The Maryland-based Eastern Wrestling Alliance is doing a ticket giveaway for Ring Posts readers for its show tomorrow night at Tall Cedars Hall in Parkville. The first five people to send an e-mail to ewainfo@publicist.com will receive a pair of tickets to the event along with a meet and greet with independent stars Ryan McBride, Teddy Stigma, Link Kory, Adam Carelle and tag team n.E.s.

Also, several members of the EWA will be participating in the Polar Bear Plunge later this month. Proceeds from the event benefit Special Olympics Maryland. The EWA also will be taking cash donations from fans for the cause.

The show tomorrow begins at 8 p.m. For more information of on the EWA, go to ewamaryland.com.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

When I made my selections for the year-end awards, I knew I was going to get some heat for giving the nod to Shawn Michaels in three categories (for best wrestler, best feud and best match). Sure enough, I did receive some comments and e-mails – although not as many as I thought I’d get – from people who thought I went overboard in regard to Michaels and accused me of being an “HBK mark.”

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I have never hid the fact that I am a huge fan of Michaels as a performer. If that makes me an HBK mark then I’m guilty as charged. However, I did make an honest effort to select the top performer or performers in each category regardless of whether they were my personal favorites.

I truly believe Michaels is deserving of the three awards in question, so it would be disingenuous for me to have given one or two of them to someone else just to spread the honors around or to prove that I’m not biased.

I do think it’s funny that no one pointed out that I gave Tag Team of the Year to John Morrison and The Miz. Regular readers know that Miz has never been one of my favorites, but there’s no denying that he and Morrison were the best team. The truth is that I almost gave Most Improved to The Miz, too, but I think Kelly Kelly’s progress was more dramatic.

Back to Michaels. I wonder if the people who said that my picks were biased are actually the ones with the bias. Michaels certainly has his share of detractors. But can anyone really argue that the Michaels-Chris Jericho program wasn’t the Feud of the Year? As for Match of the Year, I wrote that Michaels-Ric Flair wasn’t the greatest as far as ring work (although it was good), but there is more to Match of the Year – in my opinion – than just the action. Emotion, historical significance and the magnitude of the show are also major factors. The Flair-Michaels match was by far the most memorable of 2008.

So if the same performer participated in the Feud of the Year and the Match of the Year, how could I not choose him as Wrestler of the Year? He also had an entertaining program with Batista, and his angle with JBL that began at the end of the year has been compelling.

The bottom line is that the awards merely represent my opinion. I certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I just want to make it clear that I tried to base my picks on an informed opinion, not a biased one.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (22)
                    

For those of you who have asked why I haven’t done the Ring Posts Live segment on The Rob Long Show the past three Wednesdays, it is because of a combination of the holidays and the Ravens’ playoff run.

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve both fell on Wednesdays, and the station’s local programming was abbreviated. We didn’t do the segment today because the powers that be at the station believe — and rightfully so — that all people in Baltimore want to listen to or talk about right now are the boys in purple and black. I don’t expect to be back on until after the Ravens have played their last game (which I hope is on Feb. 1). ...

Speaking of Ravens talk, as much as I love the team, pro wrestling is never far from my mind. Here a couple recent examples:

After the Ravens’ win over the Dolphins on Sunday, Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason said teammate Ed Reed was “1 percent man, 99 percent amazing. It's no longer half-man, half-amazing.” That statement immediately made me think of MVP, who used to refer to himself as “half-man, half-amazing.” Now, of course, MVP is more like 1 percent man, 99 percent abysmal.

Ever since the Ravens’ wild-card victory, a major topic on sports talk radio — and in The Baltimore Sun — has been the perception that the national media have not shown the team the proper respect. While driving in the car recently, the “R” word was repeated on one radio show ad nauseam, and every time I heard it I echoed the word in a deep voice a la Booker T during the Main Event Mafia angle on TNA Impact. I did the same thing later at home, and my wife gave me a strange look. “Do you get why I said it like that?” I asked. “No, but it’s probably some wrestling thing,” she replied. ...

