Raw Round Up

I've written a Raw report which should at some point go live on The Sun Wrestling, but I wanted to address a couple of things here which I would like to go into more detail about.

To catch you up if you haven't seen the review yet, perhaps because it is not yet live, I thought Raw was good this week, after a couple of poor episodes. Not sensational, but good. I make judgement not simply on the quality of entertainment in a two hour period, but on assessment with how this can affect the issues both short and long term. In respect to further storylines and building stars, I thought this was an effective show.

I'd say Daniel Bryan, Justin Gabriel and John Morrison were all greatly helped by the booking on this show. And the beauty was that the booking did not hurt anyone. Gabriel gave his best promo at the start of the show, they put over his finisher and he gave Cena a decent run for his money. Cena ultimately won, but Gabriel was still assisted. Bryan showed plenty of poise and character with a verbal debate with Miz, who of course gave as good as he got, meaning both men, plus the feud were helped.

Morrison's win over Jericho doesn't hinder Jericho too much as a character, because a) he is wildly over anyway (as he said, he's a main eventer even if he is jerking the curtain) and b) it plays into his storyline of being disillusioned anyway. For Morrison, it might spark a revival in fortunes, as he has been in the cold a little of late. I thought he had a game face on, and showed a touch more charisma than usual. Maybe that was a spring in the step knowing he was booked to win.

I was more than a little surprised to see Darren Young return on Raw. I thought that of all the eight season one NXTers he was the one with the least going for him, in the sense that he didn't seem an outstanding wrestler, wasn't a great talker, nor did he a very marketable look. I certainly didn't gauge that the fans felt bad for him, or got behind him when he spoke towards Barrett. The pop for him getting RKOed was telling, because the fans simply love that move. Certainly they care about seeing that way more than seeing Young.

While it was a better show, I think even WWE must realise they have no major hook for the upcoming PPV. No-one is going to buy this on the strength of Miz v Bryan or a Divas unification bout, so realistically they need a strong title match. They haven't got one. Even Cena on commentary was basically saying it's a bit of a lottery. I think his words were "It's a crap shoot."

I highly question the logic of booking a title match (That's a WORLD Title match) where one of the participants says "eh, anyone could win this." Surely the whole point of paying to watch title matches is to see a fair contest. After Sheamus already won the belt in dubious circumstance, you are watering down the belt even more by having Cena say anyone can win. How can you get behind a champion if the only reason he is the champ is by a fluke? I suspect this was their way of having Cena be self-deprecating so that when he loses it was in a lottery, and not a fair fight. If and when Cena regains the gold, it'll be one on one, I suspect.

I think you can have this kind of multi-man match for a 'lesser' title, especially if you have workers involved. To do this for, say, the IC title, and involve Ziggler, Kofi, Christian, Drew, Swagger and MVP, for example, would be really interesting. Or you can do it when you have an extra hook, like the Money in the Bank matches. But to have a bunch of guys devaluing the WWE title I think is a shame.

The way they spoke about things on Raw, I wouldn't necessarily expect a replacement for Jericho. They didn't talk about "I wonder who his replacement will be", although I wouldn't rule out them changing their mind next week.

I enjoyed Edge's interaction with Zack Ryder. I'm not as high on Ryder as some, but I do think he has promise, and I wonder whether he will suddenly rebel and prove he isn't as useless as some are making out on TV. I love paranoid, plotting Edge. It's such a compelling character.

Credit to Cole for calling the issue in the Great Khali/Edge match. Khali stepping over the top in an over-the-top match was odd, but I wouldn't haven't been surprised for the commentators to just ignore it. I liked Cole making this point.

On the GM front, I've often said that I haven't really seen the piece of paper supposedly on Cole's laptop when he is 'reading' a GM email, but it was very clear this week when Edge was threatening to destroy the laptop that was a big piece of paper with writing on it. If Cole is the GM, they can say this is a clue.

On the Cole for GM front, did you notice that they worked out a way of having Miz accept a Daniel Bryan challenge, rather than the GM forcing the match to take place. If the GM had forced Miz into it, then it would have either ruled Cole out, or made his reveal nonsensical if it does happen.

Very interesting to see the "This week in wrestling history" refer back to the first ever Impact, and with, might I say, a very fair assessment, too. That night, debuting with a strong Nitro, the Luger defection and so much more, really changed this industry forever.

I thought Sheamus did really well on guest commentary. He could easily have been overshadowed by the personalities of Edge and Cena, but he wasn't.

I like the tease of Cena v Orton for next week. Is it possible they are giving away big Orton matches before he goes to Smackdown for the SyFy launch?

Raw Thoughts - May 10

It's been a while since I did this..........

- How long has Kofi been on the opening video (you know the "yes sir we promised you a great main event" one)

- Of all the people I didn't expect to interrupt Randy Orton, Meat Loaf may have been the furthest from my mind.

- Was Meat auditioning for the Hunchback of Notre Dame?

- I'm getting flashbacks to Honky Tonk Man and Kane at Royal Rumble 2001?

- A new permanent GM? Wow. That's hotshotting. They could have built that up a little.

- Mind you, Vickie might have been a bit of a let down. She does admittedly have a lot of heat, but I think her act is played out now, and so is the heel GM

- Would a board of directors in a multi-million dollar organisation really pick someone like Vickie Guerrero to run their main show? No they wouldn't. It made sense when it was Slaughter or HBK or Foley or even William Regal.

- Two one one? Ugh. I hate handicap matches, but especially when Orton and Edge are due to meet one on one. If Edge can't beat Orton easily with help, why would he have a chance when on his own?

- So if Jericho beats DH Smith he and Miz get a title shot? Why? Why would a) a singles match contribute towards tag rankings and b) why would Mizicho be anywhere near the top of those rankings when they have never teamed before?

- This is something I've continually blasted TNA for, and praised WWE for their good logic. If they start being slapdash with their thinking we're in trouble.

- Normally I might complain that Jericho v Smith was short, but I really do think Smith is limited in there. Miz v Kidd might be fun, though.

- My understanding is that next week's Raw is commercial free. Why the hell are they not all over this and promoting it before and after every ad break? Didn't it do like a 4.5 rating last time?

- Flavor Flav is talking and I have literally no idea what he is talking about. Utter nonsense.

- Carlito and Primo with Ted DiBiase jnr? I can live with that. If they are going down the Fortunate Sons route with a stable that includes a tag team I quite like that idea.

- I really liked the little Eve video, it was a good way of helping her get over, but I didn't like the Maryse segment in the ring with a martial arts instructor at all. Why? Because she threw him three or four times, and he just got back up and didn't sell! She'll do that in the ring her opponent will sell it like it hurts. If he is ok, then whats the point?

- I'm cool with the Cena/Batista/Sheamus/Henry slot. I'm guessing we get a tag match between the teams, and then Sheamus to beat Henry to put him over even more.

- Edge talking to Vickie was the best acting I've seen from Vickie, she was very good, and I do like Edge's logic. He is doing something most heels don't do and that is explain his actions as a babyface. Last week he talked about why he turned on the fans, and this week explained to Vickie that he said bad things about her to draw her some sympathy. Flimsy, but its an explanation, and for that I applaud them.

- Oh no, I've just realised something. They are not saying that if MIz loses to Kidd he has to wrestle a member of the Hart DYNASTY. They are saying a member of the Hart FAMILY. Miz v Bret?

