telling Jericho to shut up.
· I’m not too embarrassed to tell you that the last time I saw MVP and Henry together was at the Wrestlemania Reading Challenge. Oh, I get to go to all the big things, you know.
· Crowd were HOT for MVP. Maybe he is nearly ready to step up.
· End the pain with Chavo and Hornswoggle, please.
· I like the fact that they said “you never know what to expect with Randy Orton” at the very second he slapped on a rear chin lock. You can always expect that, can you not?
· A bit of a nothing main event. You get the feeling they might just fill the next couple of weeks until Breaking Point.
· Interestingly, they didn’t announce next week’s guest host did they?

Two Brief Summerslam Build-up notes

Two things I wanted to bring to your attention:

1) Various reports are suggesting that DX v Legacy will headline tonights Summerslam, perhaps because they don't want the sour note of Punk going over Hardy.

But how about my suggestion that HBK turns on Triple H? (Read more in the preview below) If you follow that logic and they end with the most newsworthy item on the agenda, that may be a big hook for Raw. Add in Mayweather hosting and Vegas and then could post a big number tomorrow night for the Red Brand.

2) The WWE.com site has a caption talking about a wrestler by the name of Christ Masters.

Please select your punchline. Is it:
a) fans see him emerging and say "Oh, Christ.....masters."
or perhaps
b)We should bring back Carlito's old bodyguard and team him with Masters. "Ladies and Gentleman, weighing in at a combined weight of 627lbs, JESUS CHRIST".

They make a startling babyface in peril comeback, but it takes three days.

SummerFest Preview

The Hottest Night of the Summer is upon us, so are you feeling like this is the little brother of Wrestlemania?

WWE have shown indications that they want the August PPV to become second only to their flagship event, but this is hardly a stellar card that makes you salivate and feel excited in a way that Wrestlemania does, that usually the Royal Rumble does, and even events with a hook like the Elimination Chamber do.

For this reason, I’d like to stipulate at this point that this predictions piece will be littered with elements of hope – suggestions of turns of events that may occur in the Staples Center this evening that will give this ordinary looking show a degree of excitement to match it’s alleged billing.

Before the predictions start, let me remind you that I’ll be doing my usual live notes blog tonight during the PPV, so be sure to stop by and keep refreshing your page to see what I’m making of what’s unfolding at Summerslam.


MVP v Jack Swagger
To be honest, when you look at this feud, it begins to explain to you a few things that don’t make sense......I was going to say in WWE, but mainly on Raw.

It is Raw that has the depth problem, and Raw that has three guys on top we are al bored of. Therefore, exceptional effort ought to be going into these two getting over. However, since one face-off on the VIP Lounge which was captivating, this feud has been stop start. It looked like it was ending, with speculation that Swagger would be Jericho’s mystery partner, but has been resurrected. Even then, they had about thirty seconds on Raw to wrestle to a DQ, “setting up” this match.

To me, the logical man to be progressing is Jack Swagger. I think his presence in the ring – both as a talent and a character – is very good. You really feel he can handle himself, and although he has an element of cowardly heel about him, he has won enough matches cleanly to be taken seriously.

There is also the match he had with John Cena in March/April time to take into consideration. I personally remember not caring for the match too much, but I will bow to a) the majority who did and more importantly b) those in the business (including John Cena when I spoke to him) who were mightily impressed with Swagger. I get the feeling that Cena could do a lot more for Swagger, seen as a legit athlete, than he did for The Miz, whose strengths lie in a similar area to that of Cena. Swagger would be able to dominate Cena in a wrestling sense, definitely helping his cause.

Whether this feud is Cena v Swagger for the title or simply as a semi-main, I think it ought to happen. For this reason, I’ll take, and I want Jack Swagger to win this one.

Prediction – Swagger.


The Great Khali v Kane
A match we’ve seen before, but with roles reversed (a theme I will come back to later). We all know roughly what we are getting here. I think they’ll know well enough to not let this go too long, and just have a couple of the usual big man face-off spots.

I hope they let Kane get a clean victory. I don’t really see the value of Khali winning this, because they surely realise that his value is not as a serious contender, whereas Kane, while I’m not saying he ought to be world champion, is more suited to a spell near the top of the card in proper feuds.

Prediction (although it’s hope as much as anything): Kane


ECW Title – Christian v William Regal
I think this could be a little hidden gem on the card. You have a couple of wrestlers who, while neither has been hugely critically acclaimed, rarely have a bad match.

I wouldn’t think this will be one for the ages. They’ll likely be given a nothing spot on the card and no exciting plot twist, but I would expect a well crafted ten-minuter with some nice chain wrestling and decent psychology, culminating in Christian getting the better of the man from Blackpool.

The contrary argument, of course, is that Regal now has a couple of big dudes in tow, and there is an out for having Christian drop the title due to interference and then have him chase again. But I’ll stick my original thought.

