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.

The WWE Draft

This week saw a draft episode of Raw, and although these have a history of being actually quite dull despite the surrounding hype, this was a pretty good show.

Mind you, I had to block out a great deal of nonsense through my well-developed, patented McNichol Wrestling Filter, which is available from the same company that make my McNichol Eliminator. McNicholShopzone.com – (don’t try the URK, it isn’t real)

An irony with the fact that Michelle and her Simply Flawless moniker would end the first Draft match, as this concept and match was completely flawed.

I can’t believe they are persisting with the Raw v Smackdown, whomever wins gets a draft pick routine. It makes no sense. Why would you want to win and bring more competition to your spot? That is even more apparent with the Divas, because the division is so much smaller.

Then, to add to the feeling of this, Maryse refused to tag Eve at the first opportunity. Storyline-wise this is because they dislike one another, but it immediately made you think that she doesn’t want to win the match because of the draft, rendering the rest of the show pointless.

The first draftee was Kelly Kelly, and that’s a reasonably sensible move. It just mixes things up a little, and Kelly Kelly is a likable enough figure to go to Smackdown for LayCool to oppose.

After CM Punk beat Evan Bourne in one of those matches which just about gets you warmed up then ends, Smackdown gained Big Show, who got drafted to Smackdown. To be honest, I thought he was on Smackdown.

(Hang on, you did try that URL, didn’t you? You fool. I did tell you not to.)

I guess it’s my peculiar paranoia over certain usage of words, but at this point I’d like to declare my annoyance at the word ‘decimate’ or a variant of it used three times in the first hour. Technically, decimated means to kill one person in ten, and although modern usage just has the word to mean ‘almost destroy’, I still don’t like the overuse of it.

Back to wrestling.......and John Cena declares that the only person who can name a number one contender is the champion? Really? Really? (/Miz) Since when, and why, does the champ have that authority? He could just pick Hornswoggle and be done with it.

Is it just me, or when the five Smackdown superstars were walking backstage, did it look like McIntrye was holding Rey Mysterio’s hand?

R-Truth, Morrison and Edge were all superstars moving to Raw which were foreseen, but they mostly make sense, so no complaints. Morrison might be the man who comes out worse, because after shining on Smackdown, there is a chance he could be in Evan Bourne country, maybe not losing as much as Bourne, but wrestling three-minute undercard matches and not the lengthy ones in a nice spot as he was on the blue brand.

Kofi Kingston was next to switch, moving to Smackdown after Chris Jericho beat Christian in a really tidy TV match. Kingston’s switch is, to me, the most logical of all. I’ve been talking about Kofi going to SD for months, because I really feel it will reignite him, and he has a better chance of being taken seriously as a wrestler. Great move.

After another very good match – Swagger v Morrison – SD got themselves another pick after The World Champ got his hand raised, and Christian headed to Smackdown. I’m not crazy about that, I have to say, mainly for the fact that Edge just went to Raw. They seem hell bent on making sure there is absolutely no association between Edge and Christian and I have no idea why.

As the draft wore on, the commentators kept updating the viewers on the moves that wrestlers had made. Good call. They also talked up the individuals who were moving. Again, nicely done. Sensible behaviour.

However, they suggested that both brands had done well. How exactly is that possible? If one brand has picked up some great superstars, it means the other has lost some. So why would other brand be happy? They would either both feel things are fine, average, mediocre, ok.....or one is doing better than the other.

Nice little backstage segment with Ted DiBiase, Carlito and R-Truth, with a hint that perhaps DiBiase was trying to recruit Carlito as part of a ‘fortunate sons’ stable as has been heavily rumoured. I liked the interaction with Truth, and thought DiBiase showed a lot of character and is developing nicely as a heel.

Dolph Ziggler v Hornswoggle? Really? (Ok, I have to stop doing that.) You know what, it wouldn’t have bothered me if Dolph had lost because he was jaw-jacking with fans or acting cocky outside, but it was the fact that Hornswoggle was allowed to throw a helmet at his opponent and not be disqualified that bothered me. I should learn to lighten up, really.....

A reasonable triple threat closed the show, with Batista inserting himself into the already booked match between Randy Orton and Sheamus for the number one contendership. It wasn’t a stunning wrestling match, but it was exciting to watch by virtue of the fact that it was very hard to pick a winner.

In the end, Edge interfered and speared Randy Orton, allowed Batista to drape an arm and get the win. I assume that’s the Edge heel turn that desperately had to happen, and it was a surprise to see Batista get the win and the number one contendership. Career on the line, anyone?

Better than usual draft, if you can get past some head-scratching logic throughout.

TNA - Titles Not Appreciated.

Many people have said over the years that TNA is a terrible name for wrestling company. Since here in England we don’t really have the phrase “T&A”, meaning tits and ass, it doesn’t particularly bother me that much. But lets run with the idea that the name should change – I have the perfect alternative.

WTF.

Aside from the obvious abbreviation, that stands for “Why This” Federation,because way too often that’s exactly what I find myself uttering. “Why This?”