- I swear I wrote that before Miz said it.

- Didn't care for the short match, but I understand why they did it.

- As a nice little aside, remember when Miz was "The Calgary Kid" for one night? I wonder if they'll bring that up?

- There will be plenty of people who were down on the 'comedy' segment, but Regal could sit and read the telephone directory and he'd crease me up. His rapping was hilarious I thought.

- I'm genuinely sad that Batista may be departing soon. I think his heel persona is terrific right now. I loved the sullen look on his face sitting on a chair before attacking Henry with it.

- Slightly all over the place closing segment. Just felt disjointed, and I'm not keen on Orton getting the best of Edge again. Makes Edge look weak that with a partner and a GM on his side, Orton still stands tall.

- I'm happy that Vickie isn't going to be permanent GM. She was entertaining for one night, but I feel her act would grate if on Raw every week.

Who Will Win the Royal Rumble?

Raw this week – a very solid affair, I might add – was heavily focussed on the build to the Royal Rumble, which has always been my favourite Pay Per View.

We have started to find out some of the competitors, and it appears that the line-up is quite strong for the big over-the-top match this year. My big hope is that whoever wins the Rumble that they do not move their title shot to the next PPV, the one before Mania. It really lessens the impact of the Rumble. It is not supposed to be merely earning a title shot, but being in THE MAIN EVENT AT WRESTLEMANIA. It ought to remain sacred.

It’s high time to look at the contenders for this year’s Rumble. I know not all of the competitors have been announced, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that all of the names discussed will be entered in the 30-man over-the-top bout.

We’re putting aside the names Christian, Zeke Jackson, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, since they are booked for title matches at this point.

I shall discuss, in no particular order, who I believe are the only people, barring a shocking return/debut, that can win the Rumble, and then go onto those who are in the Rumble and ought to have a storyline development in the match. Then I’ll give a prediction of a winner and tell you who I would book as the winner.

Shawn Michaels

It seems right to start with HBK, since his was the name that started the Rumble talk on Raw. Having asked Taker for a match at Mania and been denied, Shawn declared his intention for the Rumble.

He has history in the match. He was the winner in 1995, entering as number one and winning overall. (If you are checking stats, it was only 60 second intervals that year) He won the following year, having turned into arguably the number one babyface in the company and returning from injury. Then, in 2007, he was the runner up to , of all people, the Undertaker, but still went on to wrestle John Cena for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania.

Shawn and the Rumble fit like hand and glove – so much so that they could do anything they want with him. They could have him enter late as they often do with big names, and build to his entrance. They could put him at an early number and play off his resilience and longevity again.

He is the most likely contender at this moment, potentially, when you consider the build up to a potential match with Taker.

But is it too obvious? It does seem to be a slightly telegraphed, and doesn’t suggest great storytelling if he says on TV “I’ll win the Royal Rumble then” and just goes and does it. Seems a little easy. Not that the people would care. HBK is probably the most beloved babyface in the WWE.......and maybe the world. People want HBK/Taker II, and if he wins the Rumble, they’ll get it, provided Taker retains the gold.

Triple H

Also entered is Shawn’s DX running buddy Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who was trying to tell Shawn something throughout Raw, then did so by throwing HBK over the top rope in an act designed to suggest that Hunter is the stronger member of DX. It was also a measure which perpetuated the suggestion that DX may split.

They (WWE) are in a fantastic position with Triple H, Taker and Shawn, in that they could have a match involving any combination of the three. I would hope they wouldn’t do a three-way, but Shawn v Taker we’ve talked about. Hunter v Shawn is possible, with Trips possibly costing Michaels the Rumble, continued dissention and a break-up leading to a Mania blow-off.

But don’t rule out Hunter v Taker. WWE have a trick up their sleeve in that they could achieve two birds with one stone – they could build up an intriguing match in HHH v Taker (which they never pulled the plug on despite the pair being on Smackdown together for a long time) whilst strengthening the storyline of breaking up DX. The ace in WWE’s pack is Hunter being able to say “Shawn isn’t the only one to have lost to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania” because HHH lost to Taker at WM17. (Like last year’s Mania, also in Houston, funnily enough)

That would make for great TV, seeing HHH chasing Taker, and not knowing if Shawn wanted Hunter to win or not. They could prolong that for ages, and if they didn’t want to break DX up, they don’t have to for a long time, if ever.

To that end, I think Trips a strong contender for winning this. Add to the HBK/Taker scenario the fact that Sheamus currently holds the WWE belt, and is said to be very close with Paul Levesque. Trips could go to Mania to face Sheamus and as a friend, put him over to make Sheamus look good (like Hunter has done for Cena and Batista in the past) or to be the big babyface win that Mania tends to have.

Hunter has a big Mania albatross round his neck after last year’s majorly disappointing match with Orton, so may well be keen to at least partially erase that memory.

Chris Jericho

You have to factor Jericho into proceedings because he has just been so damn awesome for the past two years that a Wrestlemania main event would be just what he deserves. His character would be so suited to a sneaky late entry and capitalisation on other events, and I could see him lording it over HBK and Hunter that he has won the right to wrestle at Wrestlemania and therefore can choose which brands champion he will wrestle – thus allowing him to appear on Raw again.

Ultimately he would need to choose The Undertaker and produce his first meaningful feud with the Deadman. The decision would really be whether Jericho could be taken seriously to win the title and end the streak, and whether this pairing, accepting that you’d be maybe looking at Cena/Sheamus for the other title, HBK/Shawn and maybe Randy v Ted or Cody as the rest of the line up is strong enough to sell the PPV. I fear it wouldn’t be, even though I’d love to see Jericho given the opportunity. He does deserve it.

John Cena

Any match that John Cena is in, you have to consider him a favourite for. When you weigh up the star power in the Rumble, his star shines as bright as any, and when you break down the Road the Wrestlemania, he will have to figure prominently somewhere.

Cena’s stock in terms of winning the Rumble is high through three major reasons. The first two lie in the fact that he is a feasible opponent for either Sheamus or Undertaker if they keep their title until Mania. A Sheamus rematch is surely owing to him after the way he lost the title and then failed to regain it in controversial style. I have thought for a long time that Cena v Undertaker is perhaps the last of the dream matches and as high as Cena is regarded now, he could be elevated even higher by having a great match with Taker and ending the streak.

It could also be the catalyst for a Cena heel turn. “I beat the Undertaker” might be met with boos, and eventually he could snap and say “I gave you everything and you still cheered The Undertaker.” When they want to do it, Cena will be a massive heel.

The third pointer might be the lack of an obvious opponent for John Cena at Wrestlemania. He is too big for the Money in the Bank match, so won’t be thrown into that mix. Last year he was sort of strong-armed into the Big Show/Edge mix to get him into a title match. If it is easy enough to fit Triple H, Michaels and Orton into matches then Cena might be allowed to win the Rumble and set up a title feud.

The other options are, for him not winning the Rumble, that someone would win the Rumble and pick Taker, leaving Cena to win the Raw Elimination Chamber or that he is ousted from the Rumble by someone with whom he could feud until Mania, the identity of whom has not been, erm, identified...........

Batista

......until now? It’s not definite, and doesn’t quite carry the same aura as it might have done at one point, but Cena v Batista is a strong possibility, especially considering the position we’ve talked about for Cena.

