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 - July 6

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

Smackdown Thoughts - July 03

· I like the idea of Punk explaining to everybody about what went wrong. He is talking sense, but he is doing it a whiny sort of way, so he may get booed.
· There was a masterstroke of a line in there – Punk telling Jeff that they had to be on the same side otherwise Jericho and Edge, their opponents for the evening, would tear them apart. That makes sense on a couple of levels. One is that is gives proper credit to Edge and Jericho for being good. I hate it when one wrestler run another one down, because if you beat them, what have you beaten? The other was it was perfect sense. ‘Hang on, we need to wise up here’ in effect.
· I thought for a while that Ziggler was going to be a bit of a joke for the company, but it seems they may be getting behind him a little. A win over RK-Kwiktruth and a tease of an alliance with Maria suggest there are plans for him.
· Not sure if you get From the Vault stuff elsewhere in the world, but we do. We’ve now got Batista v Finlay from Smackdown, with Khali wandering to ringside as champion. Wow, things were bleak on SD then, weren’t they? Is their way of saying to us to appreciate what we have now?
· Cryme Tyme were hunting “wangstas” and saw the Asian Redneck. But they didn’t go for a Wang Yangsta joke? I actually thought that segment was quite humourous.
· Rey and Kane? Again? Oh please......
· Ads for Raw in the Sheffield Arena advertise Batista on them, if you are interested. But not Shawn Michaels......
· The Hart Dynasty need to have plenty of mic time and character development. They have a story to tell, and are on a new show. There will be Smackdown viewers who haven’t seen them before, they should be introduced in a deeper way.
· I’m not sure I agree with the Harts being beaten in their first Raw match. Cryme Tyme didn’t need the win as much, and could easily get their heat back elsewhere.
· Bad? That Teddy and Morrison segment was not just bad, it was terrible.
· Decent closing match. It’s nice that SD are in a position to load the main event with high-quality fresh matches.

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.

Does Raw need a miracle? No, I'll tell you what they need......

Since Vince McMahon put down the headset and embraced his evil boss persona, some twelve years ago, wrestling has hung an albatross around it’s own neck.

Sure, the original Mr McMahon was a tremendous character, one who shattered the illusion of pastel-wearing, coiffed announcer who bought one-too-many nearfalls and laughed too heartily at the antics of Doink. However, since then, the wrestling industry has become obsessed with the Authority Figure – call them General Manager, Commissioner, CEO or whatever; they have been ubiquitous in wrestling shows for over a decade.

The set up for WWE’s three shows dictates that each show has a General Manager. Prersumably they don’t consider the roles overly important, especially on ECW, where Taryn Terrell’s portrayal of ‘Tiffany’ isn’t the most convincing. Would a board of directors of a multi-multi-multi-million dollar corporation hire a 23-year-old model? Unlikely.

Teddy Long actually does a decent job on Smackdown. He pops up where he needs to, books a match here and there, and generally has an air of genuine authority and common sense.

Raw will likely, to fit the model, soon have a new GM. Donald Trump indicated that he would do away with GMs and instead have celebrity hosts, but he soon got whisked out of the door, so the position is open again.

What Raw needs, and I thought it would come in the shape of Trump, is a figurehead who can take the show by the scruff of the neck, and even if it is simply kayfabe, actually offer a sense that they are in control and dictating their own methods and ideas.

It’s only really been done by a couple of individuals. The original Commissioner Foley deal, which Mick has readily admitted was basically just a slight extension of his real character, was terrific. Entertaining, but acting with a firm hand, he essentially set the ball rolling on the authority figure in its current guise.

Then there was Steven William Regal, on his second run in WWE after the disastrous “real man’s man” gimmick, whose pompous Englishman act coupled with genuinely brilliant comic timing was enterting for the duration of his first tenure.

(I particularly liked his greeting of Tajiri for the first time. “Stop bowing like that. We don’t have racial stereotypes in the WWE. Now run along and get me some tea and crumpets.”)

However, a man who did stamp his authority on Raw, made it feel like his show, but in the meantime created a problem in that a formula became stale, was Eric Bischoff. Many felt Vince washed a lot of money down the drain when he welcomed Uncle Eric with a big hug rather than eyeing him with suspicion. True or not, Bischoff did as good a job as one could expect as GM, but there were two problems.