I thought the Jack Swagger-Finlay match last night on ECW dragged a little at times but was good overall as far as establishing Swagger as a legitimate contender for Matt Hardy’s ECW title. Finlay is doing a great job in his role as the respected veteran who gives the young guys a rub as well as an eduction on how to work. ... I also enjoyed the Hardy-Mark Henry match, but it’s time for these two to go their separate ways. The problem is that the ECW roster lacks depth, so you get the same guys working against each other on top. ... Everything I have read about Alicia Fox’s wrestling ability was basically that she didn’t have any. I don’t know if she has improved or if she just had a good night, but I didn’t think she was bad against Katie Lea Burchill. Honestly, as long as she does her dance routine before her match, I really don’t care whether she knows a wristlock from a wristwatch.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
                    

There are some pretty intriguing story lines on Raw right now, and Randy Orton is involved in several of them.

The JBL/Shawn Michaels saga remains the main angle on Raw, and last night Orton, John Cena and Chris Jericho were brought into it. The Orton/Legacy story line also is heating up, and Orton is part of the Kane/Kelly Kelly angle as well.

Orton continues to be the most compelling man in sports entertainment, and even though he was all over last night’s show, it never felt like he was being overexposed. Whether he was cutting a promo in the ring, engaging in a backstage segment or wrestling, Orton had my full attention.

I’m curious as to how Orton will be booked in the coming months. Even though he’s a fantastic heel, he seems ripe for a babyface turn. If Cena versus Orton is the Raw main event at WrestleMania 25 (and I think it will be), it will be interesting to see how the crowd reacts. It would be huge if WWE pulled off a double turn ala Steve Austin-Bret Hart, but I seriously doubt that a Cena heel turn is even being considered.

Other thoughts on last night’s show:

Speaking of intriguing story lines, it was announced that Vince McMahon – who hasn’t been on television in more than six months – will be returning to Raw in two weeks. Just in case anyone has forgotten, the last time we saw the WWE chairman, part of the set collapsed on him. I think the time is about right for him to come back. …

The wrestling action was good, especially the tag team match pitting John Morrison and The Miz against Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston. …

The main event – Michaels and Cena against Orton and Jericho – was entertaining and had a nice dose of drama, as the question was whether Michaels would attack Cena per JBL’s instructions. I’m a little surprised that Michaels didn’t “accidentally” superkick Cena, but in retrospect, Michaels not doing it was the right call. It reinforced that Michaels is a conflicted babyface and not merely JBL’s puppet. I’m looking forward to next week’s Michaels-Cena match (with JBL in Michaels’ corner). …

The opening segment in which Orton and Jericho faced off with Michaels and JBL over last week’s controversial four-way elimination match got the show off to a good start. Michaels got a fair amount of boos, but some cheers as well. …

Sim Snuka being booted out of The Legacy – if he was ever actually in it – was a surprising twist. With both Snuka and Manu out of the group, I’m guessing they form a babyface tag team to go against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. (when he returns). …

Kane is wrestling Orton next week in the next chapter of the angle with Kelly Kelly. I’m interested to see where this is headed. I have a feeling that Orton will talk his way out of this match and Kane will continue to stalk Kelly Kelly until some babyface comes to her rescue. …

The CM Punk-William Regal match for the Intercontinental title was a letdown after all the time that was spent building it up. It didn’t even go five minutes and had a cheap DQ finish. At least there is going to be a rematch. …

The Kelly Kelly-Jillian Hall match wasn’t bad at all. Jillian was very aggressive and Double K showed a lot of fire in her comeback. I liked Kelly Kelly’s new finisher in which she jumped on Hall’s back and hit a guillotine legdrop. …

The moratorium on shooting Stephanie McMahon below the waist was lifted. She looked great, which came as no surprise to me because she looked great when I saw her backstage last month when Raw was at Verizon Center in Washington. I assume the lack of a full body shot prior to last night was because she was self conscious about her weight when she first returned to TV.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 4:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (36)
                    

A pet peeve of one of my colleagues at The Baltimore Sun is how the word “irony” is often misused. The running joke in the office is that every time we think something is ironic, he’ll shoot us down and say that it does not fit the definition (and hilarity ensues).

I think I have him this time, however. On Smackdown last night, an authority figure versus rebel angle between Smackdown general manager Vickie Guerrero and Triple H began to heat up. Now, considering who Triple H is married to and how much power he wields backstage, the fact that he is the one getting screwed over by a female in charge (who is married to a big star on the show) has to be ironic. I’m willing to bet that some of the boys in the locker room see the irony in it.