However, I think it is less likely than Batista carrying on the Mysterio programme all the way through to Wrestlemania. Strikes me that a logical progression is to have Batista cost Mysterio the match against Taker, then for Mysterio to distract Big Dave, causing him to be removed from the Rumble. The two would then both be likely to meet in a Smackdown Elimination chamber, with their final match being at Wrestlemania.

Batista might win the Rumble, and his name and marquee value means he has to spoken about with the names in with a chance of winning. However, it is hard to state a case for him above most of the other contenders.

CM Punk

Punk is, once again, on a roll right now. His almost Cult-leader-like character has really drawn some heat on Smackdown, and it would be fantastic to watch him use that shtick to try to bring down the Undertaker.

Sadly, I don’t see it. In many fans’ eyes Punk v Taker will be a letdown after building up and teasing a HBK rematch, and when you could throw HHH or Cena at Taker, Punk might not be seen as the right choice. Add this to the fact that Punk has wrestled Taker within the last year and been portrayed as a lesser entity, it just isn’t that likely. I’d love to see it, but I fear the powers that be would not concur.

Big Show

The Big Man is obviously set to be an imposing presence in the match, but realistically he shouldn’t be a Rumble winner to go on to a major main event at Mania. I know he was in a Triple Threat for the World Title last year, but the Rumble winner’s programme is generally bigger, and I don’t think Show has the adequate profile.

Maybe Shaq will be back before Mania, and Show can have the ‘wrestling the sports star’ slot again.

Kofi Kingston

I don’t think Kingston is in the position to yet win a Royal Rumble, but he definitely ought to be someone who enters the match early (maybe even at one or two) and lasts a very long time, with the announcers talking up his tremendous feat.

I still like the idea of Kofi winning Money in the Bank.

Miz/MVP

The best thing about Raw two weeks ago, these two suddenly have quite a hot feud which it will be interesting to see how it develops. I would think that surely one will eliminate another in the Rumble. Miz getting rid of MVP adds more heat on him, but on the flipside of that MVP throwing Miz out would make for a big pop if done correctly.

Legacy

I think that there is a strong chance that Sheamus will beat Randy Orton and it will be due to the interference of Legacy in some fashion. I can see a Cody distraction while Ted runs around the back, but misses hitting Sheamus and hits Orton instead, possibly leading to Randy v Ted at Mania.

Both Cody and Ted are in the Rumble, and have at times threatened that they will step up and go solo, so there is a chance that these two will fight, or at least have a moment where they let each other down.

John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre

The three above names, all Smackdown guys, have had a good 2009, and 2010 could well be a time for them to step up and look even stronger. Morrison is definitely an outside chance for a surprise title run at some stage, and the other two have done enough with IC title efforts to suggest they are upper midcarders with bright futures. I’d like to see all of these guys have a reasonable showing.

So, Rob, who is going to win?

I’m glad you asked.

I think the winner, really, will come from a select group of three – John Cena, Triple H and Shawn Michaels. I don’t anticipate Undertaker or Sheamus losing the title before Wrestlemania.

It makes more sense for a babyface to win that a heel. A heel winning sets up either heel v heel against Sheamus, which I don’t see them doing after doing it at the Rumble with Orton. I don’t think any of the top heels in the Rumble (Punk, Batista and Chris Jericho) make any sense in a match with the Undertaker.

It leaves just the trio mentioned above. I’m going to plump for Triple H. I think that it is time for him to get serious and go after a title again, and him winning the Rumble not only signals that but can set wheels in motion for a DX break-up, and perhaps a possible match at Summerslam, which ironically was where HBK and HHH had a brutal Streetfight to mark Shawn’s first match back after his extended layoff.

Who would you book to win?

I think I’d have to say Cena. I’m a big fan of storylines overlapping, and I think if you give the Rumble to Cena, you can have him stall as to which champion he chooses to face. You then have a touch of Cena v Sheamus and Cena v Undertaker, as well as tension between Cena and Michaels, as HBK tries to convince Cena to wrestle Sheamus so that HBK can continue to chase Undertaker. Triple H then comes into play, as someone who’d like a title shot against Sheamus. So then whomever Cena chooses, it would benefit one member of DX but not the other.

The beauty of booking Cena to win the Rumble is that you can take your time in deciding where you are going to take the story.

There are so many possibilities – maybe you have your own theory. I’d love to hear it.

Bragging Rights live notes

00.04am
Ok, I’ll be generous, you get some comments, but they’ll be snappy, hopefully pithy ones. Not massive reviews – you’ll have to go to www.thesun.co.uk/wrestling tomorrow for that.

00.06am
Oh, terrific, they’ve told us it’s best two out of three in the Raw v Smackdown matches. That means it will be 1-1 after two, with the tag being the rubber match.

00.07am
I'll go for Miz to win this. Makes more sense for Miz to win this with shenanigans, and then the SD girls to tie the series, before the tag is the decider.

00.13am
I bet the boys are happy to be watching the show on a monitor, at an angle, in character.

00.14am
I really like the ring, by the way, with the mixture of blue and red ropes.

00.19am
Hmm, pretty not surprised at the winner, but a little about the method. I'm not unhappy though. Miz needed a win more, and Morrison is flashy enough to get back over some more.

00.21am
Has Finlay ever won a match in WWE without the Shillelagh?

00.22am
I am most amused by the fact that R-Truth sounded more like Dusty than Cody did.

00.23am
"That's the truth.......and the truth hurts" is a better catchphrase that "truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth, which is a mouthful and, well, stolen.

00.25am
Speaking of stolen, Michelle now appear to have nicked AJ's hooded robe as well as his finishing move.

00.26am
About three weeks ago Beth was complaining about being traded to SD, now she is fighting for their pride?

00.33am
Kelly did a great Ricky Morton - right down to the haircut.

00.34am
Springboard suplex into a rolling small package? NICE! Great work Beth and Melina!

00.35am
Smallest of points, shouldn't Harry Smith and TJ Wilson (fuck their screen names) have been front and centre in the SD locker room rather than Jericho, Kane and Hardy there?

00.38am
I enjoyed that backstage pep talk/DX comedy bit. But then I like DX more than most.

00.39am
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster? Never heard of them. You couldn't do better than "Sons of Disaster"? Here's a tip Maylene, if you want a great bandname, don't picked one that sounds like it could go after "Harry Potter and...."

00.41am
A four way match seems perfectly placed to take the belt off of Taker, relieve his burden of being top dog in the yard while injured, and get the belt back on Punk without Taker having his shoulders counted down. I forecast something happening to shift Taker's focus.

00.56am
"These guys are literally throwing bombs." Erm, no they are not, King. They are figuratively throwing bombs.

1.00am
Hmmm, seems odd to me to have Taker win a fourway. I guess they just had nothing to do for Rey and Batista and wanted to put them out there in a PPV match. Also, there was probably motivation for a tease of a falling out between Batista and Rey.

I hope Rey is ok. He was (Literally?) launched by Batista onto Punk, and looked to land back and neck first. Hopefully it was flat enough, and not at a poor angle.

01.02am
As I speak, Rey is on his feet, speaking to Josh. He looks ok.

01.04am
I think that would have been better if Batista had clotheslined Mysterio out of his boots out of nowhere, rather than telegraph it. Now we know why these two are in the match.

01.05am
That was pretty well done. I think Batista's heel turn is long overdue, frankly. He'll shine now.

