I thought Raw sucked from beginning to end. Having Santino job to Beth Phoenix was the biggest joke since Jeff Jarrett jobbed to Chyna. Guess they didn't have anything else for Beth so they put her in this match. We might be seeing a Katie Lea vs. Mickie James for the womens title soon. Like who cares. ECW tonight seems like a good show with the Hardys vs Morrison/Miz. I hope Smackdown is going to be good but if they the wedding then it will be dull to. Impact should be the best show of the week and hopefully will beat WWE in the ratings.

For the first time in a while I was disappointed in Raw. This is mainly due to the handling of Punk. We all know how much of an Animal Dave Batista is, it would make more sense for Punk to have got one over on him, given that he is the underdog anyway, despite being champion.

The other reason Raw disappointed me is I could not care less for Cena and JBL at all. JBL bores me and Cena, well we all know we would prefer to see him turn heel, though the cash cow would not allow it. For the supposed 'Grudge Match' it just doesn't feel 'real'. Whereas Jericho and Michaels are exactly the opposite and this feud is fantastic. It has been a slow gradual build up and I hope it plays out to Summerslam in some sort of special rules match.

At least Kofi Kingston is getting some airtime and defending his belt, though whether Paul Burchill can be viewed as a credible threat to the IC title is debatable.

Hey Kevin, I thought the same thing about Santino - Even if he's getting these great zingers in on the mic every week, who cares if he never wins a match? At first, I thought he and Carlito would make a good heel tag team, but there's no question that Cody and Ted Jr. work better in that role. At this point, it seems like Santino's peak would be as a Honky Tonk Man with much more humor.

Also, any thoughts on Jamie Noble? I have no idea where they're going with him - he's always seemed like an afterthought to the WWE - but I have to admit, his gumption has been compelling to watch. Jericho's squash against London was also good, with some rough looking moves; it would be nice to have London in the Y2J stable with Cade somehow.

What do they want unity for? So nobody can wrestle and it can be a 2 hr talkshow? Good Lord did I miss Vince Russo being re-hired for the 9th time?

Umm.....I think Duggan doesn't need anyone to humiliate him. He does that fine on his own. HOOOOOOOO!!!

LOVED the 1st segment of Raw. That is how a show should start. I am getting tired of Kane's periodic flirts with insanity. What's next is he gonna start screaming May 19th again????????

Although I agree that the whole car to the head thing was a little over the top. What I do not like about it, was the fact that it was done so close to the PPV. This would have been cool a couple of weeks ago. Let Cena sit a week to sell his injuries. Have Cryme Tyme come after JBL and Team Priceless for revenge.
At least have JBL give a monster promo explaining why he did what he did.
I totally agree with you on the stable of 2nd/3rd Generation wrestlers. Too Bad Carlito is on Smack Down now. It could be like the old Natural Born Thrillers clique from WCW. Rhodes and Dibiase were golden on the Mic. I really thought Duggan was going to start crying.

And the Booking of CM Punk really disapoints me. 'Nuff Said

I was personally offended by that excuse for an ending last night. Why not just have JBL hang Cena on Benoit's weight machine for good measure?! That was absolutely the most disgusting thing I have ever seen on a wrestling program. Its not like a bad angle that you can take back. Thats the kind of stuff you see in mobster movies, but those are not marketed toward young people. It was a tasteless and gratuitous display that once again makes me ashamed of WWE writers. They didn't learn their lesson from the "Who killed Mr. McMahon" angle last year. They just can't help themselves. Its almost like they feel it is their duty to do something completely morally bankrupt once a year all in the name of a few ratings points or a few more PPV buys. Well, I am a regular PPV guy...and I will opt out this time, thanks.

Great points as usual Kev...

I really love Jericho's character. He is electric as a heel, and, unlike Santino, is actually credible in the ring. Seeing the old-school Liontamer was nce as well.

Is Beth turning face? Is she the new Chyna?

I could be wrong, but I think Cena admitted on a WWE.com chat taht he's no longer dating Mickie.