I could spend a very, very long time on this, and frankly I don’t have the energy to go all the way, through. Instead, I’ll simply focus on a couple of issues that bothered me greatly this week, specifically involved the tag division, X-division and the women’s division, specifically the titles.

Let’s start with the tag division. Now I might have this totally wrong, but there was a match at Destination X between The Motor City Machine Guns and Generation Me, and MCMG won, to give them a number one contendership to the tag team titles, right? Have they had that title match yet? I don’t think they have, unless they had it during a pre-show or post-show or TNA today online segment that nobody watches.

So why have a tag team match between the Motor City Machine Guns and Team 3D TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER ONE CONTENDERS?? It’s ludicrous.

To add to that, who won? Did Team 3D win due to a DQ from interference? Was the match thrown out? I didn’t hear an announcement. It’s madness. What’s the point of any of these matches if a) they contradict stuff which has already happened and b) the match’s conclusion means nothing going forward.

Meanwhile, the tag team champions are........Matt Morgan. Morgan laid out partner Hernandez a couple of weeks ago, and we were promised an explanation of why. We are yet to receive one.

Instead, we got Morgan referring to himself as “we” and apparently will defend soon against the number one contenders, which might be the Guns, might be Team 3D or might be no-one. Who knows?

Any explanation of why he laid his partner out? If the belts will be vacated? If he gets to choose a partner? Nope, nothing. Just a vague hint at schizophrenia. OK then.

Let’s go to Destination X again. Do I remember a Ladder match? A Ladder match which Kazarian won? So where the hell is he and why was he not mentioned once as Doug Wllliams’s number one contender during Doug’s appearance on Impact?

Shannon Moore came out and asked for a title shot at Lockdown, in a way in which we normally find ends with exactly that happening. There will be people that now have in their mind that Moore will wrestle Williams at that PPV, despite them facing off at the last one.

It may well be an excuse to make this a three-way involving Kaz, Moore and Doug, and I have no problem with that. But at least acknowledge the existence of a number one contender during the segment put aside for the division.

And then there are the Knockouts. The poor, undervalued females of TNA who get no respect from those who ought to be showing it. They draw good ratings for the company every week, and many have called for them to have more exposure (in a storyline and angle respect, I mean) on television.

Now, I don’t want to scream “conspiracy”, but it didn’t half seem to me like the booking of the Knockout’s on Impact was deliberately tacky and absurd, so that if they fail they say “yeah, we tried the KOs in the main event /overrun slot, and they failed. Experiment over.” If they succeed, however, it shows that sex sells – so lets do more of it.

I’m taking a punt here, but this reeks of WCW, and so it wouldn’t be a wild assumption to think that perhaps Russo and Bischoff (particularly the former) are responsible.

If you didn’t see it, there was a 4 on 4 match - Velvet Sky, Lacey von Erich, Madison Rayne and Daffney v Tara, Angelina Love, Ayako Hamada and ODB. There would be four falls, and whenever one happened, the scorer of the fall would get a key, and both they and the loser would drop out of the match, until all were finished. Confused yet? You will be.

Then, the four keyholders would each open a box containing a ‘prize’. One was the TNA Knockouts title. Think of that. The women’s title belt was a prize which one person scoring a relatively nondescript pin in an eight-person tag would win. Someone achieving the same feat would win a spider. (how exactly that came to be TNA property is unknown, as is why they didn’t just simply hand it back to Tara)Another would be forced to take their clothes off. That’s classy.

Actually, I don’t even care that one of them was going to do this. Let’s not even worry about whether this ought to be passed off as entertainment or not. The problem is that people ought to earn a world title, or a world title shot. I don’t even mind them winning the world title in a tag match, although I’d prefer it otherwise. But this meant that a world champion (for that is what Tara effectively was) won a match, or at least did all that could be asked of them, and then lost their title. That’s madness.

That’s three titles IN ONE SHOW that were devalued. The ‘Legends’ title – stupid name, by the way, is being carried by Rob Terry. Really nice guy, and this is absolutely not his fault, but he is not good enough to be being pushed in the manner he currently is. That isn’t to say he won’t become an effective big guy. But he isn’t there yet.

None of TNA’s secondary (or tertiary) titles mean a thing. They are just treated like accessories, not prized possessions. Tara cares more about a spider than a belt. Now I’m not saying she shouldn’t love a pet, but it just makes the belt look trivial.

I could be here a long time, bemoaning the terrible booking of Desmond Wolfe, chairshots to the head, the insignificance of Hardy, lack of need for “The Band”, Bubba, swearing, lack of Joe, ladder matches with keys, Orlando Jordan and plenty more. But I won’t.

I may do soon, though......

Some treats for your ears

This past Thursday, I was on the Pro Wrestling Torch's Livecast with James Caldwell. We discussed a vast range of topics, and you can listen to the full 60-minute show at PWTorch.com, or at www.blogtalkradio.com/pro-wrestling-torch. If you are (or become) a VIP member, then you get a 28-minute aftershow also.