01.09am
When they were doing that 'Team Raw!' 'Team Smackdown' thing with fans, I'd have loved one little weedy bloke to jump in the middle and, in a high pitched voice, shout 'Team ECW'.

01.15am
Have they once mentioned the video game while hyping this as Smackdown v Raw?

01.32am
I rather liked that ending. It's a bit of a copout, and celebration was a little over the top, but I like Show turning on people that he has had his differences with, and it leads into a presumed DX v Jericho and Show feud.

That then leaves something else to ponder. If this really is the end of Orton v Cena, forget who will win - who will the winner face next? Who else is there to step up?

02.03am
2-2 and nearly twenty minutes in. This has been tremendous thus far. Surpassing my expectations already.

02.07am
Legacy interfere to earn Orton a fall. Kofi arrives with a chair to chase them off, and gets a massive cheer. Huge moment for Kofi.

02.46am
I would change one thing. I'd have had Orton pass out and the ref award a fall to Cena. It simply wasn't logical for Orton to hold out for nearly a minute and then give up with six seconds to spare.

That said, it was a marvellous match. If Match of the Year voting ended here, Undertaker and HBK would still win, but this will be on the shortlist.

Orton was amazing in this match. Utterly brilliant.

Raw Thoughts - August 10

· After Orton said “You people”, “Skull” and “Each and every one”, followed by Cena confronting him, including the head to head touching, I thought it was a formulaic opening to the show. However, thank goodness for the Unified tag champs, and the always hot Canadian crowds.
· King said early on that this is Bizzaroland, since in Canada they have a tendency to cheer for heels, particularly in Alberta, Bret Hart country.
· Jericho v Cena is a great booking as a main event – the crowd reactions will be amazing - but the trouble is I can’t see anything but a ‘schmozz’ ending.
· At least Jericho and Show making those challenges shook it up. I like that.
· Look for a Jericho Sharpshooter on Cena for cheers, or maybe Cena Sharpshooter to get heat.
· Hey, did they just mention Savage on Raw? Cool.
· Did Lillian say Alicia Keys?
· Gail looked amazing in that match. They can’t turn her heel, because she wouldn’t be able to do all that high flying stuff and not get cheered.
· Sarge heel turn!! Awesome. I love it.
· That’s a really good, tight little match by Swagger and Bourne, but it’s just too short. If that’s a serious rubber match, they have to be given longer.
· “The Search for Shawn Michaels”? Even just hearing that you have to think that it will be ridiculous and not at all a serious look at the guy who is perhaps the most respected performer in the industry, and who had one of the greatest matches of all time with perhaps the other candidate for most respected performer in the industry.
· Nope, as I thought. It’s complete nonsense. Vaguely funny gay joke, and then Michaels violently overacting as a chef. Just.......what?
· I am not down with this, and I have three words for you........”Lost in Cleveland”
· Hey, Eugene’s back. No entrance for him. Calgary Kid? I was sort of expecting Miz there, but it doesn’t look like him.
· Oh. Ok. It’s him. Hell, how gullible was I there?
· Did you expect Show and Orton to go any other way?
· The Tater Tot throwing girl’s timing was off. Too big a pause. Mind you Shawn sold the snack’s blow really well.
· How many more ticks in the ‘con’ column do you need? Why would Shawn, who was nearly penniless some months back, drop his high-paying wrestling job for one in a kitchen? How come he didn’t have anyone else working with him in his kitchen? How come he could chat to Hunter at lunch time? Isn’t he in breach of his WWE contract?
· Most importantly, why hasn’t there been a wrestling chef before? I can’t remember one, anyway. I would have thought that during the mid 90s there ought to have been one.
· Was that UFC.com on that list of sites WWE.com has beaten? Wow, UFC and Savage mentioned on the same show?
· I’ll give you the SummerFest and Hickenbottom lines. They were pretty funny. But overall that was horrific. Thank God they did it in one week.
· Do you reckon that was in the cafeteria at Titan Towers and the extras were all WWE staff?
· Fair enough, the MVP/Masters/Swagger stuff. Gotta find something for these guys, and for Raw week-to-week.
· The Duggan/Hart thing was unnecessary. Shouldn’t have played Bret’s music.
· I’m not sure I’d have done that Jericho swerve. Didn’t have a great deal of effect. In fact if anything it numbed the crowd a little, as those that were not going to cheer for Cena still didn’t, they just didn’t cheer for Jericho either.
· Ending to the main event was terrible. The timing during the match was a little off, too. Tag team announcement for next week made sense. The RKO on Jericho looked amazing, but Jericho’s legs went really high. Hopefully he’s ok.
· Barely a whisper about Show and Shaq this week, by the way. Little bit at the start with Cena, but not much from commentators.

Raw Thoughts - July 27

· Blimey, that Shaq is a big lad isn’t he?
· Shaq shows more charisma and ability to cut a promo in his first sentence than ZZ Top did all last week.
· Would Shaq O’Neal really book a “beat the Clock challenge?” Really? It’s one thing having guest hosts and pretending they are booking, but it’s quite another booking the same old concepts and attributing them to NBA stars.
· Loved the face off with Big Show. Made sense to do it, and Jericho was priceless refusing to fight Shaq when he hadn’t been challenged.
· Good opening seg. Don’t like the beat the clock idea, but Shaq was very at home on the mic, did some decent babyface schtick.
· Part of me wonders if Henry might win this. The way things have gone lately, it would make sense to have him face Orton at Summerslam while Trips and Cena sort themselves out. I’m not saying I want to see that, but that’s the corner they’ve booked themselves into.
· Massive flaw in the Beat the Clock format. Shouldn’t you put 10 men in the game, rather than five. You are simply telling everybody that Henry, Triple H, Cena, MVP and Swagger will win. You could book the same matches, but just say whomever wins get to post the time.
· Love the Ludvig Borga sign. There should be more obscure 90s wrestler signs.
· That was as good a Mark Henry match as I’ve seen in a long time.
· I’ll give them this about the beat the clock concept. We might be getting a fair amount of wrestling. That went nearly seven minutes, which despite not being an Iron Man match was longer than most Raw matches. We could end up with significantly more wrestling than usual this week.
· Better than average women’s match, probably because they gave Mickie, Gail and Beth plenty of time in the ring. Subtle annoyance from Mickie that Gail tagged herself in. Seems Gail v Mickie for Summerslam?
· I spoke too soon. Perhaps it’s not to be all predictable as to who wins. MVP draws with the returning Chris Masters, whose modified music made me think it was Goldust at first.
· Poor old Kendrick. He could be used as a talented jobber getting ten minute matches out of people, but nope, simply a comedy act getting beaten in seconds.
· I loved the attack on Triple H. Not because it might have put the kibosh on his chances, but it was unexpected and a bit different. I might have actually gone a little further and had DiBiase run away and not talk to Trips, with the camera only getting a sleeting glimpse, so you weren’t sure if it was him or not.
· Really enjoyed that Triple H v Cody Rhodes match. Not catch-as-catch-can classic but it was full of psychology. They injured the leg, and Cody continued to use LOGIC and follow it through. Triple H was chasing the win and clock, and the heels got the job done. That is really, really solid booking. Not writing, BOOKING.
· “How did you get some many ‘z’s?” is one of the greatest lines I’ve heard in ages. Santino was BACK this week.
· Actually popped a little bit when Bourne won. Not that I dislike Swagger, but because that was a legit shock, legit surprise and a really nice feelgood moment. I take back everything I said about the ‘stupid’ system of Beat the Clock, as it is actually proving rather effective thus far. This is a high quality Raw.
· Great Miz promo before the match, having a go at the crowd but linking to the match itself. He just has a great manner that makes you want to see him get his backside handed to him. Vince even got a little shot in Obama, which I’m sure he was delighted about.
· Actually, what I am I saying, of course it doesn’t absolve the Beat the Clock system. Why doesn’t Evan Bourne now have the fastest time? What kind of loopy system gives the opportunity for a man to beat Miz or Carltio to get a title shot, but beating Swagger doesn’t do anything for Bourne.
· I can’t believe I was actually hoping for a comprehensive Mark Henry win, but it would have preferable, at least so that someone different got a run at Orton. It would have done so much good. Someone fresh(ish) at the top, a new babyface promoted, and Orton could have beaten him clean and looked strong again, rather than Triple H and Cena’s bitch, which is all he has become.
· A just there main event, really, with the excuse of putting Shaq into that face-to-face situation with Show, with the hope for WWE that it’ll be on Sportscenter. Bit different from the face off with Mayweather, eh Paul?
· Plot holes abound and a frustrating booking trick for Summerslam, but otherwise an enjoyable Raw. Shaq was a very good guest host.

