Survivor Series Live Notes

01.03am
Here we go, then, Survivor Series 2009, and it's from DC. I didn't realise that. I wonder if there will be any kind of mixed reaction for Batista.

01.04am
Robo-Roberts reads out the rules for the Survivor Series matches, but says that the "remaining teammates on the team will be sole survivors." Erm, no. If there is more than one remaining guy, that isn't a 'sole survivor' is it? I fear this is an unwinnable 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania argument again.

01.07am
Miz leads out his team, with Swagger, Ziggler, Galloway and O'Shaunnessy for company. Sheamus might well be an interesting element to this match. Might he simply attack someone and walk out, or get DQ-ed for excessive punishment? Odds on it's Evan Bourne who is his scapegoat, and a squash will follow on Raw.

01.10am
By contrast, Morrison brings up the rear for his team, with Bourne, Finlay, Hardy and Benjamin preceding him. Finlay can't seem to make his mind up whether he wants his original music or his "diddley-dee" Hornswoggle music.

01.12am
Hate to be picky, but Cole reckons that because this match features many future superstars that we are "looking into a mirror". OK. That means I'm a future star, because I have a mirror next to my desk, and when I look into it I see my handsome mug looking back. I think he means crystal ball.

01.14am
Air Bourne to Ziggler gets rid of him, but McIntrye follows with his cradle double arm DDT to make it 4-4. Good to see finishers being used to eliminate, and not the usual soft moves which would normally only just warrant a two count.

01.16am
Sheamus eliminates Finlay with a bicycle kick after a staredown. South defeats North there. 4-3 to the heels.

01.24am
Swagger is gone after Starship Pain, and we have a new ref in the ring. Seems Scott Armstrong has got injured. They didn't make enough of it to be storyline, so I'm guessing it was legit. I hope the guy is alright, but goodness knows we can cope without him.

01.25am
3-2 in the heels' favour after Miz rids the ring of Shelton after an SCF and an assist from Sheamus. Incidentally, they have shown Armstrong getting a knee to the back of he head from Sheamus.

01.28am
The highly-thought of (by me, at least) Drew McIntyre hits his DDT on Matt Hardy and it's 3-1, with only Morrison remaining. King says John has a 1 in 3 chance.

Actually, he doesn't, because statistically, using equal probabilities, he has a 1 in 2 chance of winning the next fall. Then, should he win that it is a 1 in 2 of the next, and the next. Accumulative, it's 1 in 8. Clearly Matt Striker wasn't a Maths teacher, or he's have picked King up there.

01.31am
Remember AJ said that Morrison steals moves? He just hit a Pele. Offense was short-lived, though, since Sheamus then laid him out. Game over, and the heels win with three men - Miz, Sheamus and McIntrye - remaining. "Sole" survivors, apparently.

01.36am
Cool little segment with Christian acknowledging he was 'different' from his team mates. The elephant in the room was the fact he was the only white guy, but he said it was because he was the only ECW guy or the only Canadian. He then said Canadians could rap, and went on to (try and) prove it.

"Team Kofi Kingston, looking for a fight.
Four of us are black, and one of us is white.
WASSUP?"

Awkward moment, then they all joshed with each other. Some will sniff at this, and say its racist or a lame attempt at humour, or maybe that the white-run WWE are trying to pretend they are cool. I tend to think that we ought to accept that this is a kids show now, and that this is actually a reasonable message to kids - that the good guys all get on despite any superfluous differences.

01.42am
Rey in the ring, and it's grudge match time next. Fair enough little storyline this, but I'm so fed up of Rey wrestling big guys. He has spent the last two years wrestling Kane, Mike Knox, JBL, now Batista...... save for a great feud with Jericho, Rey has had to work very hard with limited bigger guys. His match with Morrison before his suspension showed he can still go and create awesome matches - I wish he was allowed to do it more.

01.50am
Matt Striker is a superb, vaguely heel, colour guy. He is a majr asset to tonight's broadcast team, which is Cole, Lawler and Matt himself. Here is a gem.

