brettac1

I have no idea... I was thinking the Khali thing would be done now. On a positive note, Mark Henry is AWESOME.

They do have the Usos, so I think they have two teams. I suppose Hunico and Camacho will work tag matches on the TV Smackdown soon, probably feuding with Epico/Primo when Rosa being over ends up making them a babyface team. Otherwise, that's about it off the top of my head. Ideally, guys like the KOW would come into the mid card and work their way up and eventually they can have some guys who can actually work to put in the ring with guys like Punk and Bryan. But like I said, I don't think they care all that much about "wrestling" at this point.

This is getting close to effecting one of my fantasy drafts. I may need to write a plea to MLB to please get this thing over with.

I think Hero/Castagnoli are good enough as singles performers that they don't need to do a tag team with them unless it gets to the point that they have nothing for them. When it comes down to it, Vince has never cared about workrate or quality of work (which is why I don't buy that as an excuse for Funkasaurus being shelved). The only times they really pushed top workers were when there were steroid scandals surrounding the company and it looked better to have smaller, less jacked-looking guys on top. This is why I tend to look at FCW as the next crop of under-pushed good workers. I just had to look at Ezekiel Jackson on my TV last night during Raw, and Khali at the Chamber. I would love it if they decided that tag teams (real tag teams that do double-team moves and stuff) were something they wanted to invest in, but I'll believe it when I see it. As far as Raw last night, it was OK. I didn't think a battle royal was necessary to get to Punk/Jericho at Mania. Promo work would have done far more to get that feud over, and you wouldn't have had one of the guys on the rise badly injure himself, either. Jericho needs something to get him going, and I would have liked to see five of those boring slow-talking minutes that HHH got on the mic given to him instead. That would have made the feud more personal than winning a battle royal. As for Taker/Trips, I'm not any more excited by the HIAC stipulation. I cringe at the thought of either of them trying to climb the cell, after seeing how Taker moved last time he wrestled, and how much Trips struggled in the Nash match at SS. It does help them to be able to take some shortcuts in a match of that style, though. I would expect blood. On a side note, eliminating blading has a really negative effect on guys who take bumps. If they would have added some color to the Chamber matches, I probably wouldn't have had to watch some of my favorite guys take back bumps on a steel grate. Cena cut a good promo at the end of the show, but I hate when he puts on the stupid "I'm hard" voice. It's much more believable when he talks like a normal person. Also, he should give up on telling jokes. I should also say that I HATED the opening promo and Eve segment. Awful. BradWI summed up my worries about Mania perfectly. It's a four hour show, but they'll waste a bunch of it on pointless garbage and likely have rushed matches again like they did last year. And I hate that part-time performers come in and take away the top spots on the top show of the year from the guys who work hard for the company and try to make them money the other 11 months of the year.

It was definitely better than the Rumble. I mostly hated that show. This one had some good stuff. After the first two matches, I was really liking the show, but the momentum of it got killed by starting the Smackdown Chamber match with two big stiffs. I thought they would have Rhodes start it off and be the workhorse of the match to help get him over. Instead, he got pinned by Santino. Santino almost has to get a push in order to make that worth it, because it sucks for Rhodes, otherwise. I was really glad to see Bryan get a clean win for once. I don't understand why they put such a superior wrestler/worker in a gimmick where he doesn't show it. I like seeing heels go even steven with their opponent until they have to cheat at the end to win the match. That's a way better way to get heel heat than doing the running away with the belt stuff. As far as why they didn't pin Jericho, it's a way to get to Punk vs Jericho at Mania with neither of them owning a win over the other or being beaten by anyone. It's good booking. The Jericho return has pretty much fallen flat to this point, but it should be a good match. I liked the Divas match, but I have become a Beth Phoenix mark in the past month or two. I think she's awesome.

One of my favorites ever. Great guy, good-to-great player, and one of the most enjoyable guys to watch play CF. Not to mention, that absolutely MONSTER August of 2008 that he had that really was a huge part of the team finally making the playoffs for the first time in my life.

It's the "Elimination Chamber" PPV, and they don't main event the show with one of those matches. Doesn't make a lot of sense, especially when they knew as well as everyone that Cena/Kane would be a two-star match.

Very happy to see Punk win and the Jericho match still making sense. Then at Mania, Punk can go over strong.

Listening to Bryan Alvarez on Observer Live right now. He says he thinks a returning guy wins the Smackdown match.

Thanks!