Also, don't forget to listen to my podcast, The One Sided Ring. It got as high as 17th in the UK Sports iTunes charts this week, and I encourage you to join the increasing about of people tuning in. Search for One Sided Ring or Rob McNichol on iTunes and you can listen to all four episodes so far, including an exclusive 20+ minute with Colt Cabana.

Twittering

Hi all,

I'm a member of the Twitter fraternity now, address being @robmcnichol

I will endeavour to let you all know when I have a new podcast available and new articles on The Sun and Football365.

RMc

Podcast Episode Three

The third episode of The One Sided Ring podcast is now available. Search for "Rob McNichol" or "The One Sided Ring" on iTunes, or tap in robmcnichol.podbean.com/feed into your RSS player. I'd appreciate as many subscribers as possible on iTunes to push me up the list. Got to 165 in the Sports chart last week, lets see if we can break the top 100 this time.

Here's the official description of Ep3:

"This week's episode is kinda like The Thrillseekers. It has bits where I am serious for a minute, like Lance Storm, as well as moment of ricockulousness, just like Chris Jericho.

I talk about Abyss wearing Hogan's ring (ahh, bless), alternate plans for Triple H and Sheamus, what's next for NXT, how Kaz should have returned, an Audience with The Pope, WWE call me for advice, Shawn and Taker's legacies, and more.

Enjoy!"

Good summing up, that.

Elimination Chamber Live

01.02am
The usual deep-voiced dude tells us how the Elimination Chamber is the most demonic structure in WWE, which is exactly what he said at Hell in a Cell.

It looks like The Chamber is dropping. We're going to kick off with WWE (i.e. Raw) Chamber match. Sheamus's chances just got bigger. Get the heel win out of the way early on.

01.04am
Cena out first. He goes into a pod then. DiBiase second to arrive.

01.07am
Randy Orton next, to a major babyface pop. Are WWE now in a massive corner? Can they keep Orton as a heel?

01.09am
Time to play the game now, so that means Kofi and Sheamus to start the chamber. Sheamus to made into a monster for surviving the full length of the chamber match and winning, or is it giving him an 'out' for not getting it done?

01.16am
Big RKO chant makes me wonder even more about Randy as a babyface - and then I realise. We are in St Louis, hometown of the Legend Killer. Kofi and Sheamus are back and forth, with Kingston jumping around like a lunatic. Third man coming soon.......

01.20am
It's The Game, and we get a great visual of him smiling but with his face glowing with the light shining through the perspex of the pod. We have a big staredown with he and Sheamus, and then the fight is on. Are we having a Mania preview?

01.25am
Orton in now, and he is all over Sheamus and then Triple H. The story of the last five minutes was mainly Hunter getting the best of the Irishman, and then Kofi bursting into life with his double leg drop over the top onto Triple H.

Orton, since I've been typing, has dominated, but Kofi dives onto all three others to take them out, before a springboard is met by an amazing Orton dropkick.

01.30am
Here comes.........DiBiase. Will he go after Orton?

01.31am
Not yet. DiBiase offers Orton his hand, helps him up, and they double team Triple H. One will turn on the other, but which one?

01.33am
Scary looking visual of Orton and Ted putting Kofi's head between the chains and then applying a boston crab. Unique.

01.35am
DDT on Triple H on the steel outside the ring, and the Legacy buddies, like Lions stalking an injured impala, await John Cena outside his pod.

01.37am
All six men in with Cena on top. Attitude Adjustment on DiBiase to the outside, but Orton intercepts.

01.38am
Cena with the STFU on Ted, but Orton saves him. Cody to ringside as Orton is stalking Cena, and Rhodes puts a lead pipe into the fray. Ted gets it while Cena hoists Randy onto his shoulders. Ted swings, nails Orton and then Cena. A moment of doubt before DiBiase pins his mentor. I think Legacy may officially be over.

01.40am
Here come the eliminations. Kofi swings into Trouble in Paradise on DiBiase to pin him, and then Sheamus hits the pump kick and the Razor's Edge to see bye-bye to Kingston. Three left - The Champ, The Game, and The Marine.

01.42am
Small question. Why didn't Orton lie in wait for DiBiase and jump him when he exited the chamber?

01.43am
Low blow and pedigree to Sheamus. 1......2........3. We'll have a new champion - Triple H or John Cena.

01.45am
Lengthy STFU and.......it's over. Wow, I wasn't really expecting that. John Cena is the new WWE champion.

01.46am
Wait, it's Vince......

01.47am
Vince has demanded that Cena has to defend right now against Batista. Yes, you read that right. Whether you like this happening on PPV or not, it's actually logical follow-through booking. This is why Batista hasn't been interested in wrestling lately, it's why he didn't want to get into the Smackdown Elimination Chamber, it's why he helped Vince attack Bret Hart (i.e. to get into Vince's good books and get a favour in exchange.)