Striker defending Batista's actions prompted Cole to remark "I'm glad I'm not your friend." Striker shot back with - "You are." Brilliant.

01.51am
Batista wins after hitting a methodical combo of spear, spinebuster and three Batistabombs. Ref had to stop it rather than a pinfall occuring.

Post match, big Dave gets a chair and spinebust Rey on said implement. The irony of all this was that the cheers for Batista, in his hometown, remember, actually grew as time went on.

02.01am
Orton, along with his team - Cody, Ted, Regal and Punk - are out first, with Cole making a nice deal of Orton having a good record of being a survivor at this event. I like that, it's what proper sports commentators would do.

02.07am
All the faces - MVP., Henry, KR-Truth Krush Kwik, Christian and Kofi - are out, and Punk does a brilliant job of going after Truth, still mad at him after ruining his fun on Smackdown.

02.09am
Heels gang up, and Henry is gone without even tagging anyone else into the match.

02.11am
Very Kwikly, Killing the Truth is gone, thanks to Punk. 5-3 now, and the heels look great so far. I'd expect Cody and Regal to go soon though, possibly to an incoming Kofi.

02.13am
Nope, it's the second Marine who departs, falling to Christian's sunset flip. Meanwhile, Cole uses the nonsense phrase "controlled frenzy" and gets called out by Striker, who says "What does that mean?" Cole can't explain. Striker is AWESOME tonight.

MVP does for Regal, and nearly rolls Cody up, too. This match, despite the added star power, has not been as good as the first SSeries match thus far - and the first one was no better than ok.

02.18am
Painful looking CrossRhodes to MVP, and it's 3-2, with Kofi and Christian battling Cody, Punk and Orton.

02.19am
Equilibrium restored, as Christian pins Cody. Could go either way this.

02.21am
Killswitch looks to have Randy beaten, but Punk makes the save before and RKO gets shot of the Legend Killer. Kofi is left, but Orton tags out to avoid the confrontation. Former tag partners Punk and Kofi to face off.....

02.29am
The Kingston bandwagon rolls on. A reversal of a roll-up for three on Punk leads to Orton coming in, and getting met with a Trouble in Paradise. Kofi beats both men quickly, and wins the match for his team.

The cheer was major, the announcers went crazy. They are doing GOOD job with Kingston. Next step is a solid PPV effort with Orton. I wouldn't say he'll win the Rumble, but he ought to have a big run in it. Kingston for the Money in the Bank, I'd say.

02.38am
Three main men in the ring for the World title match. Smart money has to be on Taker's retention after Jericho accidently (or otherwise) costs Show the match.

Should go back and mention that the Survivor Match we just had did pick up from the point where I said it was inferior to the one before. From the point where it was Christian and Kofi v Orton and Punk it was very sound indeed.

02.55am
I don't really know what to make of that. It was very watchable, and reasonable executed, but it was like most Triple Threats you'll see. Quite slow, methodical, and unable to really shock or grip me.

Undertaker wins after a succession of finishing moves didn't do the job, and reversed a chokeslam by Big Show into a Hells Gate. I would fully expect the Raw triple threat to top that.

03.03am
Here comes the girls, now. Kelly eliminates Layla quickly. Pathetically, the talentless Michelle McCool quickly gets rid of Gail Kim. I think the success of Michelle McCool is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing in WWE right now.

03.06am
An unco-ordinated section between Eve and Jillian ends with the former hitting a top-rope sunset flip, before Beth demolishes Eve then Double Kelly. Surprisingly, though, Beth is pinned via a Mickie crucifix. Beth decks Mickie before leaving.

03.09am
Mickie removes Alicia with an untidy Thesz press from the top, before Striker undoes his night's good work in one fell swoop by suggesting that McCool could be in the Hall of Fame one day. Urgh.

03.13am
Melina puts this one away with her (much) modified Canadian Destroyer. Mickie and Melina survive - and I suspect the Verizon Center just sold more beer and popcorn, with people nipping out for the last time before the main event.