So who will Jericho's mystery partner be....?

Ah, the old Mystery Partner. Usually such a great concept, and so often punctuated by a crappy pay off.

Now, we have a mystery partner angle involving Christopher Keith Irvine, better known as Chris Jericho. Formerly the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla. Formerly Y2J. Currently calling himself simply “The best in world at what he does.”

And he may be right.

Jericho has been nothing short of awesome for the last 16 months or so, with quality encounters with Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio punctuating this period. His emergence as half of a Smackdown “Dream Team” which netted the Unified Tag Titles, along with Edge, seemed to signal a fun coalition and a logical use of Edge and Jericho on all shows.

Now, though, Edge is kaput. He is broken. On the shelf.

Hence the quick rewrite this week. Jericho emerges with a document stipulating he can choose his partner, who will become his co-champion. It remains to be seen whether his cohort will be named next week on TV or at the PPV itself.

In the meantime, I offer you three options for who it could be. The first is, I think the most likely. The second less likely, a little less logical, but a bit more fun, in my opinion. The last, though, is unlikely, won’t happen, and is a flight of fancy. But it’s my favourite, and would be a terrific idea.

1) Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger has two major negatives about him. One is his stupid nickname, “The All-American American.” It’s nonsense, get rid of it. The second downer is his ricockulous (thanks CJ) pantomime as he heads to the ring. I don’t mind the press ups, but the cross between an epileptic fit and King Kong is ludicrous. Lose it.

That aside, the guy is clearly a keeper. He has the WWE physique and look which is a bonus, of course, but more importantly he can wrestle, has character, is a good heel, is young, and has already had a number of very decent matches.

His move to Raw is very obviously an indication that he is moving up in the world, and a clean win over MVP further evidence of his upward mobility. My instinct was that blowing off of a potentially feud with MVP was ludicrous, but thinking about it, it was probably done to allow Swagger a free run at being Jericho’s upstanding partner. Who better than Jericho than Swagger to learn from and who better than Young Jack to be given a boost from this position?

It’s the most likely scenario.

2) The Miz
This is less likely, but not impossible.

Let’s look at the evidence. Miz has been in a brief little angle with John Cena, which although it didn’t go fabulously, most definitely gained respect in certain quarters. He, like Jericho, is a genuinely over heel thanks to the almost lost art of being a complete prick (and I mean that in the nicest of ways).

Miz is an experienced Tag Team wrestler, after his successful stint with John Morrison (my Mizorrison nickname never took off, did it? Everyone went with “JoMizzy” instead. Rubbish) and would be good from a logic perspective, since Jericho would likely pick someone like Miz, as a bit of a trailblazer and a successful Tag Team guy.

Other factors would be Miz’s little Twitter battle with Jericho. This is clearly something that they are doing for a joke between the boys, but it would indicate that they are good friends, I would think. Jericho is a man who is known to have respect backstage and gets a lot of input into his own angles. I can envisage the powers that be going to Chris, asking his advice, and his request to work with Miz.

They would be a stunningly over heel team. They would be really hated, and if WWE actually had any (and I mean, ANY) tag teams then a babyface one would have a perfect opportunity to get the fans behind them, since folks really don’t like Miz and Jericho (Mizco?).

When you think about this combination, some of the promo and segments ought to be absolute dynamite. I’d like to see Miz emerge as the partner.

Unless...........

3) I’ll tell you in a minute.......

So then, Chris Jericho needs a partner. He needs someone he’d like to work with, someone who is a skilled worker, someone who needs a direction, could do with a change of scenary, and can work as a cocky heel if necessary.

Can you see who I mean? Can you see what I’m getting at?

‘You’ll see if you just close your eyeeeeeeees. If you just close your eyes’

Now open them again (which, I suppose, you have if you are reading this again) and think about Christian finally, FINALLY being given a chance to shine again on a proper scale, and not the bloody ECW.

The problems here are plentiful, and I understand how unlikely this is. But wouldn’t it be fun?

WWE don’t appear to be that high on Christian, perhaps as a knock on him for disappearing to TNA before returning, but it ought to be remember that Jeff Hardy did this too, and long at the push he has had over the last couple of years.

Yes, Christian has a match scheduled for Night of Champs, but don’t forget Jericho had wrestled already when he emerged with Edge to grab the belts in the first place. That shouldn’t be a stumbling block.

The logic holds through here (mostly). Jericho wants someone he can trust, and since he knows Christian and has a history with him, can claim that he trusts him. Admittedly, Christian turned on Jericho and went off with Trish, who Jericho had a thing for. Incidentally, this was probably the last ‘boy meets girl’ storyline that has been done successfully.

Christian and Jericho have always had an onscreen chemistry, and are friends in real life. It would work nicely.

And here’s the clincher. Christian as the new partner. Christian, replacing EDGE, as a partner. Play up the idea that Christian is the superior one of the old E&C duo. Then, if you can keep a certain focus on Christian and Jericho as a duo for long enough – not necessarily as a tag team, but at least as allies – when Edge is ready to return, you have a plethora of options.

Edge can come back to conquer Jericho and Christian, with his own partner. Christian and can turn on Jericho and reform his partnership with Edge. Jericho could turn on Christian and once again align with the Rated R Superstar. Any man could be heel, any man could be face, in any combination.

I am aware that my last big idea was about Christian and Edge, but I’d like to point out that I was half right. While the world was all about Christian being Jeff’s attacked, and Vince apparently all anxious about a leak, I said Matt to be the culprit all along. Admittedly I then fantasy booked Edge and Matt to be in league, with Christian returning to assist Jeff, but you can’t have everything.

It should be Christian. It’ll be cool if it’s Miz. It’ll likely be Swagger. And that would be fine too, but I prefer one of the other options.

If you have your own idea, I’d love to hear it. Comment beneath or send to robthegreen (at) hotmail (dot) com.