I'm not crazy about the belt bouncing around so freely, but I don't mind the surprises and the storytelling.

01.54am
Quite a long round-up of the Bret Hart 'injury' on Monday. Solemn reaction from the trio on commentary, and it's up to Tony Chimel who says it's IC Title time. Here's Drew and his bizarre new entrance (I quite like the concept, don't like the music). He'll face Kane.

02.09am
An okay IC Title match. McIntrye retains in quite a long battle with Kane. Right result, but match was just there, really.

02.13am
Maryse and Gail argue backstage after Ms Kim reveals that she speaks French and realises that Maryse was bad mouthing her all the while. That didn't work.

Justin Roberts in the ring announces the "Finals" of the Divas tournament. No, Justin, it's the 'final'. Singular. Prat.

02.16am
We've got a tag match on our hands. Vickie Guerrero 'postpones' the Gail v Maryse match in favour of the two of them teaming up against Michelle and Layla. No-one cares.

02.18am
Gail has wrestled the whole match so far, and is being dominated by the Smackdown heels. No-one cares.

02.19am
Maryse pie faces Gail when she reaches for a tag, allowing the SD duo to get the win.

No

One

Cares.

02.20am
All that isn't a knock on the girls themselves. It's just that this was a ridiculous spot of rebooking and the girls are treated as such an afterthought.

02.23am
Trailer for NXT is followed by an interview with the Miz. Miz basically cuts a promo on Daniel Danielson or Bryan Bryson, what ever he is called. He calls him an "Internet sensation" and "King of the Indies" but says he has no personality. The more I think about Miz and Danielson, the more I think the combo is genius.

MVP interrupts and cuts a short, smiley promo on Miz, and informs him that they are having an IC title match shortly. Another match announced at short notice. Really?

02.28am
Regal to the ring, telling people to respect him and so forth, basically to hype the NXT show a little. Interruption by Edge, who tells Regal and the world that he'll announce who his Mania opponent will be on tomorrow's Raw. And then spears Regal for a laugh.

02.30am
This has been the oddest show so far. The first chamber match was pretty good, but we've seen plenty of better ones. The Vince intervention and incursion by Batista was unexpected. Since then it has felt like a TV show. Decent IC title match, but rebook on the women's match, late addition of Miz v MVP (again. By the way, who booked that? Raw doesn't have a GM tonight.), Regal promo only to get speared by Edge. Odd stuff.

02.34am
Miz and MVP in the ring now. The first Chamber basically took 45 minutes from start of intro music to the final pinfall, not including Batista action post-match. This match probably has fifteen minutes if needed. That's plenty.

02.36am
I've mentioned before that there is a subtle trend of Jerry Lawler defending the Miz, and once again he does so, saying that it is a little unfortunate for Miz to have this match sprung on him. Also a reference to Miz's home town being Cleveland, which Cole refers to as King's adoptive city. (Lawler is a big Cleveland Indians fan. Browns too, I believe). It might be nothing, but it's noticeable.

02.40am
This isn't sparkling, thus far, although it's just fine. The focus is on the commentary, where they have spent a LOT of time talking about Bryanal Danson. Maybe the American Dragon is going to get a fair rub after all. They haven't mentioned any other NXT guy by name. Even when Regal was in the ring he didn't name his protege. I wonder if he'll mention his affiliation with Danielson.

King just called a slow-count by the ref that affected Miz, by the way.

02.46am
Cool visual as Show sends Henry crashing through the guard wall over where the announcers live.

Miz was busted open in the closing stages here, but they ended the match before he got treatment. Miz retains with an assist from a Big Show KO punch to MVP behind the ref's back. Show was a really good act during this match, playing the 'second' role very well.

The match was pretty good. Better than average without being truly standout.

02.53am
Massive review of the earlier Chamber match (without showing the Ted/Randy iron bar clip) to fill some more time.

02.55am
Rey into a pod and now Morrison is out here. Mention of his kayfabe injury, but no visible limp. Incidentally, I don't think Shawn Michaels has been mentioned all night.

02.58am
Jericho is next to step into a pod, followed by The Undertaker. That means Punk and Truth will kick us off.

03.08am
Punk gets beaten up by R-Truth for quite some time, but pulls out a GTS and pins Killings. Punk uses his stare time for his usual mic work. Good stuff.

Rey is next, and he is taking it to the Sermonator.

03.15am
There goes my pick. Punk is eliminated by Rey after a really fun five minutes (maybe a little longer) with a rana from the the top rope to the outside steel, followed by a springboard splash. Jericho is next. Much better chamber so far.

03.20am
Morrison is in, breaking Jericho's submission hold on Rey. That was dumb. Looks like Taker gets the dream spot. No sign of HBK.

03.25am
Morrison gets rid of Rey Rey - this crowd are very quiet. Strange. Pace has slowed a bit. Waiting for Taker......

03.32am
Still going with three here. Morrison isn't winning this, but he's done very well thus far. Starmaking performance? If there is a Money in the Bank at Mania, JoMo might be a contender now.