One was that the heel GM was getting so hackneyed and cliché. Sure, Vince screwing Austin created a ton of money, but Bischoff siding against babyfaces and acting like a jerk just grated after a while. When Vince had his run of acting ‘in the interests of fairness’ he did exactly what he promised – and became a bigger heel for it, because fans hated him for being smug. It was cleverer, more subtle heat, than the obvious holding back of the fans favourite which has been done so often you can see it coming a mile off.

The other problem in Bischoff’s near four-year run was the shows themselves flat-out sucked for most of it. The disastrous run of Goldberg, the ill-advised push of Scott Steiner, the misuse of Steve Austin and various other factors meant that 2002-2005 was hardly a high point in WWE history, even their revisionist version.

Since Bischoff was unceremoniously packed off in a garbage truck (Vince has a loooooong memory) the GM position on Raw has been largely moot. Sometimes Raw is run by members of the McMahon family, sometimes Jonathan Coachman appeared to be in charge. There was another attempt to install Regal as the figurehead until got busted for a lack of Wellness, and of course there as Sir Michael of Adamle, that great orator and wrestling doyen.

Vickie Guerrero was given a brief run, recently, before deciding to call it a day and being treated with the kind of respect that made Bischoff’s farewell ride in a refuse lorry seem like a ride in a gold sedan chair. Now the position is vacant once more, and sorely needs to be filled by someone who has been there, seen it and done it in the ring. It needs to be filled by a fine talker, who can capture the attention of wrestlers and fans alike, and be convincing in an authoritative role. It needs to be filled by someone who would logically want the job, and be trusted to do the job.

Raw needs a wrestling God. It needs John Bradshaw Layfield.

The first item that one should instantly throw up as a roadblock to this idea is that he has his own successful business empire outside of wrestling. An enterprise which he may well be loathe to give up, especially since he only decided to walk away from wrestling two months ago.

That being said, he is an ideal candidate to step into the GM shoes. To follow a path which WWE rarely tread – that of logic – there is plenty to back up his appointment. When brought in his very genuine position as a backer for OVW could be cited, as well as his on-screen association and even friendship with one Vincent Kennedy McMahon. I think in the kayfabe wrestling world, as well as the real one, VKM could readily endorse JBL

Indeed, when McMahon suddenly announced that he had sold Raw for a substantial amount of money, Layfield was the first name whose name danced around the synapses of my mind. I hadn’t genuinely considered Donald Trump to be a viable contender.

The setup would be perfect. Vince would come to the ring, and say that he was perhaps a little hasty paying so much to buy back Monday Night Raw. But he had a plan, and he had a cohort in his buyback scheme. After realising that Trump had no idea how to manage a Wrestling Empire, he turned to a man with sufficient money, morals and with whom he shared an outlook on the world. Cue the man who first turned up in WWE with Uncle Zebekiah (Dutch Mantell) and was called Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw.

The synergy would be perfect. JBL as a character is strong enough to dominate Raw where he needs to. He can back up decisions with genuine examples of experience and success. Exactly what credentials were we supposed to believe that Mike Adamle or Vickie Guerrero had? Bradshaw can list both business success and wrestling titles – a combination which ought to be the perfect blend for a General Manage of a Wrestling show.

Layfield is one of wrestling’s great talkers. His ability with a microphone surpassed, frankly, any skill he may have had with his wrestling boots on. It is a skill few are able to master, and he has it in abundance. But it is still an unappreciated talent. Yes, he can muster a promo at will to generate heat in front of a crowd should a situation necessitate it, but his stint as a colour commentator on Smackdown proved his intelligence and ability to be fair at crucial times. He did not ‘overheel’ his role alongside Michael Cole. Yes he promoted nefarious tactics that he may once have used, but he also praised high-quality wrestlers whose colours happened to be nailed to the babyface mast.

Whether as co-owner, General Manager, or whatever the title, JBL is THE man WWE need to head up their Monday night show. The flagship broadcast no longer has an identity, and it is now miles behind Smackdown in terms of Wrestling action. If ‘sports-entertainment’ is their remit, and getting brand recognition together a goal, then JBL is their man.

The WWE don’t need a miracle – they need a wrestling God.