I would be excited, but you would think that if they were having The Rock they would have advertised it to try and pop a buyrate. Johnny Ace tweeted about something being a "Game changer" being announced tonight, so unless he's really bad at grammar, there's going to be some HHH crap. Maybe Taker will show up.

Yeah, I think you are right across the board there. I prefer to keep the belt on Punk through this whole time so that he can be put over as really being the best in the world and for that to actually matter. I won't be upset if he loses, necessarily, but I would like to see him have a real run with the belt for a while instead of having it interrupted with a month of Jericho having it.

I saw that, as well. That'd be a welcome return if they got Santino out of the match. I think they keep the belt on Bryan because of lack of alternatives, but I could see it going on Barrett for no real reason. If Christian is back, I'd love for it to be Sheamus/Christian at Mania. Christian is established enough that he can put Sheamus over strong without getting hurt by it. One problem is that he already lost two him at two straight PPV's at the end of last year, so he kind of already did that, though I admit I had to look it up to make sure I actually remembered it. I'm definitely curious on your thoughts from tonight, too, radman!

How would you to feel if Kane/Cena goes on last? I am getting the feeling that it is. I would be thrilled if it did and you could see people headed for the exits during the match.

I don't think we know enough one way or the other as far as whether this delay is a good thing or a bad thing for Braun since this process is meant to be carried out in confidentiality and in every other case it has been.

I haven't been to a WWE/F event since a house show in Green Bay in like 1990 and haven't seen an indy show since probably 2000. I watched the Wrestling Road Diaries doc the other night and it has me jonesing to see some live wrestling, and probably an indy show. Where's the hotbed in the state for some good stuff? I live near Wausau, and don't really know the best place to find a listing of upcoming shows.

MU was just fantastic today, for sure.

The only show I watch regularly on either network is Clubhouse Confidential on MLB Network with Brian Kenny. I enjoy that show every day. Sometimes I watch some of the countdown type shows on MLB Network, and the trivia show with Vasgersian once in a while. I avoid ESPN at all costs, though, as far an non-game programming.

I'm pulling for a miracle Orton return. Otherwise, I have next to zero interest in the Smackdown match. I am not a fan of how Daniel Bryan is being used and I think it makes the most sense to have him lose a match that he can't escape from, but there's no one in that match that I would like to see beat him at this point. Rhodes will be ready to be a world champ by the end of the year, but he's not yet. Nothing about Barrett screams world champ to me right now, either. I liked that match a lot before Henry and Orton were lost, but now it's all mid-carders, including the champion. I'm looking forward to a detailed report from you on the live experience, PEM.

They'll just throw a bunch of random stuff on there like normal. Probably a four team Divas tag match, Probably Epico and Primo defending the belts against... someone. Maybe a random Swagger title defense. I think they'll keep Sheamus on the shelf until Mania.

I'm pretty sure that those two cases were dismissed at the time of the test.

I don't think there's any reason for Weeks to sweat Scooter Gennett being hot on his heels anytime soon, or for the Brewers to have to worry about making room for him. He's probably a utility/gritty small white fan favorite guy at best (a la Theriot), and that probably hinges on whether he can play an acceptable SS. More likely, he gets traded down the line to a larger market team that's having a down year, who bring him up in September. He then has a good game or three, and ESPN starts Scootermania.

The side stages are where the value is. Most years there is one day when a side stage has a bunch of bands I want to see playing it.

If that's the Beach Boys with Brian Wilson, that's a headliner.

Really solid episode of Impact last night, IMO. There was wrestling on the wrestling show, and it was good wrestling. There was all kinds of great promo work - an intense babyface one by Storm, a funny heel one by Bully Ray ("best calves in the business. That's why they call me 'Calvezila'.", and a very good one with Joe/Magnus. If that's where Lagana is working, he's doing a good job. Granted, most of those guys would be good promos without anyone producing them, but the Joe/Magnus one really stuck out as well-done. They started an angle between Aries and Ion that will lead to their PPV match, set up the feud between Gail Kim and Madison Rayne for another PPV match (probably my only beef with the episode was that the Knockouts battle royal was a little on the long side), and started a month-long build to a PPV title match that people who follow the product want to see with a pretty excellent show-closing angle that included Sting blading (I am very pro-blading when the situation calls for it). Basically, this was a pro wrestling show, and it was a good one. The last two Impacts have been miles above the last two Raws, which have been nothing but angle, angle, angle, angle, two minute match, 30 minute promo that puts you to sleep, angle, three minute main event, really bad angle to close the show.