03.40am
Well, whaddaya know? It seems that Chris Jericho is the World Champion, and that Shawn Michaels cost Taker the match. Michaels popped out from underneath the metal floor outside the ring to leap up and superkick Taker.

Morrison had since been dispatched having hit a Chuck Kick but having a Spiral Ta.....dah, I mean, Moonlight Drive blocked by the knees of Undertaker, then falling to the Deadman with a massive chokeslam. Jericho and Taker fought in a great series of moves and exchanges before Taker hit a Last Ride. Setting up for something else, that's when HBK intervened.

Let's not complain that it was predictable. Maybe it was a little - we all called it - but it's still good booking. They shouldn't alter it just because a few Internet guys called them on it. They've invested too much in Taker/Michaels II to just drop it, and this made sense.

Batista's opponent is an interesting one. I can see a Triple H v Cena v Sheamus v Batista four-way, which isn't that appetising.

Overall, a strange show tonight. The last match was the best by a long, long way. The other matches, bar the Divas tag, were okay but not standout PPV quality. The storyline action from Shawn and Batista will carry this PPV a little bit further, though.

Shawn to explain himself and Edge to pick his poison tomorrow night on Raw, with a hint of Cena being pissed off at Vince and Sheamus wanting a rematch. Sounds good.

Good day to you.

Elimination Chamber Preview

Tonight it is the Pay Per View formerly and formally known as No Way Out, but now dubbed the Elimination Chamber. Just for those who couldn't judge the subtlety of a name which didn't include the featured match.

Tonight is the last PPV before we get to the grandest stage of all in five weeks. The Road to Wrestlemania is truly stretching out in front of us, and a great many clues to the final line up will be provided tonight.

Surprises can happen. Two years ago we didn't know Big Show would return and we didn't know Floyd Mayweather would be present to break Paul Wight's nose. A Wrestlemania match was on at that point.

The developments we are looking involve Shawn Michaels as he pursues his Mania match with The Undertaker. Will HBK cost Taker the chamber match tonight?

Developments may involve involve Batista. Big Dave has been trying his hardest not to wrestle in recent weeks, and is wanted by John Cena. Batista will appear on Raw tomorrow night, but perhaps he'll have some inetraction with Cena tonight before Raw rolls around.

There may be some involvement by Vincent Kennedy McMahon. With only four matches booked at this point, it seems an appropriate time for Vince to address what happened to Bret on Raw last week, so perhaps an in-ring talking segment to forward the Vince/Bret programme will occur.

And there is the notion of Edge hovering over the show, surveying the scene and plotting his own path to Mania. I'd make him a major focus of this show. Certainly being at ringside or on commentary or at the top of the ramp for both chamber matches, and an in-ring promo if there is no other non-wrestling stuff taking place there during the night.

There are only four matches announced as I type this.

Kane v Drew McIntrye is one, and I feel we are unlikely to see a title change hands here. Unless there are some backstage shenanigans that we don't know about - and that is NOT inside info, that is merely a wild statement - I don't see that Drew drops his strap here. Filler - and a retention.

I'm surprised that Maryse and Gail didn't feature more on Raw last week. In fact I'm not sure they featured at all. That's a shame because I'm really curious to where they are going with the 'Maryse being nice' angle. I have some faith that this will be a reasonable match, because Gail is such a solid hand and Maryse's character is strong.

I don't really see WWE believing in Gail Kim. Think about the time in which she has been back, and think about interview time she has been given, or any character development, There has been zero. Some people don't need it, but I think you do when you are getting one two minute match per month to get over.

I'd say Maryse wins this, and then in a week we've forgotten it ever happened.

Tonight's show has an element of Royal Rumble about it in the sense that the only things I'm looking at are the Chamber bouts, and the undercard is irrelevant.

The Chambers, though, are very interesting. Let's start on Raw, where we have Sheamus defending against Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase and Kofi Kingston. I've written the names in that order, because I think that's the order in which I rank them, with Sheamus being the most likely to win.

I think a win for him in the chamber is a strong retention, and sets him up really nicely, It's likely Triple H will chase him to Mania, and I think it is set up better with Trips chasing the belt than vice versa, mainly because a babyface title switch elicits a better reaction than a babyface retaining, and also because if Sheamus wins he'll look even stronger keeping the belt away from the Mighty Hunter.

Support is growing for the Jericho title win on the Smackdown side of things, but I'm not so sure. I don't think WWE, even with his great past couple of years, sees Jericho as a title holder going into Wrestlemania. I have no problem with it if he does win, but it is just a little bit foreshadowed by so many predicting it and even the last couple of weeks on Smackdown with it looking like Jericho beating Taker is possible and Edge saying he'd like Jericho to win.

I like CM Punk as an alternative. I just think that he is the heel with the most momentum right now, and with a belt around his waste he could be even more pious than he is is right now, and play up his role to the hilt. Edge would be a great foil for that, and I see Edge v Punk being a great feud. Maybe it will happen post-Mania, but I'd quite like to see it at the big one.