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 - June 14

· Really liked the start to Raw. Most people would be tuning in for the title matches, so give them a piece of info about a new GM being named, and then King says “Vince is here for something else.” You’ve essentially got five things – the three titles, GM and Vince – to look forward to.
· Huh? Jericho v Mysterio? So why the hell wasn’t this promoted? Surely at least a few people would be extra persuaded to tune in for the extra hour, especially if they know that calibre of match is at the top of the show.
· Terrific match again, though. I could watch Jericho and Mysterio wrestle every week. Poetry in motion. I love the logical endings too. Jericho gets the better of a relatively even contest by pulling the mask, distracting Rey, and then hitting his Codebreaker. There is still mileage in that one.
· Selling Monday Night Raw? OK, that’s quite the big deal to be throwing into the middle of a show. I could throw out a few guesses, but it do little good since I’m reviewing a taped show, and you’ll simply accuse me of writing the name in later.
· Oh, sod it, lets put out everything it can be. The obvious one is Flair, but where would he get the money from. Heyman.......um, no. Bischoff? That could happen, but do we really want him to have Raw again, after he was GM for like four years?
· Who else......Ted DiBiase Snr? He has a lot of money, at least in his gimmick, so that would make sense. Plus, if he came in as a babyface, there could be great antagonism between him and Legacy.
· I like the thought of JBL. He is a man we know of as having a lot of money. He is a businessman. He has close links to Vince. He has been gone for a while and would make a fantastic authority figure. I’d suggest that he wouldn’t want to work for someone, so he’d buy Vince out.
· Did Striker take a shot at Obama? So does Joey Styles feed the ECW guys through their headphones?
· What a great sign. Guys, if you are going to spell out P-E-E-P-S in five separate signs, make sure the fourth guy holds up that second ‘P’......
· That clock is absolutely pathetic. It’s one thing to do it with 45 minutes until the WWE title match, but to put up a ten minute clock after the ECW Title has only just started is absurd. How disrespectful to a) focus on another match, but b) to explain that they will only get ten minutes to have their contest.
· Crowd are very quiet, by the way.
· I liked the finish there. If they had to rush it – and to be fair, a long match isn’t Dreamer’s friend – then Christian getting injured and a small package was practical.
· So, Orton wins, and we are back to how it was. This really has been an odd couple of weeks. If they knew Batista was injured (and they must have done) why put the belt on him and mess things about. It might have had a short term angle made up and a little bit of intrigue, but in the long term it hurts the title, because the champ is now a guy who lost clean eight days ago.
· Donald Trump? Really? I don’t think any of us could have predicted that. I still like my JBL prediction. Wouldn’t that have been great?
· Hard to get excited about the Trump thing, because we haven’t really an investment in his character, really. I would think he’d appoint a GM soon enough, and then pop up from time to time, maybe do a little cross promotion here and there.
· Did Punk say to Matt that he had never been World champion? Is that a definitive example of WWE admitting that the ECW title is not at that level?
· “You’ll notice how Punk was trying to hook both of Edge’s legs.” As it happens I did see that, and that is why JR is the best announcer in the world, because he spots things like that. I assume that it is also why the boys love him, because they can do something clever and logical and JR will call it, not just let it be missed.
· I didn’t really think that triple threat got going, but I think it was the fault of the schedulers. I felt that the advertisements came at the wrong point, and hurt the flow of the match.
· The finish makes sense. I really hope that whomever wins between Punk and Hardy at The Bash (terrible name, by the way) they have a 25 minute give and take match which helps both guys. I liked the ending here with Punk winning, and they have given him a couple of clean wins of late, but I’d really like to see him have several PPV main events where he is treated with the utmost respect. He deserves it.
· Hmmm, “more better” from DiBiase and then Cody pauses before saying “Great American Bash”
· That’s where I hate just throwing a team out there for no reason. The Raw audience first glimpse of “The Hart Dynasty” is that they got their ass handed to them in about three minutes by the Colons, and the commentary never even bothered with the match in the ring. You may as well hire in two jobbers and let them get killed, because it does nothing for TJ and Harry.
· Why does MVP have a Manchester United shirt on?
· Big Show in Battle Royal is such a boring feature, but I really liked the spot of pulling Matt back in then throwing him out again.