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 - June 29

· Did Vince just say 15 person trade between the brands? And that’s it? No speculation, no explanation?
· And we are keeping the guest host thing? Hmm, ok.
· Here is the thing, though, if Trump instituted these things and Vince doesn’t like them, why can’t he just overturn them?
· Not sure I like the idea of ‘guest hosts’ having GM powers. Why would Batista book a tournament? What investment would he have in that? Why would Vince hand over power like that? It’s a terrible idea.
· Nice match, that, between MVP and Triple H. I thought MVP did a good job of hanging with the Game and looked like a potent force when on top. Understandably Triple H won, but it made sense and was a better match than I expected.
· The usual quality from Jericho, using his promo to immediately address the fact that he said he wouldn’t be back on Raw. No-one does continuity better than Chris Jericho.
· Haha, King said “Edge and Christian” by mistake.
· Speaking of Captain Charisma, you’d like to think he’d be a great fit for the small trade, and I’d take him out of ECW and place him in the IC title picture on Smackdown.
· Crowd, really REALLY into the Colons chasing the belts.
· I don’t like them throwing Cena v Miz out again. It just sends the message to those who pay their PPV money that they are idiots, because you’ll soon see the same show for free.
· Great call by King, comparing Miz to an early John Cena, being brash and talking smack to others.
· I would have liked to have seen a couple of attempts at a Miz nearfall to try to tease the audience, but generally that was a far better match than the evening previously. They gave Miz time to attack, to get some offence in and to not show the weakness which has held him back. Cena, for his part, sold well, and it seemed to me like this went a little longer than at The Bash?
· So it’s Triple H v Cena next week – but didn’t King say earlier that Triple H had to wrestle again that night? Either they changed it on the fly or (more likely) the lines of communication from writer to commentator was not clear.
· Why, again, would Batista book a tournament where the pay off is next week, outside his jurisdiction?
· A kind of ‘just there’ divas match, with the logical conclusion of Mickie winning. At least there is a reasonable angle between Maryse and Mickie, and Mickie has gained plenty of momentum of late.
· Not really sure what the purpose of the double count-out between Kofi and Show was. Looking forward to the gauntlet match. I love “who is it” angles.
· Evan Bourne on Raw? Cool. I’d have preferred him on Smackdown, but at least he is off ECW.
· Swagger to Raw. That’s really interesting. They are really high on this kid, so I’d expect him to come in to a good spot. Maybe with MVP? Or maybe taking on Kofi for the US Title.
· I love that. Swagger gets counted out, serious heat drawn there. A little tease of an alliance with Orton. I like it when strange things happen like that. Remember when Mike Knox, when asked why he attacked Rey Mysterio, simply said “I don’t know”. The guy that doesn’t know or doesn’t say why he does things is a far more scary dude than one who screams “I hate you”
· Haha, now Henry did it as well, but then came back in? Is that a Henry babyface turn?
· I like that booking. I’m not a Henry fan, and I don’t want to see him pushed to the moon, but it doesn’t hurt Orton to get beat. Flair used to lose all the time when he was champion in his prime, and it simply built up his challenger. I thought Henry played his role very well, and has successfully turned and got over within the space of five minutes. It doesn’t hurt Orton because he was already hurt and had had a match.

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.

The Bash Preview

I’ll start with the bad news, which is that I am unable to provide the usual Live Blog this evening/morning for the PPV. I have a very early start on Monday, and cannot justify putting that off to watch yet another PPV, especially one which does not exactly have me salivating.

Instead, I’ll endeavour to watch the show during Monday, and will post thoughts upon in a similar manner to weekly Raw reviews.

To the matter of the show itself, here are my thoughts on each match.

Dolph Ziggler v Great Khali
Interesting (well, slightly interesting) build up to this contest, in that it has at least a little logic behind it, and Ziggler’s character, which I think has a lot of potential if they get over that “Hi, I’m Dolph Zigger” catchphrase and stop making him a sum of the parts of Kennedy and DDP’s worst bits.

The idea is that Ziggler got DQed against the big fella, but has since beaten him twice, tricking the ref into thinking Khali had illegally attacked him, and sneaking a count out.

This match, therefore, is no count out and no DQ. I’m going to go out a limb here – a bold thing to do with the first prediction – but I’ll say that Ziggler will tonight gain an ally or two. I think that we are sorely missing stables in wrestling these days (especially in WWE) and an midcard allianace of a few guys on Smackdown could be beneficial, definitely to Ziggler, and a couple of others.

I’m envisioning that Ziggler gets aided by a couple of wrestlers – I’m thinking perhaps a Ricky Ortiz or a Charlie Haas or maybe a Mike Knox might be possible contenders. Or even some new blood we are yet to see.

Basically, I see little point in Khali just squashing Ziggler. Khali, if he had any purpose ever, is no longer in the position he used to be, but will always get a reaction of sorts because of his size. So, if you want to show that world that Ziggler is worth something, then beating Khali is a place to start. Or, at least, not losing to him.


Unified Tag Team Titles – Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase v Carlito and Primo
I think we may have a switch coming here. It strikes me that WWE have invested heavily in Legacy, and since the Colons won’t be cheating to win, Cody and Ted will be hurt if they lose cleanly.

WWE like to have a stable with belts, and I am not saying necessarily that Orton will win, but I’m saying that I see more likelihood of the title switching that remaining. The annoying this is that the tag team scene is extremely under-populated, so whomever wins, there is no real alternative forthcoming.

At this point, I’d like to flag up the fact that so far we’ve talked about two matches, and both of which have been shown on free TV is the last month.


Melina v Michelle McCool – Women’s title
Hmm. Not sure here, really. I definitely have very little interest. I think Melina is a much better heel than she is a babyface, and I’d love her to be allowed to explore the part of character that she did some time ago, when she is aligned to a male wrestler and allowed to be a bitch.

Michelle I have little time for at all. Her acting is so stiff and wooden that I can’t buy into her being horrible or lovely, depending on whether she is supposed to be babyface and heel. Her wrestling has improved, but she wouldn’t be on my (short) list of talented female workers on the roster.

I’m not really fussed about who wins, to tell you the truth. I’d prefer Melina, I guess, because I think a lot more of her than I do Michelle, but I am troubled by the fact that Smackdown womens wrestling seems to be about keeping Gail Kim down as much as anything. Gail is by far the most talented girl on the Blue brand, and maybe the whole company, but is made no fuss of.

I’ll go for Melina, but mainly because I can envisage other title changes elsewhere.


John Cena v The Miz
I’ve written thoughts about this match previously, so I won’t go into too much detail. I’m quite looking forward to this, should be a lot of fun. I’d go down the route of having Miz get really angry about not being taken seriously and have the commentators put over the fact that he stepped up his game and wrestled the match of his life.

Cena will, and ought to, win, but they need to let Miz have a fair shake, and not simply bury him for a cheap laugh or similar.


ECW Scramble match - Tommy Dreamer, Christian, Finlay, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry
This has the potential to go one way or another. I’m a little disappointed that there is no Evan Bourne, as this is a perfect showcase for an up and coming talent to have some fun and get noticed, without threatening the title. Although, maybe its a poisoned chalice, because I thought Brian Kendrick put it a hell of a performance in one of these scrambles when there were three at a Pay Per View, and he has floundered since.

I think this is likely a way of keeping the title on Tommy for a little while longer. You don’t want Dreamer beating the top stars in ECW for too long, so put a load in with him, have him get beaten up for fifteen minutes and then drape an arm over an ‘interim champion’ and get a late pinfall.