I know Duggan's role within the company is to put the next generation over strong, and he did, but it was still sad to see him verbally abused like that. At least we got to see some extended DiBiase ring action.

a few predictions of what i think will happen in the coming week(s)
1st: William Regal's suspension is ending this weekend, I see him coming back and taking over as the GM again "to control order"
2nd: I see a mixed tag team match with the Mickie and Kingston against Katie Lea and Paul Burchill

I loved it when Kane was intimidating Santino and asked him where Punk was and Santino said," Have you checked by the Pepsi Machine?" ref. to the pepsi looking tattoo on punks arm.
LOVED it!
M

If Punk's gonna be a paper champion (and I think he'll lose the title on Sunday, proving the McMahon's right in that nobody gets over in WWE who wasn't made by them), they wasted a great opportunity. Because then Punk should've lost his MITB challenge against Edge, showing that the briefcase does not guarantee its owner a certain title victory.

I sincerely hope that the way Punk was portrayed last night wasn't an omen for Sunday. It reminds me of the way they handled RVD: a guy who was over with the crowd but didn't have WWE's confidence (RVD obviously had other issues Punk doesn't). In order for Punk to get any rub from holding the belt he has to retain it at least through one PPV, and hopefully the WWE gets that.
I was surprised we got Kingston/ Burchill last night, as I expected that match at GAB. It looks like neither Mickie James nor Kingston has a match on that card. Also surprised Cryme Tyme/ Rhodes&DiBiase wasn't added to the card, but maybe it will be.
As sad as it is to see WWE exhaust every possible way for Marells to job, he remains priceless on the mic ("Have you tried the Pepsi machine?")
And I totally agree about Kane's mask being in that sack.

Get out of my head, Kevin! No seriously I agree with pretty much everything you had to say.

Punk is not my favorite wrestler, but they are making him the weakest looking champion I can remember. He talks about not wanting to be a fluke and then gets a count out victory. That's pretty fluky to me.

I also liked Cena's promo this week, but after last week he's lost all credibility with me.

I didn't hear Rhodes say that, but I was watching Raw quite late last night so maybe I missed it. Either way I like him and Dibiase a lot, I'm glad they got most of the time in the main event.

One final thing though, who doesn't like to scream out HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I think you're right about Kane carrying his mask around. I would love to see the WWE bring in the recently released Sinister Minister to be his manager.

I think the McMahons are going to put Regal back in as GM to restore order. Its definitely pointing towards that.

Cena and Mickie are romantically involved?

Regarding Santino losing matches, what about Mick Foley and Tommy Dreamer? They have made a career out of losing and fans still care about them.

Besides, the Orioles lose constantly, and I still watch their games. The Ravens are probably gonna get destroyed by the Patriots in the August 7th preseason game, but I will still watch the rest of the Ravens' season. The old saying is "It's not about winning or losing, but having fun" right?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Foley and Dreamer never lost to women, midgets or D-list celebrities.

I was uncomfortable with the portrayal of the JBL car assault on Cena at the end as well.

Hopefully WWE will play Punk as an underdog champion who uses his brains as well as physical ability to beat larger more powerful opponents, like Kane and Batista. That would be believable. As such, I had no problem with Punk winning by count out rather than pin over Kane. The match played to the strengths of both wrestlers rather than presenting an unrealistic scenario.

I think the WWE is running out of balls to drop. They've killed CM Punk's credibility as champion, well what little bit existed to begin with. Despite their attempts to return Cena to bada** mode, it's useless because "thugs" don't spraypaint poopy. Surely they have something better to come up with for Kane going crazy than him returning to his mask. It's a shame that someone has entertaining as Santino is stuck portraying a funnier version of the Brooklyn Brawler. He might have inadvertently turned Beth Phoenix face last night, but then again, he's just that good. Hardcore Holly was turned on by his partner, and yet has done nothing to seek revenge in nearly a month. Mickie James and Kofi Kingston don't have a single credible challenger. The end of the show was stupid beyond description, from the lame DQ on something that happens 5 times in an average tag match, to Cena stupidly running into a trap, displaying all the acting instincts of Jean-Claude Van Damme, to the attempted murder angle. The only consistently good thing about WWE recently has been the HBK/Y2J feud, probably because the writers haven't been able to put their stink on their interactions.

Kev - Quick Question,

Was there ever a reason given as to why CM Punk stopped using "The Anaconda Device" the submission move he used before he started doing the "GTS"??

It would NEVER happen, but how cool would it be if Punk made Batista tap on Sunday?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I don't know why he stopped using the Anaconda Vice

I am one of the people who thinks that Kane was referring to himself, but I didn't consider the possibility of his old mask being in the bag. Good way to connect the dots, Kevin.