Prediction – A solid, if unspectacular event. And Christian to win it.


Intercontinental Title - Rey Mysterio v Dolph Ziggler
It seems rather odd to book this twice in successive PPVs only to have Dolph lose again, so it’s easy to simply say he’ll win this time. However, we mustn’t forget that in WWE’s eye simply being in the ring with established superstars is enough of a rub, and in reality what Ziggler needs is to give Mysterio a close match. If he looks like he might win, it’ll help him. That was the old Flair philosophy.

Maria is a major factor to bring into play, here. She is, I guess, Dolph Ziggler’s girlfriend, but she is still ostensibly a babyface. Maria has been in WWE for over five years, and although she has largely dropped the ditzy gimmick of asking stupid questions, she is still essentially the wide eyed, innocent, good girl next door. It might be fun to see her be the bad girl. That was one of the great attributes, among many, that Trish Stratus had. She was a easy to get behind (steady...) as a babyface, but also a really believable, sexy heel.

They may well be feeling that this is a time for Maria to make this transition. I can see her being the story of the match. Perhaps appearing to rebel against Dolph, making taking a bump which draws Rey’s attention to see if she is okay, and then Ziggler nailing him while his guard is down. Maria then celebrates, showing it was all a ruse, while Grisham plays along like a chump.

Or, Mysterio will win in seven minutes.

Prediction – Rey Mysterio. I think they’ll simply have Rey win. But all that speculation on Maria and Dolph’s win was fun.


Tag Titles - Chris Jericho and Big Show v Cryme Tyme
(I’m sick of saying Undisputed Tag Titles, so to me this is just the Tag Team Championships now. )

I can’t help but feel a little sorry for the participants in this match, because the underlying seam of gold under this match’s surface is Mr Shaquille O’Neal. Rumours of Show v Shaq have refused to go away, and with this show taking place in the Staples Center, home of the LA Lakers, O’Neal’s former team, it would make for an enormous news story if he were to emerge and get involved.

I want to believe something like this will happen. It would be a major fillip for the show, and for the audience. It isn’t by any means certain though, so we need to look at how things may pan out either way.

If Shaq does appear, it may be to cost Show and Jericho the belts, but I’m not sure that would be wise. For one it would mean that if they did look for a Show v Shaq showdown at any point the mainstream build wouldn’t feature a belt. That means a lot when you are trying to attract a non-traditional wrestling audience. Secondly one of the benefits of having undisputed champions is that they can appear on two shows. Think of Miz and Morrison’s versatility, The Colons wrestling prowess, and then the star power of Jericho/Edge/Show and what that gives all brands that use them. Would all brands really benefit that greatly from having Cryme Tyme on the show? I don’t think so.

Maybe Show and Jericho win, beat Cryme Tyme down afterwards and Shaq comes out to save. But why? If he has travelled to the show, wouldn’t he help before this stage? He could be in the crowd I guess, and then be invited in. There are multiple ways of doing it. I just hope they use one.

If there is no Shaq, it seems pointless having the match at all, but assuming he isn’t there, you just can’t see Cryme Tyme winning. Therefore.....

Prediction – To make it simple, Big Show and Jericho to win. And then we hope Shaq gets involved, not because a Show v Shaq will rule, but because there are multiple benefits including the spectacle and simply the element of something different.


Legacy v DX
Here we go, this is my almost monthly major PPV theory, and it has to be said these are normally absolutely miles off the mark. The best one I had, in terms of it playing out in reality, was Matt Hardy, not Christian, being Jeff’s attacked, but I wanted Edge and Matt to be in cahoots and for Christian to help Jeff, mixing up the old E&C v Hardys battles.

Since then, I’ve periodically come up with a big idea ranging from Christian as Jericho’s partner to JBL buying Raw. All have come to naught. Now, though, this really will be it.

Essentially, what I’d like to happen is for HBK, at a crucial point, to Superkick Triple H’s face off. Not because I have the bizarre hatred for Triple H that most of the net does, but because if Michaels really is going to call it a day soon then I think he ought to have one more go round with Triple H at the top of the card, and for HBK to be the heel and Triple H the babyface has not been done, to the best of my knowledge.

The turn could occur in many ways. We could simply have a regular match for while before Michaels simply kicks him. He could do the old Owen Hart at the Calgary Stampede injury and disappear for ten minutes before emerging to help Trips, although that would mean the same old handicap match we’ve already seen.

Perhaps Triple H could be seen on camera wondering where his partner is, because he is late. He then arrives mid-match to cost Hunter the bout. He might get ‘injured’ backstage then emerge midway through, selling an injury, before BOOM! A little chin music.

Whichever way it occurs, I think it would awesome. Yes we’ve seen these two wrestle before, but I’d seen Jericho wrestle Mysterio plenty of times, it was still brilliant when they did again.

