Wow, last night's show was the first time in a long time when I wanted to tune off 'RAW'. It seemed stale and boring. Kevin, any word on whether a draft is happening anytime soon. Also do you see WWE moving MVP to Raw as a main event heal? Btw, I loved your interview on BTR a couple weeks ago.

I don't Phoenix is suffering too bad as her first loss was a total fluke while this one required a boot to the head via Melina in order for James to score the roll-up pin. It's not like she's entered Victoria territory or anything.
I think one-on-one she's still booked as the dominant force in her division.
And am I the only one who's sort of bored with every week having to see every diva in some form or variation of a match. Any money on next week there's an over the top rope battle royal or something?

Kev, didn't you think that Piper would pull a Snuka w/ a coconut in Carlito's Cabana?

Update: ESPN hires J Coachman. The death spiral of the worldwide leader continues. As for Raw? Another lame,boring,pathetic episode. Regal visionary?? Other new Vince ideas for 2009:
1. Easily distracted referees.
2. Heel General Manager's

I can't believe someone has a job writing about WWE. I have to give you props for the position I guess, I just can't believe that a scripted Male-Soap Opera makes it to the sports section. It's crap, all crap.....I will say your writing is alright, but I just can't get over what you are writing about.

I hope it's HBK that is turning heel. The guy used to play an awesome heel, and it's been so long that he has been, that I think it would add something fresh to Raw.

I could be wrong but I don't think that Regal and Triple H were the Blue Bloods. Triple H was there for a little while and he and Regal were helping each other win matches and team a handful of times but it only lasted for a few weeks until Triple H left for WWE.

I think the Blue Bloods consisted of Lord Steven Regal and The Earl of Eaton (Bobby Eaton) and then Dave Taylor joined the team a year or two down the road.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I could be wrong -- the memory isn't what it used to be -- but I believe Regal and Triple H were the original Blue Bloods, although just for a short period of time. Bobby Eaton replaced Triple H after the latter went to WWE.

I am with you on the idea that turning off the lights to end matches is getting old in a hurry. And as much as Regal can be entertaining on the mic, I don't look forward to watching him in the ring, as I have always found his matches mostly dull.
JBL and Cena might make for a good match at Judgment Day, but without Cena on TV, it's hard to feel a real build up for the feud by watching JBL beat up DH Smith and snarl at the camera.
And I guess it was asking too much to think the entire ECW roster could subdue HHH once the match was over. It took the lights being turned off and an Orton sneak attack to put him down. As much as people hate the whole "Super Cena" deal, how often does Triple H ever go down cleanly?Geez, the last time he lost the WWE title it took 3 matches in one night to do the trick.
And Piper's crack to Marella was probably lost on the vast majority of fans who don't follow wrestling on the web, but it was funny and Marella played it off well. Well done, Rodney the Piper!

I hate how Kennedy had to lose his first match back.

Triple H and Cena usually go on 2 month winning streaks when they return from absences.

"I beat Mr. T, I beat Hulk Higan, and I beat cancer".

- It was great to see Roddy back, and he at least kept his shirt on this time, unlike the at the Royal Rumble.

Regal is doing a great job portraying the unstable power hungary king character. He is doing a much better job with the gimmick then Booker did.

There were some great verbal jabs being thrown last night on Raw. Piper calling Carlito "Buckwheat",Chris Jericho calling HBK "Shakespere",alluding to his injury before their tag match. Santino calling Piper "Rodney The Piper"! I laughed my butt off!

Ok, here's the thing I don't get. The 'E is making a genuine effort to tell a story here with Regal, and in doing so are potentially protecting future PPV matches (Trips vs Orton, Orton vs Punk). More often than not, when a match that could be PPV caliber is given away on free TV, people complain. This angle is protecting those matches, while drawing serious heat on Regal for cutting those matches short when the action is at or near a climax, including Trips having the Crossface locked in with Orton in the center of the ring, and when Punk seemed to be dominating and could potentially win against the recently dethroned WWE Champion.

If they want to put Regal in the ring, as he has indicated that he'd like to do more, they can put him in an immediate feud with Punk, Orton, and Trips. Not to mention, if they want to play up the King of the Ring bit, they've got Kennedy there, reminding us that he didn't get to be in the tournament. They've already got a nice feud going, it seems. Oh, and the abuse of Regal's power could also serve to start something with HBK depending on where this angle with Jericho is going. Regal forced HBK into a match, despite HBK's claim that he's hurt.