03.17am
DX Music hits. I'm surprised. I would have said this match merited seperate entrances for Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and not the DX music and hoopla. No video package building up the storyline for this one.

Because there hasn't been one.

03.23am
I was just in the process of typing that Cena has this one wrapped up because Michael Cole just led the commentary trio in declaring that either Trips or Shawn HAD to win.......when HBK turned and kicked Hunter in the face. Great moment.

Shawn and Hunter now battling away, but the real story is when HBK gets back in.

03.25am
Correction to the above, I obviously got my HBKs and my Hunters the wrong way around.

03.29am
O-ho! Hunter is back up, saves Shawn from Cena who was about to plunge HBK through the announce table, then a heavy duty spinebuster sends Michaels and the table sprawling.

It's interesting, no doubt, but it's taking away from the match a little because they are doing the old trick of having one of the three lie down for a while as the other two duke it out.

03.45am
Cena gets the win after a tense one. Lots of finishers and pauses as we approached the finish, before Michaels Superkicked Hunter, only to walk into an Attitude adjustment. Cena dropped HBK onto HHH, and the champ pinned The Game.

The intrigue in the match superceded the action here, and I would say that the booking of Shawn to kick Hunter in the face at the start of the match was an inspired decision. It's hardly an original or clever point to make when I say that the build to this was weak, but as soon at that first bar of chin music played you had to tune in.

So will they continue the DX break up? Possibly, and if they do it remains to be seen if it is a gradual or quick thing. I'd do a jump ahead to Mania and suggest that Michaels v Helmsley would be a great match at Mania, along with Cena v Taker and Edge v Jericho. I'd suggest you get to DiBiase v Orton by then, too, and you are in good shape for the PPV when March in Phoenix rolls around. Won't be long, you know.

Survivor Series: Live notes

01.02am
Welcome to Cena Series. That’s what it seems like anyway. I can’t help but feel that the endless vignettes of Cena holding his paper title belt when he was 12 and the portrayal of him as the golden boy are serving to inflame the people that detest him so.

I have no problem with Cena. I think he is a charismatic son of a gun who has learned to work effectively. I didn’t say he’s a good wrestler. But I respect him greatly.

01.05am
JR opens the show and gets straight into the Jeff Hardy story. Seriously, if this is a work, it is pretty despicable. Don’t forget they once found Brian Pillman dead in his hotel room the day before a PPV. Surely if it was a situation serious enough to hospitalise a guy they wouldn’t let him compete, big spot or no big spot.

01.09am
They appear to be doing the thing where they let all the commentators join in. I quite like that.

Nearly all the competitors for this opener are out in the ring. Decent pop for Mizorrison. Is that a surprise or not?

01.12am
Oh, and by the way, if you are reading this while watching the show then "Hi" and welcome to the first completely live PPV blog. I'm going to be using this format on PPV nights from now on, with the exception of Wrestlemania - because hopefully I'll be there!

If you want to contribute, then please email me at robthegreen@hotmail.com and NOT the email address advertised on the right of this page. That email address will soon be changed, too.

I don't anticipate a high level of correspondance tonight because I have barely publicised this live blog. But if you have anything to say at anytime, feel free to chime in.

01.14am
Did you expect any different for MVP? He got rid of one, but soon gets ejected by Khali. "Have you ever seen Kane sent to the mat with such ease?" says Matt Striker. Yes Matt, when Khali faced Kane earlier in the year. Man, a 'Khali' chant starts up. Who'da thunk it?

There goes Kane, by the way. And hopefully that's it for Kane/Rey.

01.21am
Three against three right now, and no surprise that Cryme Tyme, MVP and Kane are the men who are out of it. The six men left are the most pushed in this contest. remains to be seem how they'll get rid of Khali (if at all) but you'd think that the faces will lose a man next.

01.23am
Wrong again for me. Rey is a house of fire to rid the match of Miz. JBL comes in to stop him doing the same to Morrison. But why not so that last time?