Of course, this may not happen. If it does not, then I would anticipate DX winning. I don’t see that as an overly negative thing, as long as Legacy are allowed to wrestle an even fight, and not just roll over.

Interestingly, the UK tour later in the year is called the DX Reunion Tour. It would be really interesting if they were battling each other on that trip.

Prediction – Yeah, what the hell! HBK turns, and Legacy win.


WWE Title - John Cena v Randy Orton
It is hardly a new observation to say that these two wrestling again is the same old stuff. I will offer a slight counter-argument that they have often had very good contests, so let’s hope that they can really raise it tonight.

It’s worth having a look at who these men may move on to feud with after tonight, if indeed this is a one-shot deal. If you assume that even if DX don’t split they carry on battling Rhodes and DiBiase, then Cena v Swagger becomes the possibility mentioned earlier. That leaves Randy Orton with several options. He could assist Legacy in a battle with and we get a three-on-two handicap match, maybe in a Cell or something. He could battle a stepping-up Mark Henry or MVP, with the former being more likely in my eyes. Or, if DX are a-feudin’, then they may push the button on the Legacy break up and have Orton v DiBiase sooner than we thought.

I think that the better option of the two is to keep the belt on Orton. As maligned as Mark Henry has been over the years by critics, including me, his babyface turn has been reasonable, and he would be a legitimate contender for Orton. It would also be a welcome chance for Orton to win a title match cleanly. I don’t see Swagger v Cena being as good a prospect for title bout as Orton v Henry.

Prediction – Via that blatantly flawed and questionable process of logic, it’s Orton to win. Presumably by foul means.


World Title - Jeff Hardy v CM Punk – TLC Match
This ought to be the main event really. It’s certainly the one most people will be excited about, certainly above Cena and Orton. The main talking point, as it has been for a couple of months, is the imminent disappearing act of Jeffrey Nero Hardy. He’s the champ going in, with CM Punk chasing his former possession, the Big Gold Belt.

Firstly, you feel this ought to be a cracker. These two have been tremendous in their programme, some great matches, solid promos and an effective turn by CM Punk. The blowoff match, with two passionate an innovative competitors, ought to top it all off.

Logic would dictate Punk winning. They may well try and throw things up in the air by having a surprise win, but it does seem more likely that Punk will take it, and quite possibly via a rather sizable fareweel bump by Jeff.

If Hardy does indeed do a runner after this, then it will help Punk immensely. They could make Punk an enormous star in the next two months if they choose. They have him go over Jeff, the gloat at getting rid of him. “I’m the man who retired Jeff Hardy,” he’ll say, and talk of his pride of being the clean-living Straightedge guy prevailing over the flawed hero. Punk has the ability to be very self-righteous and smug, and this will definitely help his cause as a major heel.

So who to face Punk? Well how about him being forced to have a title defence, maybe against Matt Hardy or John Morrison, in which he prevails. Then, at the height of his gloating.........BONG! Back comes Taker in due time to scare the living daylights out of Punk, and if they feel like it Punk can get the better of Taker. He’d be the biggest star in the company.

Leave the title on Punk for the foreseeable, and then when the time is right, from the perspective of both parties, get Jeff Hardy back to take the title back from Punk, maybe at the Royal Rumble.

Prediction – CM Punk. Tonight, and hopefully for the future.


Well, I’m looking forward to this slightly more now. Hope you enjoy it, and don’t forget to join me just before the show starts, and I’ll be providing you with my thoughts live.

Night of Champions Live Blog

00.58am
I'll admit to you now, I'm ill prepared for tonight. I haven't got my normal PPV gear on (Tracksuit bottoms and WWE T-shirt) and I've forgotten to stock up with masses of Junk Food. I'll struggle on though.

01.00am
Short intro promo, and I think I saw a clip of Orton, Cena and Trips from back at last year's Mania, not even a current one. You can tell by the t-shirts.

01.02am
Oh for goodness sakes. This is the one match I was looking forward to. And it's on first?? That doesn't bode well for the level of the surprise does it? Jericho is on his was to face Legacy. Does Jericho have a curfew on a Sunday or something. His matches with Mysterio went on second or third, and now he jerks a curtain despite the build up for this. This basically rules out Christian, Ziggler or anyone else not on the show already, doesn't it?

01.06am
Jericho with the mic. And its..........Edge explaining why he got hurt.

01.07am
Small pop for the video, more bad words for Edge and its.........

01.08am
THE BIG SHOW???? OH COME ON! I don't mean to swear, but the fucking Big Show?

Seriously, who thinks this is a good idea? Anybody? Big Show hasn't had an entertaining match in five years. Jericho has been providing gold at every turn, and now he has this big lummox to deal with.

What does this achieve? What in the hell does it achieve? It makes matches worse; it lets down people expecting an exciting mystery partner; it drags Jericho down; it elevates no-one. Absolute bullshit.