Whether it’s ironic or not, and even though angles with heel authority figures abusing their power have been done to death, I’m looking forward to more interaction between Triple H and Guerrero. It wouldn’t surprise me if this is building to a Triple H-Edge match at WrestleMania 25.

Other thoughts on last night’s show:

It was a pretty average episode overall. The main event between the Hardys and Edge and The Big Show wasn’t bad. I wonder if Big Show walking out on Edge is the start of a babyface turn? If it is, that means Show will have turned four times in a year. …

OK, be honest: How many of you Googled “Vickie Guerrero nude?” If you really have to see Vickie in the buff, click here. …

Kizarny’s debut was OK, if not spectacular. His finisher (a double underhook into a DDT) was pretty cool. …

When MVP finally has had enough of the taunting and he attacks Mr. Kennedy, won’t he be justified? By the way, did you know Mr. Kennedy’s movie comes out on DVD Tuesday? …
Shelton Benjamin’s promo was perhaps the best one he has done. That being said, it still wasn’t anything special. …

I know that Vladimir Kozlov is a monster heel and all, but I’m still surprised that Hurricane Helms didn’t get in a little more offense. …

Maria and Eve Torres must not have many friends in the locker room since no one came out to make the save last week or this week when Michelle McCool brutalized them. I guess the Bella Twins were busy with Carlito and Primo. …

What happened to Festus’ infatuation with Maria? …

I hardly ever fast forward through any wrestling program, but I admit that my finger was on the button during The Great Khali and Finlay versus Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins match.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)
                    

First, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and say thank you for making Ring Posts one of the most popular blogs on baltimoresun.com.

Here are my selections for the best of 2008 in eight categories. I welcome your comments and encourage you to send along your picks.

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: SHAWN MICHAELS

For most of 2008, it looked as if Edge was a lock for this award. Randy Orton and Chris Jericho also had strong years. Edge and Orton both missed some time, however, and Jericho didn’t really get on a roll until the second half of the year. From January to December, it was Michaels who turned in one extraordinary performance after another, both in the ring and on the microphone. A decade after entering into a four-year retirement, Michaels, who turned 43 last July, proved that he’s still “The Showstopper.” Technically, Michaels didn’t wrestle in many main events last year, but in the eyes of many fans, his pay-per-view matches with Ric Flair, Jericho and Batista were the real main events of the respective shows. On a couple pay-per-views, he didn’t even wrestle and he still nearly stole the show with his promos. As the year came to a close, Michaels began an angle with JBL that is somewhat far-fetched, but he has succeeded thus far in making it compelling.

MATCH OF THE YEAR: SHAWN MICHAELS VS. RIC FLAIR (WrestleMania XXIV, March 30, Orlando, Fla.)

A legend of Flair’s magnitude deserved a grand sendoff into retirement, and that’s exactly what he got under the bright lights of WrestleMania. For Michaels, it was yet another WrestleMania moment to add to his spectacular resume. From a technical standpoint, it was far from either man's greatest match, and it wasn’t even the best-worked match on the card. But the emotion of it being what most believed was Flair’s final match, and Michaels’ conflicted feelings over possibly ending his idol’s career, made it something truly special. The finish will go down as one of the most memorable moments in wrestling history: A dazed Flair, with tears in his eyes, struggled to his feet and gestured to Michaels to bring it on; Michaels, with a remorseful look on his face, said, “I love you. I’m sorry,” and then hit Sweet Chin Music for the win. Flair received a standing ovation and was serenaded with a “Thank you, Ric” chant as he made his way to the back, putting an exclamation point at the end of a career that began in 1972.