01.30am
It's all over, and a surprising result, I guess. HBK, along with Rey and Khali, are the survivors, with JBL tricked into a count out then Morrison Superkicked out for the count. Nice bit of comedy with Michaels and Mysterio climbing on the ropes so they can be as tall as Khali, and we have a crowd-pleasing opening.

01.33am
There was an interesting point raised, inadvertantly, by the commentary team. Morrison, they say, has a World champion on his side, and three world champions outside the ring. Makes me think about how many world or ex-world champions there are in the company now. That's if you take out the ECW title.

Four in the match right now. Plus the current incumbants, Triple H and Jericho. Thats six. Punk, Edge, Batista, Orton, Cena is eleven. Kane, Taker, Big Show. We're up to fourteen. Have I missed any?

01.35am
Diva time, now, it seems. This is going to be interesting. Cross brand matches have one major problem. They have a mix of babyface and heel competitors, so difficult for the crowd to get behind anyone.

At least Santino is here. I'll root for Raw because of him.

01.38am
Two nice things to note early. A nice reference by Michael Cole about a 14 (I think) year-old Survivor Series match involving Lawler and a load of midgets, then a really nice-looking headscissors by Michelle McCool.

Now you will not here me praise either of those individuals very often, so savour it. Only fair to give them credit where it's due - God knows they have a bunch of things in their debit column as far as I am concerned.

01.42am
Lets be fair. A really nice exchange by Michelle and Mickie, now. Ms McCool slowly redeeming herself.

01.43am
She's gone though. Basically distracted by Maria, so that might be them going back at it soon on Smackdown. Maryse eliminates Mickie, incredibly sloppily. It is 3v3, with some horrible looking pins. And it is noticible that they are protecting certain individuals. Candice pinning Natalya? After a spear? C'mon!

01.48am
Well, that was awful, frankly. Several falls that looked barely credible, and a pretty dead crowd. At least Beth was the sole survivor and we got a few seconds of Santino's awesomeness.

Oh, and maybe Candice got injured, too. She looked like she pulled a hamstring at the very least, because she did it at a time which didn't seem appropriate to sell. If she is hurt, I wish her a speedy recovery, in all seriousness. But I think we can cope without her.

01.51am
Right, where to start here. In short, Matt Hardy just did an interview with Todd Grisham about Jeff Hardy's injury.

The story is that Jeff got hit in the back of the head with a blunt instrument. This was in a hotel, so outside of WWE jurisdiction. This pretty much confirms the fakeness of the story, so taking it as work, it means we have an attempted murder storyline. That's what that is.

Matt said 'he feared the worst' leaving a horrible silence as you interpret what he meant by that. This seems a good time to tell you that he was wearing a skull and crossbones t-shirt. Hmm, not very appropriate. Speaking of not appropriate, the next match is.........a Casket Match. Dear lord. This is from a company, though, that put a woman in a Casket on Smackdown. Not just any woman, but EDDIE GUERRERO'S WIDOW. I despair sometimes, I really do.

01.55am
Taker is on his way, so I have five minutes before he reaches the ring.

I just remembered something. Matt Hardy said that he hardly got any sleep last night, but didn't they 'find' Jeff in the morning. Which would surely mean Matt found out after he woke up from his night's sleep.

This is quite likely an oversight, as continuity isn't WWE's strongpoint. However, do you suppose that, somewhere down the line, they could reveal Matt to be the assailant? The 'I didn't sleep' could be shown as an error which implicates him.

Even if that isn't picked up, it could still be Matt who did it. The brothers have never really got into it properly, and it might be a fun programme for a bit. Perhaps Matt could be jealous about his bro's popularity, despite the fact that Matt has a World title and Jeff hasn't.

And if we are taking the fantasy booking further, what if Matt did it in conjunction with Edge. Turns out that a couple of Lita's former conquests hit it off in the storyline, and try to take out Jeff. Then Jeff finds an ally.

And it's Christian.

Something to think about.

02.03am
Taker and Show are well underway. Slow and methodical so far, but then it was last time and turned out pretty good.