01.15am
Crowd are basically dead. Imagine how they would be if this was Christian.

A small chant for Y2J. He is the best heel in the business, and yet people are chanting for him. That's not because the rest are great heels, its that Jericho is the only one over.

This is a heel v heel match. I can't believe the amount of idiocy involved in this booking.

01.17am
A couple of move notes - Legacy did the old Cade and Murdoch high-lo move, and Cody just broke out a gorgeous moonsault to a standing Jericho. And Teddy hit a powerslam, not as good as his old man's. And Cole called it a scoop slam. Because he is an idiot. Or because he told in his ear to be one.

01.20am
I have to be fair, the crowd popped nicely for the finale. They got into to it as it went along. It wasn't a bad match by any means. But it will not be remembered for very long.

01.28am
Top promo by Punk (except the single parent line, which was uncalled for). Remember the theory about the heel believing what he says, or at leats feeling it could be true. Everything Punk says could make sense. He delivers it tremendously. This is a proper heel turn. Don't turn on another midcarder no-one cares about, call the fans on their love for a top star. This live crowd will be hugely behind Hardy in the title match.

I wonder if they did that because Punk has been mega over in Philly before, and since they are a notoriously raucous crowd, his pious promo would turn them completely against him.

01.29am
ECW now. This could be fun. Dreamer back in Philly, we could get quite the split crowd here.

01.30am
OK, that was a pretty cool pop for Christian. Maybe he's the favourite.

01.41am
I quite enjoyed that. Hard to get a face v face match going after a heel v heel one, but it was done reasonably. Crowd were slightly in favour of Christian, but it was tapered because of their liking for Dreamer.

As an aside, I really enjoy listening to Striker. He is a great analyst. He'll not go much highly up the ladder, because he isn't a big enough name, but he adds far more to an individual match than King does. Matt actually talks abouot why moves happen, and what effect they have. King can do this, because he used to. He should be allowed to do it more. I miss the (even vaguely) heel colour commentator.

01.46am
Six pack challenge next. I wish they'd get Sean Waltman to at least make a cameo.

Swagger out first, followed by Carlito and a pretty decent reception for Miz, I think. I've predicted Kofi, but I'd love to see Miz win this by sneaky, foul means.

Primo out next, so he's replacing The Big Letdown. Then MVP and.........my TV has just gone black..........

01.49am
Shit, I've just realised what I typed. I didn't mean that to sound bad. My TV genuinely lost signal, and came back just as Kofi entered the ring. Please don't think I've started talking like Bill Watts or something.

01.55am
This one is like a TNA X-Div opener. You can decide for yourself if that is a positive.

01.57am
Great exchange of nearfalls with Kofi, Carltio and Primo. Well deserved round of applause.

01.58am
I quite enjoyed that. I always think each PPV should act like the old circus theory. You know, if you don't like the clown, you might like the juggler. (I don't mean 'insane clown' and 'juggalo') I mean that it might not all be for you, but something will be. And you need variety. Three hours of the same stuff gets boring. I see no problem with throwing out six guys and having some fun.

No-one looked weak. Swagger got some good dominant spots in. MVP build the crowd up some. Miz was sneaky. Carlito backstabbed his bro. Kofi looked athletic. All fine by me.

02.04am
I am not a Michelle McCool fan. I was not looking forward to the McCool v Perez match.

But that opening spot was f'n awesome. Great stuff.

02.12am
I tell you what, I'll give them credit for that. I enjoyed that match. It was way better than I expected - far exceeding my expectations. I didn't care for a touch of Melina overselling (noise) and then underselling (taking a DDT on the barricade then fighting back seconds later) but it was creative, it was intense, featured some innovative spots.

I am very pleased to be wrong. Very well done, ladies.

Favourite part of the match, though, was Todd forgetting the divas marketing slogan "Smart, sexy and.....whatever the other word is." Unintentionally hilarious - but I think he might get a little telling off for that.

Four matches, one title switch so far. How many more?

02.13am
Triple threat next. Interesting positioning. Cole says it all started a few short weeks ago. No it didn't, it started years ago, and hasn't bloody changed. That's the problem.

02.49am
I may sound like Mr Predictable, but I'm afraid I didn't care for most of that.

I'll start with some postives. I liked the opening where Cena and Triple H worked together to get to Orton. I liked the fact that they addressed the double tap-out and the ref didn;t know what to do. I like the creative RKO to finish.

BUT......

I didn't like Orton winning but Triple H and Cena having claims at the title still - suggests we won't get rid of them yet.

I didn't like the double run in prompting a comment that it was no DQ. If it is no-DQ why don't they use low blows and weapons and all kinds of shit?

I didn't like the pace of the match. It was very slow, featured little or no creativity, and had the standard one man outside, two men in format.