FEUD OF THE YEAR: SHAWN MICHAELS VS. CHRIS JERICHO

These two incredibly talented and savvy veterans brought out the best in each other in a program that had a very realistic feel and featured outstanding matches and promos. What really turned this feud from a good one into a great one was the heated segment that took place at SummerSlam, when Michaels, with wife Rebecca at his side, announced his retirement. The best verbal exchange of the year then occurred when Jericho demanded that Michaels tell his wife and kids that he won’t be able to wrestle anymore because of Jericho, and Michaels responded that Jericho needs to tell his wife and kids that their daddy will never be Shawn Michaels. Jericho tried to sucker-punch Michaels, but Michaels ducked and Jericho connected with a stiff punch to Rebecca Michaels’ face that resulted in a swollen and bloody lip. Michaels and Jericho wrestled each other on four pay-per-views: At Judgment Day, Michaels won clean in match before Jericho’s heel turn had been completed; in a bloody match at The Great American Bash, Jericho won in a UFC-style finish; in an unsanctioned match at Unforgiven, the referee stopped the match and awarded it to Michaels because a battered Jericho was no longer able to defend himself; and in a ladder match for the world heavyweight title at No Mercy, newly crowned champion Jericho prevailed, breaking a tooth in the process.

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR: JOHN MORRISON AND THE MIZ

A strong case can be made for Beer Money Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm), but that team wasn’t formed until the summer. Morrison and Miz, conversely, were partners for the entire year. Morrison is clearly the more talented wrestler of the two, but Miz improved throughout the year and the duo eventually became a well-honed act. Morrison and Miz won the WWE tag team title in November 2007 and held it until July. A few weeks ago, they won the world tag team title. As evidence of how much Morrison and Miz’s stock has risen in the company, they regularly appear on Raw, WWE’s flagship show, even though they are officially members of the ECW roster.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR: AWESOME KONG

Kong is a throwback to an era in women’s wrestling when having a glamorous look and a bikini model’s build weren’t a prerequisite. Since coming to TNA in the fall of 2007, Kong has been very convincing in her role as a monster heel. In January, Kong defeated archrival Gail Kim to become the second TNA women’s champion. The Kong-Kim program was by far the best in women’s wrestling over the past year. Kong held the title until July and then regained it in October. At the Sacrifice pay-per-view in May, Kong got a chance to mix it up with men, as she teamed with B.G. James in a tournament to crown new TNA world tag team champions. Looking ahead to 2009, the biggest challenge facing Kong is a lack of competition in TNA.

NON-WRESTLER OF THE YEAR (awarded to the best manager/authority figure): VICKIE GUERRERO

If I were giving an award for Heel of the Year, Guerrero would be the winner. She has so much heat that the mere mention of her name at an arena draws loud boos. Guerrero’s ability to incite a crowd is as surprising as it is effective. She did not have much presence and appeared tentative when she first became a regular character on Smackdown a couple years ago, but she found her footing as a performer after being paired with Edge toward the end of 2007. Guerrero’s facial expressions and her delivery on promos have become top notch. And who would have ever thought that “excuse me” would become the most over catch phrase of the year?

MOST IMPROVED WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: KELLY KELLY

Kelly Kelly was the very definition of eye candy when she debuted as an exhibitionist on the first episode of ECW in 2006 and later became a member of Extreme Expose, a dance troupe reminiscent of WCW’s Nitro Girls. Dancing and serving as a valet seemed to be all that she was capable of doing. On the rare occasions that she was involved in a match (usually a tag match), Kelly Kelly appeared as if she had no business being in the ring. She kept at it, however, and by the summer it was apparent that she had made strides as a wrestler. While she still is just a serviceable worker at best, Double K has come a long way and even had some pretty good matches last year. If she continues to improve, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her get a title run at some point, a notion that was unfathomable when 2008 began.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR (awarded to the wrestler who made the biggest impact in his or her national debut): EVAN BOURNE

Kofi Kingston and Ted DiBiase Jr. were both impressive and Vladimir Kozlov received the biggest push, but the newcomer who immediately got over was Bourne. He did so thanks to his breathtaking Shooting Star Press and assortment of other acrobatic moves. After appearing on ECW for a few months, Bourne, who had been wrestling on the independent scene since 2000 (mostly under the name Matt Sydal), gained wider exposure when he formed an outstanding tag team with Rey Mysterio on Raw in September. The following month, he and Mysterio wrestled against each other on Raw in a terrific match. At the Cyber Sunday pay-per-view, Bourne was a landslide winner in voting to determine the challenger for Matt Hardy’s ECW title. Unfortunately, Bourne suffered torn ligaments in his ankle a couple days after that match, putting a premature end to his year. If Bourne can improve his promo skills, he has major star potential.