By the way, Marky619 has offered Vince McMahon as another World Champion. Do I allow that or not? robthegreen@hotmail.com

Match has perked up. Taker with a legdrop on Show through the table.

02.10am
Seriously, what the hell? Fire to stop Show escaping? More druids? Another Casket? This is ridiculous.

02.12am
And what the hell was that as a finish? A Casket match won with a fluke? Oh my goodness. I'm all for doing matches differently and trying to show something different, but after a terrific match with these two men last time this was a huge step down.

02.20am
We have the babyfaces in the ring for the next Survivor Series match. I would like it noted, though, that the arrival of Randy Orton in the arena elicits just as big a pop as any of Punk, Truth, Batista, Kofi or Matt. Seriously.

I know I talked about being scpetical of them putting the belt straight onto Cena, but I'd really love to see Orton v Cena and watch the split crowd. That'd be great fun.

02.27am
On commentary, Striker says that Truth makes "a real killing" with his lyrics. Nice one, Matt.

Meanwhile, one elimination so far, and that's Regal, who Punk got rid of straightaway. Way to promote the IC title, huh?

I think we may see a little Punk v Regal Intercontinental feud imminent.

02.38am
I'm doing quite well here, I said Batista would be against the odds, Henry would beat Hardy and then Batista would overpower Henry. All correct so far. He's just powerbombing Shelton as I speak. This is a better match, by the way.

02.40am
And a nice finish too. Orton uses the powerbombing of Cody to tag in and land the matchwinning RKO. Formulaeic match, but a better quality of wrestling. Pretty hypocritical of me to slag off the formula involved then praise it, but there you are.

By the way, did I really hear Lillian say "The sole survivors are Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton"? That makes them survivors, not 'sole' survivors. I'd suggest 'sole' comes from the latin word 'solo' meaning one. Cody and Randy would be 'dual' survivors if you want to get into that.

02.49am
The build-up package for the Smackdown title match features Hardy very prominently. That suggests that his omission may have been a late call.

I am absolutely not sturring the pot here, and perhaps I am jumping to a premature conclusion, but do you suppose Jeff failed a third test? And, rather than reporting a straight up "We fired him" on the day of a PPV which might affect the late buyrate and draw negative press on the PPV day, they run a story which they think will build intrigue in the last few hours.

I hope it's not true. I really do. Sometimes I am happy to be wrong.

03.00am
So far, it's not worth updating you on the moves in this match. So I'll give you the chants.

"We want Hardy"

"Boring, boring"

and even.......

"TNA! TNA!"

You can guess the movesets. I don't need to say much more.

03.06am
Well, that wasn't boring, I'll give you that.

It's a bit nonsensical, and I can't forgive the treatment of the Jeff Hardy thing, but to wind the match up with the announcement of it being a Triple Threat - "He's here" - and it being Edge, followed by a Jeff Hardy run in, swinging of chairs and a spear.

When Vickie appeared it wasn't in doubt that Edge would be next, but the manner in which he then claimed a title was........different.

I can't work out whether I approve or not. But it was a shocking ending, and I would simply say that if that happened at more PPVs then more people would purchase them. In my opinion.

03.25am
Steady title match so far - crowd seem to be very Pro-Cena, probably because of him being in, or near, his home town.

Incidentally, some correspondance from Imran, who says that Taker and Show was "underwhelming" which is an understatement, and adds. "Gotta love Takers ability to work Pyro's... its like he's a character from Mortal Kombat"

Well, WCW made Glacier look like Sub Zero, didn't they? And to be fair, Kitana stole Alundra Blayze's German Suplex.

Dammit, Imran, you see what you've done? I'm thinking about Acclaim (Bloody Acclaim!!) video games rather than the match now. Thanks very much.

03.31am
Slow stuff so far. The logic behind Jericho trying to use power moves to grind Cena down isn't solid, since Cena is alwasy built as a powerhouse. I wouldn't mind so much if Jericho was working the leg.

Cena doesn't look like he has his normal zest. To be fair, I don't blame him, but this is why you don't put guys just returning straight into a title match.

03.40am
I guess we knew it would happen, really.