I didn't like the hokey Cena fightback. That legdrop/leaping fameasser move is horrible.

I didn't like the length it was given to achieve very little indeed.

Apart from that it was fine.

02.53am
Nice backstage seg with Maryse and Miz. I like the fact they are developing this relationship in a slightly different manner to the usual wrestling romances. Miz actually showed a small element of babyface in his comeback to the French Canadian. Maybe he'll start to court another diva, with Maryse getting jealous?

03.04am
That would be title switch number two tonight, then, as The Divas Title joins the ECW Championship in jumping to the challenger.

Mickie James being champ is fine. I like Mickie, and I would like to see her be given enough time to work with Gail Kim. That would be great. Also a possibility that they may look at the stupidity of having two female titles and unify them, especially now that both champs have been Diva's and Women's champions, for what that is worth.

The match itself was ok. Maybe. It certainly wasn't as good as Michelle v Melina, which I'm surprised about, but I have to go with the evidence of my eyes. To me, this was the match the girls should be allowed to have on Raw from time to time rather than their crappy little three minute tag matches.

03.28am
Really, really good match. Best on the show by a country mile, and without a doubt Ziggler's most impressive outing to date. It has to be. Massive credit to Mysterio, who is a terrific seller, especially given the fact that he cannot use facial expression to help him.

I thought the outcome was correct. Mysterio is over with the kids and having a belt helps his image. It also helps the IC strap, because it needs star power and stability. The result is also the right one, because it underlines my point that I made last month (about Miz and Cena) that you don't have win to be put over, and you don't always get over if you win.

Ziggler will have gone up in many folks (on sofas and backstage) estimations, and will come back again. Great job.

03.30am
Interesting promo for the Tag Team DVD. Billy and Chuck getting a viewing was incredible, and interesting that Championship wrestling from Florida and WCCW got mentions, but ECW didn't. No Public Enemy?

03.33am
One to go then, and just two title changes thus far. I think we'll get one here though.

03.53am
Did JR just call Jeff Hardy a "High risk junkie"? Ouch. Shouldn't have said that, Jim.

Anyway, the aforementioned Jeffrey Nero Hardy is the World Champion. The ending was a little anti-climactic. I thought Punk deserved a little more than a rather limp finish where he was dragged back to the ring and beaten.

The match in general was good. It wasn't spectacular, but it was plenty solid, and I would suggest this issue may not be finished. I still spy a gimmick match blow off for these two at Summerslam.

Credit to Punk here, I think, for his facial expressions, really helping to convey emotions and his character. Credit also to the cameramen and directors for picking this up. Not easy, that.

Overall, that's an ok show. A couple of missteps, but mostly a parade of stuff which was a touch above average. Three title changes is a reasonable amount, and plenty of viewers, especially the young, will go home/switch off happy with Rey and Jeff picking up wins in the last two matches.

Raw Thoughts - July 21

· Funny how these guest hosts keep booking main events which are exactly how WWE normally books things.
· Haha, I love Cena saying several things which make the crowd cheer, then says that the title match at Night of Champions will be one of the greatest of all time – silence!
· Good use of history, though, explaining that the three-way happened at Wrestlemania and Orton boasting that he won.
· Orlando must be pissed off. Hottest crowd in ages last week on Raw, and now Cena is buttering up this crowd saying how awesome they are. They may well be, but no love for Orlando. Poor souls.
· Cena and Triple H are getting more and more pally. I spy the old “I respect you” thing before one turns on the other and they wrestle at Summerslam
· Ridiculous – absolutely ludicrous – promo by Triple H, saying he doesn’t really care about the belt. The Hobbit exchange with Cena was reasonably funny, but to say he doesn’t want the belt, when he has spent ten almost solid years chasing it, is so daft. So that’s Jarrett in TNA and Triple H in WWE who don’t want the belt. Aren’t these people meant to be running things?
· Six man match for the IC title should be fun. The tag setup made perfect sense.
· And, to be honest, that was a very good six-man tag. Interesting, though, that a man not in the match got the pinfall
· That’s two ZZ Top segments now, and even Chris Jericho couldn’t save that one. Doesn’t that say something to you? That even Jericho didn’t make a segment interesting. Turns out he’s wrestling Mark Henry tonight, and no mention of his mystery partner.
· So what did that achieve? Lawler beats Kendrick, who presumably is either about to be canned, or has annoyed someone backstage about something.....again.
· Ooh, waitress at a Waffle House – is that a thinly veiled pop at a certain former superstar who ended up flipping waffles.
· The WWE Players recreate Jake Roberts and Rick Martel for your viewing pleasure. Maryse v Mickie in a blindfold match??
· Oh dear, Lillian, spit it out. Nope, not good enough. Best resign.........
· Dear God, somebody save Chavo from this pain. And us, the viewers, for that matter.
· Triple H and Cena are being way too pally. There has to be a destruction from this, possibly tonight.
· So......is that Jericho turning face again? Or is it just for the bit against Legacy. Nice feel to that three-man exchange, though.
· Couldn’t be Steamboat as Jericho’s partner, could it?
· Shaq – nice coup, should get some good mainstream sports publicity. But surely more wrestling legends would bolster the audience for ratings purposes?
· Ordinary main event – just the same as last week, really, except the match ended in a pin and not a DQ.
· Another nothing Raw. Very little to right home about in terms of action or storyline. ZZ Top’s involvement corny, and they are in danger of watering down the guest host concept if the host just books the same old matches we see every week.