The problem with viewers/fans these days is that they've got a ridiculous sense of entitlement. Yes, the 'E and TNA and all of the other promotions out there exist to provide entertainment to the fans. But the fans don't seem to be capable of putting aside the desire to be 'smarks' or the antithesis of 'marks' in order to truly enjoy the wrestling and the storylines. This thing with Regal isn't providing instant gratification. That's a good thing! Hopefully, he's going to run wild with this new power and authority, and a wrestler or maybe a few wrestlers are going to eventually going to mutiny. And we'll get good matches out of it.

Now, do I think that after the last couple of weeks, Regal needs to come up with something other than turning out the lights? You bet I do. But for two shows, it wasn't the end of the world, it got me railing against Regal, and at the end of the night, I laughed about how the 'E had pushed my buttons and talked with my roommates about how we can't wait to see another Punk vs Orton match. Then we speculated about the direction of the various feuds. The show got us talking and interested to see what they do with the angles next week.

Isn't that the point?

I've never posted under your blog before, but last night's episode of RAW compelled me to do so.

While I get what they're doing with Regal from the storyline standpoint, this is making RAW nearly unwatchable in my opinion. I turned RAW off after the lights went out on Punk/Orton and if this is how RAW is going to continue, I don't see myself watching in the future.

Keep up the good work.

Let me say this:

If WWE took their current storylines, their current characters, their current production values -- if they took everything that they currently utilize, and used this same stuff back in the 1980's, there would be no WWE today.

They would be a small company called the WWF. They wouldn't be international, they wouldn't be mainstream, and they certainly wouldn't have gotten the attention of the World Wildlife Fund.

They grew and expanded and became a billion dollar market cap company because they offered something great. Sure, I was a kid back then, so things were more believable. I knew it was staged. But, it never -- ever -- felt artificial. It's starting to now.

They had slow carefully crafted character development, tension building matches, lush presentation reports and arena staging, and ingeniously plotted main events that would get you so pumped-up, you would think about them all week long.

They went from the WHAT THE WORLD IS WATCHING to... UNWATCHABLE.

So why do we watch? We watch because there's no alternative. We remember it when it use to be good. We watch, hoping for that spark of magic to reappear.

Last night, Vince mentioned something about VISION -- and being a visionary.

Where is the vision? More importantly: Who is the visionary?

Shane? Stephanie? Linda?

Give me a break.

People often scratch their heads and ask why people like us watch these "fake" wrestling shows.

I'm starting to do the same.

Bring back the brillance of the 80's and 90's. Add the attitude and the realism of today. Together, you may have something worth watching.

I am forgiving the finish of the Orton-Punk match. Did anyone really think that Orton, two weeks away from challenging for the WWE title, was going to lose to Punk? True, an Orton victory would have built him up as a stronger challenger, but it also would have buried Mr. Money-in-the-Bank who needed (and still needs) to rebound after mid-carder Chuck Palumbo beat him up on ECW.

Speaking of the Punk, the World Heavyweight Title is vacant. Maybe there will be a tournament for the gold... and one bonus match. I'm all for it!

To Disappointed:

Part of the reason why it doesn't feel as 'real' anymore is because they have a ppv every month.

From a biz standpoint, that will generate more revenue.

But from a storyline standpoint, it feels forced.

I guarantee you if they still held 4-5 ppvs a year, feuds would actually feel like feuds.

is Undertaker getting divorced or something? the Sara Tattoo on his throat is almost all the way gone now. (laser?) and he has added work on the sides that takes away from the crap Sara thing that you can still kinda see.
Just Curious.

I think there is a bit of over-reaction to this. The way I see it, it is drawing heat to Regal, thus helping Kennedy become a face. I for one am enjoying the power hungry Regal and think this is ok for a couple of shows maybe 1 more. Maybe Raw next week will show Regal doing different things to draw heat on himself. The only downside, is I would like to have seen Kennedy take a different route to become a face.

Jericho vs Michaels is fine by me. 2 of the greatest. But I am not really emotionally into this match. Something needs to happen soon. Would like to see Batista guest referee actually. Is the Intercontinental belt on the line or not? Can't see for sure that it is. If not, what is the point of Jericho holding the belt?

Cena vs JBL doesn't enamour much either, especially as Cena has been missing. I can't see Cena losing this one at all either, especially as he has not won a PPV match(other than Rumble) since his return. And yes JBL has looked menacing, but was there any other outcome considering the low carders he has faced? Particularly those who rarely feature on Raw?