Chris Jericho v Rey Mysterio – Mask v Title
Really looking forward to this. They’ve produced match after quality match, this duo, and while I often remark about the fact that I’m not the world biggest Rey Mysterio fan, I will say that the guy is very entertaining most of the time, but only (to me) when he is matched up with someone of a more similar size. Not necessarily style (I’d say, in fact Jericho style is most unlike Rey’s) but the poor bloke has had to take on Kane and Big Show and Mike Knox and other monsters, when it should be plain that when he wrestles Edge, or Jericho, on in the past Eddie or Kurt Angle they bring the house down.

I would think that Mysterio ought to be favourite to win. This is likely to be the end of this programme, because they’ve got three PPVs as well as a high-profile TV match. The stakes are pretty high, although I don’t feel they did the optimum job of bigging up how important Rey’s mask is. The fact that this will probably spell the end of the feud, as well as the slim chance that Rey will lose his mask, gives him the edge.

However........

Is it possible that the rumours that Mysterio is leaving are true? WCW made a huge mistake years ago getting rid of Rey’s mask whilst not realising he looked twelve and failing to market the mask for kids. Christ, I was at Wrestlemania with a chap working for Sky who had never watched wrestling before, who had little interest in the matches really, but nearly bought a Rey Mysterio mask. Not for his son or anything.

Anyway, I digress, what I’m saying is WWE surely see the benefits of having Rey as a babyface who can shift merch. But if he is out the door, and doesn’t fancy coming back, they may find a double benefit in making him lose the thing he is most identified with.

One, it is an angle they haven’t done, and an angle that the majority of fans won’t have seen, because they might not have been born when WCW tried/botched it. Two, if Rey fancied doing the neat little trick that others have done, and wondering down south to see the lovely Ms Carter and Double J, then he would possibly be slightly less valuable. And don’t say it would never happen, because few saw Kurt Angle popping up down there.

The above is possible, but I don’t think is likely. I think Jericho dropping the strap is far more likely than Mysterio losing his mask.


Three Stages of Hell – Triple H v Randy Orton
Some have suggested this will be the main event, but I disagree. The WWE.com site promotes Jeff Hardy v CM Punk ahead of this, and that is normally something to go by.

I know one thing – the Smackdown main event is the one I want to see more than any other. However, I have a really strange compulsion about this match. I desperately, desperately want it to be a success.

Triple H is not as good as he used to be. I think it is mainly because (in my opinion) he is a way better heel than a babyface. But he used to be awesome, so even a depreciation in quality makes him pretty good. People complain about him and say he is dull, but it is not because he is bad, but because he is over-exposed.

I think Orton is generally pretty good. I think that sometimes (and I see the logic) he goes for the boos by slowing down and being dull to piss people off. You can do that once in a while, but I feel he goes there too often.

Together, Orton and Triple H should weave magic. I feel both are natural heels and that is the main reason they don’t click, but the matches they have had thus far haven’t really hit any big psychological highs. I don’t feel they have told the right story at the right time. Their Mania match started with pedigrees and RKOs, and although it was brave to start with a subversion of the form, there is a reason big moves are called ‘finishers’.

I want to see them do it. There are so many people around the world who have never laced a wrestling boot and say Hunter and Randy are terrible. They are not – they are two of the best in the business, but they just haven’t nailed it in this run. It is worth remembering that then they were forced to have two matches in same night last they had a pair of belters.

The stips here, though, may not help them. I can’t for the life of me see this going two straight falls, so one assumes the WWE title will be decided in a stretcher match, which is disappointing, because it’s rubbish. They’ll have to fight that. The opening gambit is an ordinary match, which works nicely because they’ll pace themselves before getting into a NHB fight.

Here’s the next question – whoever wins, who is their number contender? Cena, presumably, and that’s a depression thought too, because as much as we’ve seen Orton v Trips, we’ve seen Orton v Cena and Triple H v Cena plenty of times.

HBK anyone?

Oh, a winner? I’ll go with Randy. I think that the stretcher stip is there so that he can win but win sneakily, perhaps with Legacy help or by virtue of a Triple H mistake. The Game wouldn’t want to lose in a straight up match, so Randy will win via his sneakiness and cunning.


World Heavyweight Title – CM Punk v Jeff Hardy
Some really nice elements to look into here. One, is that Edge isn’t in it. That doesn’t mean I’m glad; I think Edge is awesome. What I mean is he is an unknown quantity tonight, and may be part of the contest.

Secondly, CM Punk’s character development has been intriguing of late, so it will be fun to watch how he plays it here. They seem to be hinting at a heel turn, but the timing needs to be right. Will they do it tonight? Probably not. Will he win? I think so.

I don’t see that the timing is right for the belt to go to Hardy, particularly if the rumours of his scarpering again have any foundation. These two ought to have a hell of a match, though. To be honest, I wouldn’t put them on last, because if Hunter and Orton have a barnburner with gimmicks and violence, Hardy and Punk have to follow it with a standard wrestling match.

That isn’t to say I think it will be worse. I think it will be awesome. These two can really go, as long as they allowed. If the shackles are off here it could be very special. I just have this nagging suspicion there will be a controversial finish. I think Edge is bound to insert himself, and either cost one man the title or just end it in a DQ.

Ultimately, I think Punk keeps the belt. Whether he does so after a classic, we’ll see. Whether he does so via DQ also remains in question.


There you have it – my thoughts on tonight. Once again, sorry I can’t be with you live, but have fun, and I’ll report back when I can.