I usually think Michael Cole is a better announcer than he is given credit for, but if Cena "rarely" climbs the top turnbuckle, how can he have a "patented" leg drop?

You can include me among those who liked the "Pepsi machine" line.

I hope that last night's booking of Punk is leading to payoff in which he earns Batista's respect, but I feel a bit pessimistc.

I don't know how Jamie Noble went from being a jobber to backstage-segment extroardinairre, but I find him amusing.

Car wrecks and cameras in places where there should be no cameras didn't work too well for WCW, yet WWE wants to keep doing this stuff.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I thought the same thing with Cole's line about Cena on the top rope. That's the kind of thing that probably would be edited off a taped show.I also agree with you about Noble. I have never been a huge fan of his character, but last night he was very entertaining.

"That should pacify the people who have complained about 20-minute promos opening the show."

Yes! It was a welcome departure from the norm where four guys make their ring entrances in turn, banter for twenty minutes, and then are interupted by an authority figure who tells them they are going to compete in a tag-team match.

Out with the stale, in with the fresh.

you're right Kev, Foley never lost to women or midgets, however, there was a time when he used a dirty sock as his finishing hold.

Am I correct in remembering that the Great American Bash was where the NWA started the War Games cage match?

Can you imagine if at that time in the mid-80's the WWE had come up with the Elimination Chamber as the answer? Potential members in what would have been a bloody war could have been faces Hulk Hogan, Superfly Snuka and Sgt. Slaughter and heels Roddy Piper, Don Muraco and Randy Savage. I think that could have had a nice pay-per-view buy rate.

Lee Wrote:
"That was absolutely the most disgusting thing I have ever seen on a wrestling program."

Then you musta missed the HHH/Kane feud where HHH was accusing Kain of Necrophilia. That one was lovely as well.

and the "kiss my ass club" and the cutting off of Val Venis penis.
and the....on and on and on....

WWE is getting as predictable as TNA. Swerves upcoming:
-- CM Punks beats Batista at the Bash when Kane interferes, probably setting up a Triple Threat for the next PPV

--Cryme Tyme definitely turn on Cena at some point because JBL pays them off, and it's all about the "money, money."

So Kev , would you like ME to write in with TNA PPV results from Sunday since you obviously are acting like it never happened ? :(

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: How often have I ever written about TNA PPVs? Hey, if you bought it, feel free to write it up.

BTW , did anyone happen to catch Jesse Ventura on "Larry King" Monday night ?

I agree about the cheap heat comment Rhodes' commented to JTG. As an African American, I am proud of all the black wrestlers in the WWE and I think they should get the same respect in and outside the ring.

The JBL - Cena ending is what makes wrestling a bit of a joke sometimes. As a 40 year old male, I would like to not to feel embarrassed when I mention to my other adult friends that I watch wrestling. Cena can be so "hokier than thou" at times that it is unbelievable! The “poppy” references made me want to earl.

By the end of the show I forget that the Shane and Stephanie McMahon segments even ran.

It is sad the way CM Punk is booked as he is my unquestionable favorite right now. The reason why we are not as fired up as we could be over his title reign is that he was buried right before winning the championship…remember the loss to Miz. Hey, why not give the Brooklyn Brawler the title????

Punk really should be a dream come true for the company, and should have be seen the way from the onset of his arrival. A cool look with a clean life! You can’t beat that nowadays. Punk’s authenticity makes Cena look like the biggest poser on the planet. He is a package that can be marketed to young and old alike.

Kane back in his mask…he has my vote

Michaels-Jericho…been there done that…but the feud will keep them both, and the fans busy until the next story-line.

Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes are indeed the next wave. If used well the next generation could give us some semblance of an Attitude part two. Just to have a little feel of those days would be great.

Shelton Benjamin should have a long talk with Kofi about what his future could look like.

I am now the president of the “Please Don’t bury Santino Marella Club”…do I have any members out there?

I was wondering the same about Punk and the Anaconda Vice. It was a pretty cool submission hold. He should bring it back alongside the GTS.

Punk has trouble delivering GTS to larger opponents like he will face regularly as champ. The Anaconda vice is a more practical way for him to finish a match many times.

I think many of the posters here have been spoilt rotten with invincible champions like Cena & HHH that they've forgotten what's it like to have an underdog champion.

@Din:

But an underdog champion who has to fight hard to win is one thing. A champion who always gets fluke wins and is afterwards beaten down by his opponent or squashed in non-title matches is not the same thing. You can book a chicken**** heel champion that way, but not a fighting babyface.