For the 2007 awards, click here.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
                    

I was talking with my wife yesterday about TNA Impact being a “Best of 2008” episode last night. “Yeah, it’s going to be a 15-minute show,” I said. OK, it was a lame joke, but she laughed.

All kidding aside, the special New Year’s edition of Impact was highly entertaining. If you missed it – and especially if you didn’t see any TNA pay-per-views last year – you definitely should check out the replay (Saturday, 9 a.m.).

This wasn’t a typical year-end recap show consisting of TV matches that everyone has already seen. Of the four 2008 matches that were shown, three were from pay-per-views. All of the matches were outstanding – Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle (Bound for Glory), Samoa Joe vs. Angle (Lockdown), Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim (Impact) and Sting vs. A.J. Styles (Turning Point). A first-run match that was billed as the first TNA title match of 2009 – tag-team champs Beer Money Inc. versus LAX – was very good as well.

I certainly can’t argue with any of the choices for the matches that aired, although it would have been nice to have gotten in an X Division match, perhaps at the expense of the tag match.

I thought it was a nice touch to have commentary from the participants interspersed throughout the matches. That wasn’t possible for the women’s match, of course, because Kim left for WWE and Kong doesn’t speak (they had commentary from other TNA women wrestlers instead). Angle was especially good on commentary, although I could have done without yet another disrespectful remark about Jarrett’s deceased wife.

Beyond the great matches, what made the show so enjoyable was that it was a departure from the usual bad comedy skits and illogical booking. Some of the sillier moments of the past year – “Stone Cold” Shark Boy, Styles “marrying” Karen Angle, etc. – did show up in a video package of 2008 highlights, but the overall tone of the program reminded me a lot the excellent Global Impact show of a year ago.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 1:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

Here are some highlights from last Saturday's ladder match between The Ghetto Mafia and Ryan McBride and Teddy Stigma at the Maryland Championship Wrestling show in Dundalk. Keep in mind that this is just a very brief sampling of a match that went nearly 30 minutes.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
                    

As soon as the participants were set for the four-way elimination match to determine John Cena’s opponent at The Royal Rumble, the finish was obvious: It would come down to Shawn Michaels and JBL, with JBL ordering Michaels to lie down.

And that’s exactly what happened last night on Raw. Predictable? Absolutely. Boring and anti-climactic? Absolutely not, thanks to an outstanding dramatic performance by Michaels.

With all due respect to John Cena, Kane and Mr. Kennedy (who all have starred in movies), Michaels showed once again that he is by far the best actor in the company. I think HBK could even give Mickey Rourke a run for his money.

Not only was the outcome of the four-way match (which also involved Randy Orton and Chris Jericho) predictable, but no one really buys into the story line that Michaels has to work for JBL because he is broke. With all that being said, however, Michaels still was able to manipulate the emotions of the crowd through his facial expressions and body language during his conflict of conscience. He had fans pleading with him not to lie down for JBL. Michaels’ performance was even more impressive when you consider that it was a tough crowd for most of the night.

From a booking standpoint, I think it was the right call to have Michaels ultimately refuse to lie down, choosing to take a Clothesline from Hell instead. It was more dramatic and made Michaels come across as more sympathetic and honorable.

Other thoughts on last night’s show:

When Mike Knox attacked Rey Mysterio in the opening segment, I don’t think anyone expected to see John Cena come out for the save. Cena's surprise involvement in a mid-card feud set up a 10-man tag match for later in the show, pitting Cena, Mysterio, Kofi Kingston and Cryme Tyme against Knox, Kane, Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison and The Miz. It was an entertaining match, and Cena’s presence in it definitely gave guys such as Kingston, Knox and Ziggler a rub. Kingston never looked more like a star than when he did his “Boom, boom, boom!” shtick simultaneously with Cena’s five-knuckle shuffle. ...

The premise of Cena’s promo with Stephanie McMahon was good: He told her that using him as the guest commentator for the main event was typical and boring. The execution, however, was awful. I don’t blame Cena. He often rises above the lame material he is given, but this stuff was so silly and annoying that even Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson couldn’t make it work. Well, OK, maybe he could, but no one else. ...