The biggest problem with that is where it leaves Jericho - i.e. without a match for Mania. We don't know at this stage if there will be a Money in the Bank match because of the new PPV later in the year, so he might not be able to go in there. There has been a natural build to Punk and Rey, with the last couple of weeks seeing these two at loggerheads, so perhaps Jericho wins the belt, leaving Punk to meet Rey at Mania.

Jericho is the best option, prediction wise, but I just like to be different, so I'll stick with Punk. Gives me a heel-like chance to say I'm smarter than you and "I told you so" if I'm right!!

Enjoy the show, I'll be doing my usual live commentary throughout, so come back to this page and keep refreshing during the three hours.

Don't forget to subscribe to the One Sided Ring. Either search for it at iTunes, or put robmcnichol.podbean.com/feed into your RSS player.

The One Sided Ring

My first ever wrestling podcast is now available.

"The One Sided Ring - Episode One" is available to download by putting "robmcnichol.podbean.com/feed" into your RSS reader.

I am hopeful that it will be available from iTunes within the next couple of days - stay tuned for more details.

The One Sided Ring is a short, light-hearted take on some topical issues in the wrestling business. It is entirely written, performed and edited by myself, and in the first issue I'll take you to find out what happens at a TNA booking meeting, reveal to you a top secret Pro Wrestling social network, and read to you a sad letter of unrequited love.

It's all in jest, and intended for those of you that love their wrestling, but don't take it TOO seriously.

The production quality isn't the best, but I'm still finding my feet, and hope to be improving this aspect of the podcast as the weeks go on.

Any feedback is welcome at robthegreen AT hotmail DOT com.

Royal Rumble Live Notes

00.51am

I have nervous ten minutes or so ahead of me - problems ordering the PPV have led to ringing up the technical people and ordering it in a different way to normal. I fear my screen will suddenly go blank just as the show starts. Keep your fingers crossed for me..........

01.00am

Looking good folks. Thanks Sky. Let's Rumble.

01.02am

Tag line is "I am the one", it seems. Billy Gunn to return? :-)

01.03am

Interested to know who you think will be a surprise entry in the Rumble tonight. There usually are a couple of folks appearing unannounced. Sometimes a returning superstar (either from an injury or returning to the company), sometimes a big debut, sometimes a star from the past.

Last year RVD turned up, a couple of years ago Piper and Snuka popped up in MSG. Any thoughts, let me know.

01.18am

Christian retains in a more than adequate opening bout for the ECW Championship. Good pacing to the match with Christian's speed earning an early advantage, Jackson's power being matched only by Christian's resilience, then a constant shift in momentum until Captain Charisma hit the Killswitch.

This won't be remembered even by the time the Elimination Chamber rolls around, but it was plenty good enough to kick the show off. Perhaps the only slip was Zeke not taking a reverse DDT very well, but he did it while in the back of frame in a double feature.

01.23am

A long skit backstage involving Cryme Tyme and Khali along with Teddy and Tiffany goes on for a while and involves US TV references I don't understand. Miz interupts and Teddy tells him he'll have to defend against MVP next.

Now I don't have a problem with this being on the show, but I fail to see why it wasn't mentioned ahead of time. Presumably they've only just made their mind up, but it didn't take a genius to see there was only four matches apart from the Rumble.

01.26am

Miz on his way for his defence, and my goodness Justin Roberts's inflection is wild tonight. Miz to drop the belt and blame it on not being ready?

01.30am

A few suggestions in so far for surprises entrants in the Rumble include Booker T, Bryan Danielson and RVD. All possible, but the first would be most likely in my mind. RVD has been at the WrestleReunion show in California yesterday, and he was a surprise entrant last year. Danielson wouldn't be perceived by WWE as a big enough star to debut cold in the Rumble. (I wouldn't be surprise to see Regal berate Zeke on ECW and bring in Dragon as his new protege to take on Christian, though)

Booker is a possible. If he is coming back its the right time to bring him in.

01.36am

That felt purely like filler on the show. I would liked them to have held off, promoted this for a couple of weeks and made it a Raw main event. This didn't really take off, but it was fine.

I liked the ending, though. Miz winning with a small package was the right kind of booking, because it was him winning fairly, but sneakily. I hate it when heels have to defend titles with feet on the ropes and foreign objects. Good stuff for the Miz.

Also liked hearing Lawler side with Miz, along with Striker, on commentary. I like colour guys heeling it up. Lawler is backing Miz a lot at the moment.

01.43am

Randy Orton has now had two backstage segments, with first Cody telling him good luck, but confiding that Ted is talking about winning the Rumble and beating Randy at Mania. Later, Ted catches Randy and tells him Cody is acting weird, and talking about winning the Rumble and meeting Sheamus at Mania. Nice storytelling and creation of intrigue. WWE is very strong with it's subtle stories right now.