Raw Thoughts - July 13

· That wasn’t over the top and exaggerated at the top of the show. That really was an incredible ovation for The Game.
· Is that Seth Green or is that Rey Mysterio without the mask?
· Guest Host booking himself in the main event. Cool, so at least Seth is following the example of bookers throughout history.
· Poor Primo. A during the break ring entrance already, and with a new song too.
· I have little interest in the Carlito Primo thing, despite it’s good start last week. Mainly because the brother v brother thing has been done too much now, not to mention the tag partner turn angle.
· This is a painful Raw so far. “One million dollars” Austin Powers reference? Hmm, topical.
· MVP v Swagger? Match thrown away. That could have been a several week build after a terrific opening gambit last week in the VIP Lounge. On the positive side, it looks like MVP is a little more over as a babyface.
· Swagger has to lose that mime coming down the aisle. The press-up is ok, but the hitting the chest thing is ludicrous.
· Tidy match for what we saw – the break came too early and I’d sooner it didn’t come during the match at all – and I think it’s fine Swagger getting the win. I’d really like to see him with Kofi for the US Title.
· Interesting promo from Jericho. Slightly weak excuse that he had a clause written in about Edge getting injured, but I’ll let it go. It was a tough one to write themselves out of.
· I like the idea of the slow burn of the partner. Let’s speculate and then tune in to find out. My initial guess would be Swagger, since we are looking for a man who Jericho would consider an honest man and so forth.
· I actually have a fantastic idea for a partner for Jericho – and I’ll tell you on a separate blog.
· Also liked the burial of Edge by Jericho. Suggests Edge may return, whenever that may be, as a babyface.
· Poor Chavo. So this is another Guerrero getting embarrassed is it? Hardly seems right to me.
· There wasn’t any exaggeration about that Big Show spear to Evan Bourne. That did look awesome and devastating.
· Aside from the wrestling for a second. I don’t know what Robot Chicken is. Nor do I want to. That is all.
· From a ‘don’t do this at home’ perspective, Green ought to get pummelled within an inch of his life.
· I think Orton does that DDT off the middle rope too often. That ought to be a dangerous finisher, not just some move that goes in the middle of a match.
· I tell you what, that was a really, really fun main event. I think the show overall has been quite dull and at times cringeworthy. However, they obviously limited the activity of Seth Green, but managed to include him well. The breaking up of the cover after an RKO was genius, because it got the move over, didn’t pin Triple H and got the celeb involved. The cheer after Cena broke up Orton attempted punt was deafening. I don’t even mind the DQ finish because it was secondary. The brawl taking over was the story, and then a near sledgehammer shot to Cena, which both Trips and Cena sold the motion of well, was a nice coup de gras.