Orton being revealed as Kelly Kelly’s mystery man is one that I didn’t see coming. I’m just glad it wasn’t Hornswoggle. Perhaps this will lead to an angle between Kane and Orton to kill time before Orton’s WrestleMania program begins. ...

With Manu losing to Matt Hardy in a match that Orton said he had to win to remain in The Legacy, I wonder if Manu is being sent back to developmental. Sim Snuka does seem to bring more to the table at this point than Manu. ...

It’s amazing to see how far Candice Michelle’s stock has fallen. She went from being WWE’s “It Girl” before getting injured last year to being the first one out in a women’s battle royal last night. By the way, Santino Marella’s commentary was easily the best part of the battle royal. ...

I’m going to reserve judgment on the Rosa Mendes/Beth Phoenix angle. It seems very similar to past obsessed-fan angles that were done with Mickie James and Trish Straus, and Tori (Terri Poch) and Sable. The key to making this one different is Marella, and that’s why I am not going to be too quick to dismiss it. ...

The Goldust bit wasn’t all that funny, but I’ll take a Goldust comedy skit over a Goldust wrestling match every time.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 8:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (30)
                    

Here’s my take on some recent wrestling headlines:

THE MICK FOLEY/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED CONTROVERSY: I finally got around to reading Sports Illustrated’s review of The Wrestler (written by Adam Duerson in the Dec. 22 edition) and Mick Foley’s response to it. For those who might have missed this story, Duerson sat next to Foley during a media screening of the movie, and he draws parallels in his review between Foley and the lead character – an aging, down-on-his-luck former wrestling star played by Mickey Rourke. Foley is described in Duerson’s opening paragraph as a “homeless-looking fellow ... with a crude Grizzly Adams haircut and lugging an oversized duffel bag.” He goes on to paint a less-than-flattering – and, more importantly, inaccurate – portrait of Foley. Needless to say, Foley wasn’t pleased, and he articulately expressed his feelings in a column on tnawrestling.com.

I don’t believe there was any malice on Duerson’s part, but I do think he was lazy or unbelievably uninformed. It looks to me as if Duerson needed a hook for his story, and he believed he found an obvious one in Foley. The problem is that Foley might look the part of a broken-down wrestler who is estranged from his family and wrestles in high school gyms because he’s desperate for money, but – as just about every wrestling fan knows – nothing could be further from the truth. Oh well, you know what they say about the truth getting in the way of a good movie review. When Foley called Duerson to voice his disappointment with the review, Duerson blamed it on his editor making changes. That’s extremely weak. If my byline is on a story and an editor makes changes that I strongly disagree with, I have the right to have my name removed from it. Duerson’s name is on his piece. I wonder if he assumed the “homeless-looking” Foley would be too busy pounding the pavement for his next low-paying gig to actually read the review.

CHRISTIAN’S POTENTIAL WWE ROLE: Christian Cage appears WWE-bound and is expected to be revealed as the person who attacked Jeff Hardy before the Survivor Series, according to a report on prowrestling.net. I won’t be surprised if Cage signs with WWE, but I will be surprised – and disappointed – if he is revealed as the mystery man and not Matt Hardy. I just don’t find a Jeff Hardy-Christian feud nearly as compelling as a battle of the Hardys. There have been subtle hints of a Hardy boys feud on television, so if this report is accurate, either Matt Hardy was a red herring all along, or there was a change in plans. Until I see Christian with a smoking gun (and I’m not talking about Cute Kip), however, I’m not giving up on the Matt versus Jeff angle.

MARYSE INJURED: WWE’s Web site confirmed reports that the newly crowned WWE divas champion suffered a dislocated kneecap during a house show match last night in Raleigh, N.C. There is no word as to how long she will be out of action or whether she will be stripped of the title. The timing of the injury couldn’t have been worse for Maryse, who was only a week into her reign and has been showing gradual improvement in the ring. With Michelle McCool and Maria beginning a program together, I wonder if WWE was planning to debut Gail Kim – who has been backstage at recent tapings – as Maryse’s first challenger. While Maryse is nowhere close to Kim when it comes to in-ring ability, she does have good heel presence and would make a perfect antagonist for Kim.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)