John Cena is the World Champion once again, which is an understandble, though slightly disappointing step. I would have liked to have seen Jericho go over in a tough battle, which wouldn't have made Cena look bad because of the fact that you could sell the injury. It would, however, have boosted Jericho.

You could find a way of making Cena number one contender again and letting him battle Jericho one more time, and winning the belt that way.

However, it was not to be, and to be fair I can't begrudge Cena his win. It just gets a bit tiresome knowing he's going to win matches like this.

The match itself was somewhat lacklustre. The ending was more than passable, if you are happy with the outcome, so we'll credit them for that.


Overall, I'd rate Survivor Series as a letdown. Certainly holding it up to comparison with most other PPVs this year, it did not live up. Only one of the Survivor Series traditional bouts really had any excitement. Taker/Big Show was extremely poor compared to their last match. Triple H v Koslov was terrible until Edge and Hardy showed up.

No standout matches and two very disappointing ones has to rate this PPV a dud. Give me surprises like Edge alongside great wrestling contests and I'll be a happy man. But the grappling quality was simply non-existant tonight.

Hope you enjoyed the new live blog, for those that joined me throughout the show.

Feel free to continue to contribute with emails to robthegreen@hotmail.com and I will most definitely bring back the live blog for Armageddon in four weeks time.

Survivor Series Preview

So, he’s back then.

Do they give him it or not?

They might, mightn’t they? But then again, they might go for the swerve. Or is that what everyone is expecting?

Who knows? But we’ll talk about it later.

Survivor Series tonight, and am I the only person in the world who doesn’t care for the return of the Survivor Series matches? Every year people talk about the fact that we’d like to see the old-school elimination matches more often, and every year I wince because I always remember them being formulaic and rubbish.

Mind you, I don’t like tag wrestling that much, either, so I guess I’m in the minority.

Anyway, the thing that gets me with the Survivor Series matches is that I can sit here now and offer you the basic blueprint of the matches now.

Right, we start 5 on 5. The babyface team get and early upper hand and several of them get to hit a big move or two. One of the heel team kicks the babyface best at taking a beating........who then takes a beating.

The heels gradually whittle down the faces, with the occasional babyface getting to eliminate a heel. This will be, at some point, countered by a heel getting a quick pin on a face that is caught unawares.

The heel team will get ahead by a ratio of about 4:2, with the two remaining good guys being the most popular on their side. They will whittle the odds down, with the result either being a sneaky win for one heel or the babyfaces somehow getting the upper hand.

During the match, I should point out, a series of moves which never win a match are now good enough to pin an individual who has only wrestled for six minutes.

Oh, and in one of the matches, two wrestlers who have yet to settle their score on TV, and who are due to fight at the next PPV, will get into it and either get disqualified or counted out.

So then, let’s take a look at each match.

Raw v Smackdown Divas match: Mickie James, Beth Phoenix, Candice Michelle, Jillian Hall and Kelly Kelly v Michelle McCool, Natalya, Victoria, Maryse and Maria

Not worth doing major breakdowns or even winning predictions for these encounters, but we’ll have a look at a few plot points.

· Look for the new number one contenders to the belts to make themselves known. I’d suggest a heel walking out on a babyface (so either Beth walking out on someone, or someone walking out on Michelle) to set up a battle in the future.
· I’d take Festus to distract Maria and get her counted out.
· The Bella Twins and Katie Lea are the notable absentees in the match. I can’t see them interfering, but worth remembering that the whole roster isn’t out there.
· Speaking of which, what if Beth were to be the sole survivor, with the premise being that no-one can hang with her. And we then see Gail Kim on Raw.

Team HBK v Team JBL: Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, Great Khali and Cryme Tyme v JBL, Kane, John Morrison, The Miz and MVP

· Look for MVP to be the first to be eliminated, possibly being humiliated on the way.
· I would think that in the spirit of the Royal Rumble, Khali will only be eliminated by heels ganging up on him, or by distraction.
· HBK and JBL getting a double count-out is possible. If they are out of the way, don’t be surprised by a result seeing Miz and Morrison surviving.
· More likely, though, this could open the show and would see a babyface victory.