'Disappointed' hit the nail on the on the head when it comes to the present state of televised wrestling. "Mean Gene" Okerlund often referred to anyone in the world as a "dear, close, personal, longtime friend" and I loved it. I feel like with the current state of sports entertainment, I've lost just such a friend.

Hey Kevin, you probably know this by now but wwe.com does have an interview up with Joey Styles and Trish Stratus. I am having a hard figuring out who is going to turn heel between Y2J/HBK. My guess it will be Y2J. I love the what Regal is doing and his promos with Mr. Kennedy are real good to. It's always great to see Rowdy Roddy Piper on Raw. Do you think we will see Beth Phoenix confront Melina after getting hit by a boot. Not that it matters, just asking for your opinion. BTW, Adamle still sux.

Have the planets and stars aligned themselves ? Forget global warming , has hell started to freeze over ? Did Big Kev actually give a negative , well , so - so critique of a WWE program ? I thought they could do no wrong . Maybe it's the subtle shift of Kevin to TNA ( maybe not ) . When TNA has a bad show lets call it growing pains . In my opinion WWE is loaded with overrated , egomaniac performers . See Shawn Michaels / Chris Jericho . If WWE continues down the same road they are on , and TNA continues to improve as they have , I can see TNA challenging WWE as WCW did a few short years ago .

Is it just me, or does Orton seem to be straying from his character? Regal has abused him twice in a row by ending his match, and he's okay with it? I was so excited when I saw Orton ticked off, saying he was going to Regal's office to find out "what the hell was going on." But then NOTHING happened! He showed up at the end to give Triple H an RKO. Wow, Randy, you really showed the boss. It's almost as if Orton is jobbing to Regal! Orton may be dirty and cheat when he knows he's going to lose, but he doesn't back down, and this is getting really disappointing.

Jack in hebron: Vince's weekly check to Kev bounced. Kev feels Steph is now Vince's favorite child so this is his temper tantrum. He'll be back to pushing Vince's propoganda next Tue morning.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Come on, Eric, you know that's a lie. Everyone knows Triple H is Vince's favorite child.

"Regal has abused him twice in a row by ending his match, and he's okay with it?"

I just figured it'd be revealed next week that his "going to Regal's office to find out what's going on RIGHT NOW" ended up being Regal apologizing and offering the chance to whack HHH as a sop to Orton. Regal could be all "I did that to end CM Punk's match, I have nothing against you since you were respectful to me" and such... and then have the lights flipped so Orton could sneak up on HHH. Seems like the sorta deal Orton would be ok with.

to me the show was not that bad. save for the hhh kills the ecw roster part.man he must have one serious complex. either way his legecy will forever be link to his marriage not his ability in the ring. what a shame

ERIC : don't be so naive , Kev gets "his" cash only . KEVIN 'yur so right - HHH is his favorite , but no one will say your not trying :)

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: As The Million Dollar Man says, eveybody's got a price. And mine isn't even that high. "Money, money, yeah, yeah."

p.s. - lauding WWE Mon thru Thur , bashing TNA Fri .

KEV : WE now know the truth !!!
Just joking , I know you call 'em as you see 'em . wink wink

So Kev, does that make Nestor Aparicio your Virgil?

Everybody should reread what Mina says above until it sinks in. WWE (and the late WCW) and TNA have trained their fans to demand instant gratification "storylines" and dislike the "slow build," thus expecting "fallout" week after week like each week should contain a huge climax. That's bad storytelling.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I'm a fan of slow builds, but slow builds don't begin with a climax. Going off the air in the middle of a title match is anything but a slow build; it's hot-shotting. The reality is that slow builds are good, but they can't be as slow as they were in prior eras. There are a lot more options for viewers these days than ever before, and if something doesn't grab their attention, they're turning the channel.

Going off the air in the middle of the match, given the reason, is not hot-shotting. It's just another part of the build. We can look exactly at what they're building towards in Regal through the turning off of the lights. It logically follows the tournament win, the coronation, the speech, the Kennedy interruption, and Regal throwing around its weight. It's not Punk vs. Orton's story because those two don't have a story. The story is all about Regal and from a storytelling standpoint, it's actually getting pretty good.

Saying that builds can't be slow anymore is a copout. The problem for televised wrestling that airs weekly is that they can't find anybody who knows how to build a story week to week without having to resort to shock tactics (exhibit a: Vince Russo). But it can be done. It's done week after week on dramatic television shows of all types.