Raw Thoughts June 22

· Candice is still on the “Yes Sir we promised you a great main event.....” montage. Expect she’ll be gone soon.
· Speaking of title sequences, I liked the touch of having Trump on the opening titles. Trump Raw microphone as well.
· Trump says about seven sentences, and is already better than Adamle.
· “Vince is a taker and I’m a giver.” Who wrote that line? Patterson?
· I couldn’t decide if I like that Cena/Miz promo or not. The crowd didn’t really buy it. I liked the Miz character fronting up when being called a coward. I quite liked the end too, with a cheap shot with little effect, rather than a brawl.
· I didn’t like the crowd reaction. It’s almost as though a lot of the crowd agrees with Miz, so he can’t really get the heat he deserves.
· What they need to do at The Bash is have Cena win, but only just. They can have an old fashioned Ric Flair-style match by having Cena go over but give loads to Miz, and have him nearly pull it out. I don’t mean Cena kicks out of everything and is superman. I mean Miz has most of the offence and creates many near-falls, and Cena shows on his face that he is relieved to win at the end. The following night Cena would say “You did well, you have my respect.” He will shake Miz’s hand, who will pearl harbour him.
· That Mr McMahon skit was so, so lame. Why was there a camera there? Why is Vince travelling with a driver and a cameraman?
· Isn’t it funny? When the talent all went to the outside I was expecting an advert. Funny how you can get trained to expect certain things. Nice, I might add, to have the uninterrupted match and not have to go to commercial.
· There was a very (VERY) brief moment where Punk shaped to hit Hardy with the belt but didn’t. Nice little heel flashes like that will keep the Punk character interesting.
· So fed up of Santina, so happy she’s gone. Mind you, the McDonalds line was pretty funny. Although they spent twenty minutes talking about KFC’s new grilled line, and then mentioned McDonalds.
· Did you notice how Donald kept looking at the camera, following up my point from earlier?
· Nice little touch with Santino appearing. That was actually a neat little segment.
· I really love the irony of a commercial free Raw shilling KFC the whole time.
· I’ll have to say it again – that was actually pretty funny. I didn’t care for the Goldust/Hornswoggle bit, but the office being the toilet cubicle and Festus coming out of it was humourous.
· Doesn’t showing Orton kicking Vince and crowing about beating the McMahon family seem a little bit odd with Vince playing a stupid heel tonight?
· Two things really wrong with the title match, in my opinion.
· One was the actual match type. I just can’t get on with a Last Man Standing match. If they want to have an arena wide brawl, I’d much sooner they did it in a Falls Count Anywhere contest. LMS leaves so many bits of the match empty, as all people do is flail about trying to stand up. FCA means pinfall opportunities which are far more exciting.
· Two was the ending. A draw? That isn’t going to work for pulling in the people. WWE get really nervous about falling viewership, so throw out major matches. The trouble is, they are too terrified to have someone beaten, so it’s a draw. Who is going to want to tune back again? “Well, they had an ok match, but the finish was boring” I’m guessing some sort of rematch on Sunday.
· No GM. I like that. Trump should be imposing a different style. I’d be tempted to go the whole hog. Change the colours, the music, the stage, the lot. (probably can’t afford to, I guess)
· I don’t really understand the business dynamic between Trump and McMahon. If Vince has sold Raw, why would Trump bankrupt him by giving stuff away free? Doesn’t Vince still own Smackdown and ECW? And Superstars?
· Hang on, what happened? Trump sold back? Oh man, this show is accomplishing the very opposite of everything it is setting out to do. So Trump is out of here, and the excitement we felt about a new Raw is gone already. Don’t they realise that fans have an investment in wrestlers hey like winning matches, they have no emotional tie in Donald Trump making a few million dollars.
· Oh shit, and if it couldn’t get worse – Cena v Big Show AGAIN!
· Triple H v Orton, two out of three falls. Good concept, if they must wrestle again, but to make the third fall a stretcher match is a terrible idea.
· “Three stages of hell” as they call it, hasn’t happened for six and a half years, as Cole says. Presumably, I haven’t checked yet, that is Triple H v Stone Cold which I think was straight, wrestling then no holds barred, then cage. I may be wrong.
· I am starting to like what they are doing with Mickie and Maryse. It’s not the most in depth storyline, but they at least doing something a little different to keep a bit of interest in the feud.
· I can’t really give you very much by way of analysis on another slow, plodding Cena v Big Show match, but I will offer you my opinion, which I have said before, about the STF mini-angle, which I really like. It’s nice to offer a little added edge to a series of matches, and although thinking of another submission hold or elbowing someone in the back might have happened earlier, it was something interesting to follow.
· I’ll give you the parking lot attack. Might as well do something a little extra, I guess.
· Overall, that’s a short-term good show and a long term potential nightmare. For two hours, commercial free, I was interested, looking forward to seeing what would happen next. I didn’t know what Trump would do. I didn’t know what the title match outcome would be. They were the two themes of the show, and they had me. However, one resulted in a match we’ve seen before which was ok at best and had a nothing finish, and the other let down a potentially really exciting and fun concept and shot it down after one week. Eight days ago Trump was nothing to do with Raw, and it seems it is that way again. I am a wrestling fan, a fan of WWE, and wanted to see exciting television. I liked the idea of Trump doing different things, the celebrity host sounded like fun, and I think the guy can actually cut a promo. However, it turns out it is just a one week publicity hit.
· To those that are thinking about buying the Pay Per View, you need to base your decision on how much you want to see Punk v Hardy and Jericho v Mysterio, because there is no point in buying it for Hunter v orton – you’ve just seen it. The match tonight was alright – but it wasn’t great because we’ve seen it ad nauseum. I don’t see how Sunday can be any better.
· I think a lot of people would have watched Raw and been very disappointed. That could be a very bad move.
· Back to speculation for GM again – I’m going JBL. It makes sense. I just hope he’d do it.

Raw Thoughts - pretty quick this week!

· I guess it’s one of pitfalls of reading the wrestling news sites that I basically knew that the opening segment would feature a beatdown on Batista.
· That said, it was well done, and the visual of Batista’s arm snapping back looked effective.
· Good work as usual from Michael Cole (note saracasm) calling the chair shot to the spine before quickly switching to saying “arm”. Idiot.
· Aside, that is, from the usual question marks – why did no referees or officials rush the ring to stop the beating. These segment always used to look more effective when the heels were evading a bunch of refs and agents.
· And is Batista so friendless that no-one – NO-ONE – would come and help him? Didn’t Cena come and help the guy a couple of weeks ago. Just the smallest thing, him arriving late and hearing what happened, would make the world of difference. He’d be a more sympathetic babyface, establish him as Batista’s friend and ally and make WWE look less stupid for not acknowledging anything.
· “The last thing you need is a Jamaican as United States champion” Don’t worry Willy, he’s Ghanaian.
· Kofi will never get over winning three minute matches. This is why no-name jobbers used to be used. It gave the talent a chance to shine and hurt no-one. This simply harms Regal that little bit more, and gives Kofi nothing.
· Right now, the Divas are just there. They (and this is not their fault, for the most part) offer nothing to the TV show. There is absolutely no originality to a storyline, simply “Mickie wants the title, Maryse doesn’t like her.” That isn’t an angle, it’s nothing.
· I really like the Miz/Maryse chemistry.
· Santino walking down the aisle and giving the “oh shucks” arm wave to a fan is funnier than anything SantinA has done for weeks. The guy is walking comedy.
· Oh, but he’s tagging with Festus and Goldust. This really isn’t the wrestling show is it?
· Thinking back, Vickie’s backing of Orton is plain odd. They haven’t completely got on, and since Vince, or Shane, or Steph, is her boss, wouldn’t she want to be fair so as not to piss them off?
· Miz has “Miz 6 Cena 0” on his sleeves, Nice touch. Why did Cena take so long to emerge? Just felt really odd. I felt sure we’d cut backstage to see that Cena had been taken out.
· That went from severely boring to very intriguing. I was lamenting Big Show STILL not letting it drop that Cena is better than him, when his attack was cut short by Miz smashing him with a chair. It lacked clarity and didn’t make too much sense, but I’ll always give them a week to explain it. I like the idea that it was a segment that was interesting to watch and offers something to look forward to.
· I don’t care who she is, but all this Pig talk, she-beast and “looks like Edge’s mother” (she’s five years older) is downright insulting. It’s too far, character or no character.
· That was a muddled segment, with Edge officially admitting he used Vickie and ditching her. His actions were horrible, demeaning and spiteful. But he got cheered, since she is so hated.
· That was a killer John Cena promo. Put his Show feud in perspective and his words for The Miz were nicely pitched. He admitted a small amount of respect but then basically that he hates him. It felt a big deal. Great stuff from Cena. That kind of promo makes it even more annoying when he does his “throw up in the mouth, poopies and peepees” promos.
· Disappointing tag match with Legacy and Colons. Wouldn’t make me want to pay to see a title match, for example.
· Fair enough ending to the show. Had to bring Trips back at this point. Not overjoyed at prospect of seeing Triple H and Orton one on one AGAIN, mind you. Loved hearing the crowd chant “Pedigree” – never heard that before.
· So did Batista miss the count then?
· Good reasons to keep watching. Smackdown has the Punk/Edge/Jeff fallout as well as Jericho/Mysterio awesomeness. Next week’s Raw is a three-hour special (although they often suck) with resolutions of Title and GM situations