Team Orton v Team Batista: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Shelton Benjamin, William Regal and Mark Henry v Dave Batista, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy and KR-TruthKwik

· Orton has been a sole survivor on at least two occasions. I’d suggest they could play this up and if not have him make it three, then at least tease it.
· This is very much a hodgepodge match. Not many of the people involved have really important programmes going on elsewhere. The office seem big Hardy right now, so he may well survive for a time. I’d think Kofi, Punk and RKKwick-Truth may soon depart.
· Batista, after losing his title, is due to be made to look a killer once more. I can see it being 5-2 or 4-1 or something, with Batista dispatching heel after heel.
· In particular, look for Hardy to be downed by Henry, and then Batista to eliminate Mizark.
· I am going to be keeping an eye on Cody, in conjunction with his recent interaction with Randy Orton. Maybe Cody will abandon Randy or cost him something?

One other note, you may find that more time is devoted to the Survivor Series matches, since there are only six matches on the card.

Undertaker v Big Show – Casket Match
· This can only really go one of two ways.
· Either Undertaker slays the Big Show, and after a bruising battle manages to do what the Undertaker always does and overcome the odds. OR..........
· Big Show follows Yokozuna’s lead and, with Vickie’s assistance, enlists a bunch of athletes who systematically destroy Taker.
· The latter is possible, because as I mentioned in a piece I wrote for the Sun last week, Undertaker is broken up. Watching him live in Manchester for Smackdown was interesting, because he is moving about very gingerly. The simplest movement seems laboured. I’m not having a go at the guy. I’ll admit to not being the biggest Undertaker fan, but I respect and admire the match greatly. He has a huge burden upon his shoulders and, well into his forties and carrying a big frame around, will understandably slow down. It may be the time to give him an excuse to sit out the schedule for a few weeks, perhaps returning for Royal Rumble, starting a programme with someone to lead him into Mania.


Triple H v Vladimir Koslov v Jeff Hardy (WWE Championship)
· I am a big Jeff Hardy fan, but this is not the time to put the title on him. He, as a rising, massively popular star deserves to win it from a heel on a grand scale, not from the much-loved Triple H in a triple threat match.
· I also don’t see Koslov taking the title. I’ll give Smackdown a great deal of credit for producing a whole bunch of entertaining main events of late. Some points are taken off for schmozz finishes nearly all the time, but still, it’s been an improvement. Koslov on top does not help.
· I can’t see any other result than a Triple H win.
· By the way, on the Jeff Hardy being found unconscious story – I really don’t whether it is work or not. I would figure it would be work because I’m sure it wouldn’t be publicised so big on WWE.com were it genuine. It is likely an excuse for why Hardy loses tonight. Perhaps the perpetrator will reveal himself down the line.

John Cena v Chris Jericho (World Title)
· This is what I was talking about at the start. Will they give to him? Or is it a double swerve?
· I seriously can’t see anything but a Cena win. The thought process in the back, I’m sure, will be that Raw’s ratings are not great (They dipped below 3.0 again this week) so the reason may well be that the Champ is weak. Cena is their boy and is a man they’ll feel they can trust. The reaction to Batista has been lukewarm, really, and Jericho always has his detractors backstage. Cena will be safe pair of hands as far as they are concerned.
· By the way, keep an eye on the lifters on Jericho’s boots. They have him in heels to make him look a couple of inches taller.
· Jericho will not win this clean. If he is given the nod to go over, it will only be by foul means.

A note on two other intangibles in the proceedings.

· Edge. Are they holding out to see if Christian comes back to WWE before deciding Edge’s direction? Or will Edge be back as soon as tonight? Maybe he attacked Hardy.
· There is room for a talk segment on the show. Just a reminder, then, that Santino Marella is not on the card. Obviously he could be involved with Beth and the divas match (he could be a reason for Beth getting eliminated) but there is potential for an impromptu Santino interview somewhere.