Raw Thoughts - July 6

· Ah, it’s good to see the Million Dollar Man again. Its presumably his choice, but you wonder why he didn’t stick on for longer. Wrestling misses managers like him.
· They need to do the slow burn with DiBiase jnr – they need to be careful pushing his babyface side TOO much.
· Interesting booking for tag titles at next PPV. Heel v Heel, Legacy v Edge/Jericho. Of course, that won’t happen, because of Edge’s injury, but strange they’d book that kind of contest
· Bah – this is why I don’t like taped Raws. This bloody piped in cheers for people. IF THEY ARE NOT OVER, YOU ARE PUSHING THEM WRONG, OR WE DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM. DON’T PRETEND THEY ARE BEING CHEERED.
· Now that is what you call a sudden and vicious heel turn. Loved it. Believable anger from Carlito and I like Primo trying cover up rather than fight his brother. I’d expect this break-up to take a while longer yet.
· I love that Ted Snr plays up disliking Dusty. Nice little callback to the polka dots too.
· That match (Orton v DiBiase jnr) was the match John Cena and The Miz should have had. Maybe not with so many babyface-like spots for Miz, but certainly the extra nearfalls and moments when there was a prospect of the underdog getting the W.
· Nice little segment – the VIP Lounge. Those talk show segs are supposed to help people’s characters get over. That was one of the better babyface reactions for MVP in a while, and it was a chance to allow a new audience to see Jack Swagger, especially after his odd debut last week.
· Enjoyed that Bourne v Kofi match, but two problems with it. One was that Kofi doesn’t really need to be getting beat. Two was that it was too short. The amount of reruns, recaps and other needless bits that take ages, you could let them have three more minutes and have some fun with the match.
· I think Big Show is getting ‘X-Pac heat’ now. To me, crowds are booing him because he is boring not because he is an effective heel. He has always been slow, but he used to be menacing. Now, he is a slower version of the same giant we saw ten years ago.
· Is there no Miz at all this week? Nor Santino?
· I tell you what, say what you like about Hunter and Cena (and I have done) but they had a reasonable match there, and you’ll do well to find too many other wrestler sin the company who could have a match on Raw and get the crowd cheering and booing mere punches.
· That ending would be understandable and perfectly sensible booking.......if it didn’t happen EVERY BLOODY WEEK. I am so sick of them protecting guys in ridiculous ways. Just book the triple threat. Don’t come up with daft ways of doing it with crappy finishes. Just book the triple threat. I tell you what, have Batista book Hunter v Orton for the PPV. Then have Million Dollar Man get pissed off by Hunter, so he puts Cena in there too. Next week’s guest host could then get Hunter and Cena to pick each other’s opponent, or better yet get Randy to pick their opponents and if either man loses their match they lose their place in the match against Orton. If both lose, Orton gets the night off.
· The trouble is, if you keep booking matches like Hunter v Cena, and just spoil the ending (don’t forget this is frequently happening at PPVs too) then people will just get fed up.
· “Hey man, did you hear about the main event on Raw this week? Sounds good, doesn’t it? Are you going to tune in?”“Nah, don’t think I’ll bother. Those matches always end in DQs and shit. I’ll read the reports on TheSun.co.uk/wrestling instead.” (cheap pop)

The Bash review

· Just starting my recording of The Bash. No timechecks, because it seems redundant. However, I will tell you at this point that I have one piece of spoiler knowledge. Someone I know was watching it, I asked what they had got up to, and they said the third Hunter v Orton fall. No no-one is taking two straight then?
· Those rules for the scramble were up and gone mighty quickly. That seemed very much to me that the rules have changed. I don’t remember their being three minute intervals last time.
· Did striker say “If that’s a word”? Shouldn’t he know, he’s the frickin’ teacher. (“Frickin’”....is that a word?)
· “It took Tommy nearly two decades to become ECW champion” says Josh. Erm, no, I’m pretty sure Dreamer won the ECW title towards the end of the ECW proper. It may have been for one night, but he was champ.
· Oh, where to start? Maybe with the fact that Dreamer was (interim) champ made still covered someone? How about the dead crowd? Perhaps that the ending held very little excitement? Maybe even the graphic that proclaimed that he was “New” champion, even though he retained.
· I just didn’t enjoy that match. It had no flow, the three minute gaps were not enough to allow the entering superstars to get going, and the action was not gripping enough. Average at best. Although I said that Dreamer would win with a late fall. One to me.
· Grisham – Rey has worn a mask ever since he started wrestling. Erm, wrong, because he was unmasked for a while in WCW, but in fairness Todd will have been told that, probably not his fault.
· Jericho and Rey have to go on SECOND?? Come on......
· JR just said Jericho is a future hall of famer.....in the eyes of many. First time I think I have heard him say that.
· You know Rey Rey had a week off.....was that for his new ink?
· My goodness me that was a good match. These guys continually pull out great match after great match. There were so many innovative spots, reversals, counters and pin attempts, it was truly a pleasure to watch. Once you have those ingredients, all you need is a decent ending to make it feel right, and they had one. Rey won, and it was the right call, although I would have loved to see what they’d do with an unmasked Mysterio. This didn’t really hurt Jericho, because he wasn’t going for the win at that point, but the mask. Good work.
· My run goes on. I felt that Ziggler winning with some assistance was by far and away the most likely scenario. I may not have been definite in saying Kane, but it had to be the most sensible way out. Mind you, it better not be Kane v Khali. Ouch, that’ll be painful.
· Vince and Long slot seemed a little redundant, but interesting that Vince namechecked Bischoff and Heyman.
· Were the crowd chanting ‘We want Christian”?
· There is a slight problem when a sudden tag team like Edge and Jericho emerge, because you know they’ll win. You can’t book them in that match and have them get beat. The match was far from awesome, but it was ok, and it is good to see something a little different.
· I don’t care for Orton belittling the tag team titles, but I loved the DiBiase confrontation. What we’ve got here, is a terrific opportunity to slowly burn that Orton and DiBiase have heat with each other, and spin a huge babyfacfe turn for Teddy, in a similar sort of manner, in a way, to when Batista went babyface after heat with Triple H.
· The women’s division is completely in disarray, and McCool’s defeat of Melina feels largely unimportant.
· Some will moan, but I think it is correct to have the Three Stages of Hell last.
· My observation from that Hardy v Punk match – Hardy looked so frighteningly like Raven at the end of that match it was terrifying.
· Odd, odd, finish to Punk v Hardy. The post match, though, was tremendous, and is a perfect setup for a forthcoming contest.
· If Punk is to go heel, it is exactly the right feud for him to be in. Jeff might well be the most unequivocally over babyface in the company, what with Hunter and Cena having certain detractors and Taker and HBK being absent. Anything he doesn’t is fine according to the people, so Punk becomes the villain.
· The match itself, I thought, was good but not great. I still am not sure that Jeff Hardy, without partners or gimmicks, can have a stand up great one on one contest with anyone. I mean GREAT. Not good, not really good, but GREAT, on the level that Jericho and Mysterio have had several times.
· I don’t think that Cena and Miz match really achieved anything. Does not make Cena look any better? No, because he didn’t beat anybody he wasn’t expected to. He is so much further up the pecking order than his opponent for the night that he gets no rub from picking up a win. Miz, meanwhile, won’t be completely destroyed, but any attempts to raise his level will be met with resistance, because he was made to look second rate to Cena. He wasn’t really given anytihgn but a brief flurry, and to me that is a shame. Cena wouldn’t have looked weak letting Miz take his part in a 50/50 match, because the case could have been made that he took him a bit lightly, and no one realised how good Miz was. Instead, it was one-sided, not entertaining, and helped no one at all.
· Yes! Triple H with the chair. That is so, so smart! I was a bit disappointed that the FCA portion of the match didn’t last longer, but nice to see some proper logic applied.
· I hope the first thing on Raw is Triple H complaining about Vince. My father in law is an idiot, who booked me in a match where I was clearly at a disadvantage because my opponent’s two buddies would come and help.
· That was pretty good, for what it was, I guess. A DX chop at the end – HBK to come back? Orton/Legacy v Hunter/Shawn? I would think there would be a chance there except for the fact that it’s Night of Champions next.