01.46am

Sheamus and Randy in the ring. I'm thinking a 90 second gap in the Rumble this year. Two minutes means a 70 minute or so Rumble over all, whereas you are looking at 50-55 for 90 second intervals. I can't see them leaving 70-80 minutes in the show, since it's taken us three quarters of an hour to get to the opening of this one.

Fans are chanting "Randy", by the way.

01.49am

Freaking awesome. Dropkick by Orton, then he (literally) slithers away from Sheamus. Great visual.

01.53am

Orton working on Sheamus' leg, the Irishman has injured Orton's arm. Nice logic. Crowd sitting on their hands right now, but the match is solid enough at the moment.

01.54am

Had another mention for a return in the Rumble - Edge. Has to be a shout, remembering what happened with Cena being officially injured but appearing ultimately two years ago. robthegreen@hotmail.com with your suggestions, remember.

02.00am

Ok, we got half of the result we were expecting. Randy Orton was disqualified because of outside interference, but it was by Cody Rhodes and not Ted DiBiase. As I type Orton is getting pissed off and about to face Cody..........

02.02am

So, Orton punched Cody, rammed his head into the mat a few times, and this brought out DiBiase. Orton hit him too, and beat them down a little. They begged off, Orton spun around and Sheamus nailed a "Pump Kick".

Well done post-match segment, because Orton didn't beat the shit out of them, he just hit them a few times and was basically trying to reprimand them. Expect some fallout on Raw. I'd think they will still be a unit for a bit, then break up. The question is really who will be babyface and heel. The crowd popped for Orton hitting Cody, but not so vociferously for him nailing Ted. Interesting.......

02.10am

A long recap of the Michelle v Mickie angle. Hopefully it is a heightening of the sympathy for Mickie, and we'll get the right closure to the angle and retribution for Mickie.

02.14am

I'm not happy with that. I'm glad Mickie won, partly because it was right, and partly because I called it, but she should have won a wrestling match, not just ambushed Michelle and Layla, and hit one move to win. Michelle has improved, and Mickie can really go. I would have much rather have seen this go seven minutes and not seen Miz v MVP. Never mind.

02.17am

Elimination chamber promo with Triple H. Suggests he will be in a chamber match - does this discount him from winning the Rumble?

02.19am

An anonymous emailed suggests Bret Hart to enter the Rumble! I doubt it, but you never know I guess.

02.23am

Midway through Taker's 27 minute entrance. Rey was taking of his necklace when the Gong struck. Rey stopped and looked up, nervous. Brilliant work from Rey, and even more impressive when you realise that the mask doesn't help facial expression.

02.39am

The Undertaker wins after a last ride, and after a very reasonable contest. It wasn't amazing, but it pretty good. If you saw the Kane v Rey matches, it was better than them, but the same sort of thing. Rey took a whole bunch of bumps and kicks and so forth which looked cool as hell because he's a tiny little guy and Taker is massive, basically.

Rey slapped in a couple of kicks early in the match, and I assume they connected because Taker's upper lip was soon covered in blood, possibly from a broken nose. Taker did look eerily human after that.

02.48am

Rumble preview vid ends 73 minutes from the end of the PPV. It's 90 seconds.

02.49am

Don't expect too many frequent updates during the Rumble match. I'll comment on big moments, entries, surprises and so forth. Ziggler and Bourne to start.

02.52am

Woah, Punk in at 3. Gets rid of Ziggler and Bourne, and gets some heat on the mic. Could be a long stay for Punk - or he'll eliminate a couple of people then a babyface will get rid of him, sparking a feud.

02.54am

In comes - and there goes - JTG.

02.55am

Uh-oh. Khali. Go on Punk, convert the big guy. Chop, vice grip, and number 6 - Beth???

And she's eliminated Khali! Plants a kiss from the apron and pulls him over the ropes! Punk hits the GTS, she's history, and here comes Zack Ryder. Punk starts his spiel but smashes Ryder with the mic.

Turns out I can update quite a lot. What do you know?

Has to be someone to smash Punk now.......Hunter?

03.00am

Yep! Score one for me.

It was Hunter, and they square off and exchange a couple of moves. McIntyre is next, and slowly approaches. Drew is number 9, by the way. I suggest the ring may start to fill now.

03.02am

Or perhaps not. Punk is history. That's a shame.

03.03am

DiBiase is next - crowd are dead right now.

03.04am

Morrison is next, and has a little exchange with McIntyre. Number 12 is.....KANE!

03.06am

Cole says Kane has made a career out of the Royal Rumble. He's been in eleven prior to this and never won it. Wow, Cole, what a career!

03.08am

Domination from Kane, and Cody is is 13. Saves Ted straight away. Lets keep and eye on Legacy then.

03.09am

MVP at 14, but Miz appears behind him to smash him with the US belt. MVP lies in the aisle. General brawling in the ring occasionally punctuated by Morrison doing something flashy. MVP never made it to the ring, referee helped him away. That was poor. He could at least have struggled down there and been thrown out straight away. Or maybe they could have explained pre-match that you have to get to the ring during the 90 seconds or you are DQ-ed.