And before you go and say that wrestling is different from those other TV shows, it's not. Or, from a strict storytelling standpoint, it isn't. I think Jim Cornette once said that wrestling is the old story of man vs. man, david vs. goliath. That story has gone across multiple genres and multiple cultures throughout history. Wrestling fans of all stripes love to talk about how Hogan had his one match, wherein he went against a bigger opponent (Studd, Bundy, Andre, etc.) but he and Vince took David and Goliath and ran with it.

Now if they could come up with more stories, they'd been in a better position. Where WWE and TNA have gone wrong is that they put out much more flash than substance. A flip piledriver is ultimately useless if nobody cares about the person doing the piledriver and piledrivee. TNA hasn't figured that out yet.

Wrestling is storytelling. 24 is storytelling. CSI is storytelling. Law and Order is storytelling. The sooner that WWE and TNA get people in there who simply know how to tell a basic story without having to resort to base and carny tactics, the sooner they'll be able to get people to keep tuning in week to week without having to hotshot and have "fallout" (whatever that means) week to week.

Kevin comments on how fans may change the channel if something doesn't grab their attention . That usually happens to me when I try to watch WWE , there will often be a better cooking show or test pattern to view . Or even read "The Sun " .

Off topic but isn't the current storyline in Smackdown with regards to Edge and Vickie a sort of take off on the HHH - Stephanie Mcmohan relation. I mean Edge has got multiple title shots with the GM bending it his way all the time.

What I'd give to see a Kevin/Jack in Hebron daytime talk show...

Interesting, Jack in Hebron. That's typically how I feel about TNA. If I watch TNA, I find that the storytelling and portrayal of 95% of the characters doesn't give me a reason to care about the characters. I often like the actual wrestling from a technical standpoint, but that's about it. I like AJ Styles, but I hate how they've used him in the last several months. I like Christian Cage because the 'E made me care about him, but TNA hasn't done much lately to reinforce that. And so on and so forth.

Conversely, the 'E provides me with reasons to get emotionally invested in their characters, whether it's on the face or heel side of things. After years of scoffing at my dad and other friends who tried to get me to watch wrestling, a friend just turned it on while I was in the room. I was hooked within ten minutes, having been provided a reason to be interested in the characters.

I love reading Kevin's work here; he's a great writer whose opinions are always supported with examples and reasoning. What I have a hard time with is explained in my previous comment on this post.

It was a pretty blah episode of RAW. They definitely need a better way of getting over Regal's power trip. Personally, I'm a fan of the way they're turning Kennedy. Technically, he hasn't "turned" at all, he's still the same guy he always was, he's just up against a heel opponent. He's remaining true to his core character, the cocky, disrespectful hotshot, and could be next big "tweener" star, a la Rock and Austin, and Cena initially. Too bad his feud with Regal had to be overshadowed by HHH injecting himself in matters.

I love the Y2J/HBK feud. It's impossible to predict who's turning, although my gut tells me it's Jericho, whether or not HBK is faking this injury. This is an example of a slow build in this wrestling era. There will never be a 18 month build like it was to Sting-Hogan again, or even a three month build anymore, because there's a PPV every 4 weeks now. But Jericho and HBK are in the midst of a 6 week build to what should be a great match at Judgment Day. They've built the tension between the two with very little physical interaction between them. There's still the potential for Batista to inject himself in here somehow as well. Jericho needs to dump the wimpy looking Lionsault as a finisher though.

As for everything else, the women's match was sloppy and uninspiring given the abilities of James and Phoenix. The JBL-Cena feud is lacking with Cena's absenses, although I think him being away for a few weeks could help his character in the long run. They wasted too much time in trying to build up JBL as a big time heel. For all the complaints of Cena being built as "Superman", people seem ok that HHH has being doing the same thing for years, including Monday's decimation of the ECW roster. Perhaps next week he can take out the Smackdown roster using just one hand, you know, to make it a fair fight and all.

ALVARO : Word to Big Kevin , I'm up for it . The ball is in your court big guy !

Hey Kev , was just scanning some previous posts . One caught my attention by J.P. 5/6 . Kudos to you for putting it up , but I say to him , if your'e not a wrestling fan keep it to yourself !!!!

Mina - Respectfully you make some good points about TNA . I too enjoy Kevins work , I also enjoy giving him a good natured hard time .