Raw Thoughts - May 18

· Judgment day was good, Cole, but it was “at times miraculous”? What?
· So Mickie pins the champ one-on-one, then in a tag match, but isn’t number one contender? Seems a bit harsh.
· Hopefully they’ll take the battle royal outcome to conclusion at Extreme Rules. Fancy seeing Kelly Kelly in a hardcore match?
· Nice to see Santino given a plausible match but still not make Chavo look too stupid. Hopefully they can build this for him
· I like that – Josh inferring to Matt Hardy that Matt did Vickie a favour and helped Edge. Wahey! Logic!
· Excellent – Goldust and Hornswoggle as a duo – hopefully mostly on ECW.
· That’s taken Miz back a couple of weeks. He was doing great as a cutting edge antagonist, but a lame rap does not help his cause in the slightest.
· Big Show and Cena in a submission match is another nice logical progression from Cena struggling to procure the STF at Judgment Day.
· Matt needs a change of music. His “Ohh Ye-eah” start still draws a cheer.
· If I’m going to pick Cole up on every little thing, only fair I do it to JR. Matt’s injury is a metacarpal, not a metatarsal, as Ross said. The first is the hand, the latter the foot.
· Two things I’ll give credit for in that Vickie/Santina segment. The first was that Santino had two little patches picked up from shaving. That’s beyond subtle – good work. The other is that Regal came out unannounced and we don’t know why. I like when unexpected and unknown things happen. They should happen regularly and make you tune in week to week to find out the reason.
· Aren’t WWE having some problems with a venue because of a Basketball fixture clash? Presumably Vince is unhappy, hence the multiple negative references to Denver Nuggets on the show.
· That was a very good main event for lots of reasons
· Firstly, I liked the chaos of it. I hate how much the current Raw product looks like it’s so clinical, but this was an old-fashioned (well, Attitude Era) main event where stuff was happening all over the place. Cena and Show up the ramp, confusion about the legal man, then a Flair run in. I like how the camera didn’t pick it straight up, then Cody fell into the frame. I thought Cena had returned. The commentators also didn’t pick up on it straight away. While that’s silly because they can see the ramp, it was effective.
· The match itself was plenty good enough. Standard heel domination (but then they should, they have one more man) and babyface in peril stuff, done well to keep an otherwise quiet crowd lively.
· Next, the Flair involvement, throughout the show, worked nicely to create a minor conflict between him and Batista and then resolve it. Also, his involvement in the finish means there is a nice plug for his involvement next week.
· I also like the way that essentially Cena abandoned Batista. Dave can argue Cena let him down and Flair had to bail him out. Cena can respond that he helped him out earlier on when Batista and Flair were getting their ass kicked. Both men would be right. Doing this would be perfect because there could be a slow build for when they wrestle again – the first time was simply too rushed.
· Overall, below average show until the end. Really good main event and top ending.

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