Carlito in at 15, and nails several people with the Backstabber, including the Game. And now it's Miz time.

03.12am

Wait, here is MVP. I spoke too soon. He lunges at Miz and takes both of them out. Seven men in the ring, HHH has been nearly out a couple of times.

03.14am

Number 17 is Matt Hardy. Perhaps a small punishment for the elder Hardy brother as Kane gets rid of him quickly. Trips comes up behind Kane and gets Big Red out of there.

03.15am

Multiple combatants work on Hunter's leg - but here comes Shawn. Straightaway eliminates Carlito. And Cody. And DiBiase. I was expecting more Legacy breakup teases than that.

03.16am

HBK gets rid of Morrison too, and it leaves McIntrye alone with DX. They rid the ring of the scotsman, and it's only Shawn and Hunter........for ten seconds.

And here........comes..........Cena.

03.17am

Cena comes in a house of fire, hits his big shoulders and when hitting the spinning suplex on HHH genuinely lands him on Shawn's head. Hope he is ok.

He looks it. Trips nails Cena with a Pedigree, and Shawn hits a Superkick to eliminate Hunter. Basically no follow up though. No reaction shot of Hunter or anything. Shelton next but doesn't last long. Poor Rumble so far.

03.21am

Tatsu in and quickly out. I'm getting sick of this, people coming in and out. This is a great forum for getting a few guys to last a long time and build rivalries. It's way to spotty thus far. Show is in now, and he is 22. A couple of teases of HBK getting rid of Show using leverage, and then Henry is 23.

03.22am

Only seven guys left. No Batista or Jericho yet. No Swagger, Masters.......who am I forgetting?

03.24am

Here is the Masterpiece to a sitting ova.....I mean apathy. Still time for Edge? Masters is gone, and I've realised I forgot R-Truth. Commentators all picking Shawn - too obvious now maybe?

03.25am

And here is Truth at 25 - pushing Henry and Show out while they were locked up on the ropes. Only Truth, Cena and Shawn in the ring, plus five to go including Jericho, Batista and Swagger. And two more I can't think of.

03.27am

Here is Swagger. Dominating so far.

03.28am

Four men left to enter the Rumble and crowd is silent. I wouldn't be surprised to see Orton at 30, you know. Damn, I forgot Kofi, who is number 27. Jericho, Batista + 1 (Edge? Orton?)

03.29am

Kofi switches momentum on Swagger. Truth, Kofi, Shawn and Cena in the ring, plus the last three men to come.

03.30am

Jericho! And Truth won't be getting rid of Jericho, because Kofi deposited Truth. Only six can win. Jericho, Cena, Michaels and Kofi in the ring, Batista + 1 to come.

03.31am

Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise on Shawn, then Cena throws Kofi out. AND ITS EDGE! ITS EDGE!

03.32am

Jericho is out of here after spears to all. Batista will be here shortly, only four possible winners. Michaels still most likely, I think.

03.34am

Batista did it. There goes Shawn. Big pause. Are they selling the shock or was Shawn supposed to hold on and slipped? I think the former. Shawn is playing it up. He's thrown down one ref, got back in the ring and superkicked Charles Robinson. All the focus on Shawn leaving.

03.38am

So, Batista, Edge and Cena. Scratch then, Batista is out. Two left. Edge measuring Cena.

03.40am

And Edge wins!! It's the surprise return and victory for the second time in three years.

Very, very lacklustre Rumble in my opinion. I think it's a Rumble that might be appreciated now for it's shock value with Triple H's exit, Shawn's exit and Edge's return. However, you won't go back and watch it over and over, because it wasn't gripping enough. It killed the crowd, who were reasonable during the night until the big one.

Very quickly - where do we go from here? Edge v Taker? Hmm. I don't see it. Not again. It doesn't make sense. Edge v Sheamus? Doesn't grip you. Edge v Christian???? That could happen, but would you win the Rumble and choose the ECW title?

So, it's Edge to hold back and one of the titles to change in the Chamber. Jericho to win the Smackdown chamber is a possibility. Orton could take the WWE title and then we have Edge v Orton, but then Orton may as well have won the belt tonight. I can't see Edge v Shawn or Edge v Hunter. Edge v Batista has no ring to it. Edge v Cena again?? Hope not. Edge v Punk? Punk could pull out the chamber match, and Straight Edge v Edge is a possibility. But they have been there before, just with the babyface/heel roles reversed.

I can only really see Jericho getting the World Title next month, setting up Mania to be:

Shawn v Taker

Trips v Sheamus

Edge v Jericho

Randy v Cody v Ted

Cena v Batista

Vince v Bret

Show, Kofi, Miz, MVP, Kane, Punk, Morrison, Rey for Money in the Bank?

We'll see.

Overall, average show. Decent undercard, but no standout matches, then below par Rumble in my opinion. The last few Rumbles have been very good, so this was a letdown.