Right now, Punk just doesn't look as if he's even having a fighting chance against those big guys like Kane, Batista, JBL and Cena.

KEV , re: your response to me & TNA PPV coverage , yes I did buy and if I thought you'd post it I'd write in with not just the results , but my thoughts as well . At this stage it's alittle after the fact .
I apologize if I came across as being wise , thats certainly not the intent . It's just that your'e missing my point . In fact you made my point in your response , " How often have I ever written about TNA PPV's ? " It's all about WWE is all I'm saying .
Again I'm just messing with you Kevin , and I know how thin you spread yourself . Sometimes I feel as if we TNA fans are treated like red - headed step children . ( my apologies to any red headed step children ) .

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: First off, there is no need to apologize. I'm grateful that people want to read what I have to say. But since you raised a point about TNA coverage, I'll take this opportunity to try and clear things up.

You answered your own question -- I am spread thin. Believe me, I wish I had the time to watch all the TNA and ROH pay-per-views and that the blog was my only responsibility. However, the fact is that the blog is something that I have taken on IN ADDITION TO my regular 40-plus-hours a week job as an assistant sports editor at The Sun. Plus, like everyone else, I have family obligations. And unlike other blogs on this site, I continue to write even when I am on vacation rather than using a "pinch-blogger" or just shutting it down for a week or two.

As much as I would like to, I cannot be a be-all, end-all source for wrestling news and views. So I have to prioritize. I have made the commitment to watch seven hours of wrestling on TV every week and to always write about Raw and Impact. Occasionally, I'll write about ECW and Smackdown as well. Actually, now that Smackdown has beefed up its roster, I probably will be writing about it on a more regular basis.

As far as PPVs, I just can't commit to two (or sometimes more) PPvs a month. I have committed to do all the WWE PPvs because: 1. I enjoy the product; 2. there is more widespread interest in them than in other companies' PPVS (which means more people will read about WWE PPVs, making it worth my time investment to watch them and write about them).

As for TNA being treated like a red-headed stepchild, I write about Impact every week and I have done Q&As and conference calls with TNA talent. In April, after I attended an Impact taping in Orlando, I posted five Q&As with TNA performers in one week.

The truth is that fewer people watch Impact than watch ECW, and WWE's PPV buy rates dwarf TNAs. So, when taking that into consideration, I think I more than give TNA it's fair share of coverage.

While I agree Santino's "Pepsi Machine" line was a good one, I'm still laughing at Jamie Noble's comment to Snitsky. "I'm taking you for a short ride on the pain train to Nobleville". Pretty good stuff, too.

Matt Wrote:
"Then you musta missed the HHH/Kane feud where HHH was accusing Kain of Necrophilia. That one was lovely as well.

and the "kiss my ass club" and the cutting off of Val Venis penis.
and the....on and on and on...."

Oh no. I remember. They were over the line, no doubt...But those angles would not frighten children. I remember how I felt when I was a kid and saw Abullah the Butcher attack Wahoo McDaniel on TV, repeatedly gouging a foreign object into Wahoo's face and eye. This was far worse in my eyes.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I thought the same thing with Cole's line about Cena on the top rope. That's the kind of thing that probably would be edited off a taped show.I also agree with you about Noble. I have never been a huge fan of his character, but last night he was very entertaining.
----------------------------
While he doesn't do it every week, he does it enough where it can be considered one of his signature moves, I didn't have a problem with Cole's line. I agree, Noble was pretty good on Monday, and pretty good in the role of the little guy who shoots off his mouth a little too much. Entertaining guys like Noble, Santino, Carlito (well back when he cared about wrestling), etc, would make for a quality midcard, but the WWE has no interest in developing smaller wrestlers (i.e., normal sized humans.

I agree Punk is not being booked correctly, as is Marrlella. That "Have you tried the pepsi machine " line was classic. Kevin- am I the only one that wonders when they're gonna start booking Rey with more matches. Out of all they're superstars on Raw, he may be the fan favorite and they're not even booking him for matches. Why not have him try ro win back the world championship?

Raw as definitely got better since the draft. I enjoy Santino and it would be nice if he won a match or two. I find the Kaine angle interesting and HBK and Jericho feud awesome. Cena and JBL again is boring, boring and very boring. I hope Punk wins on Sunday because if he loses all the good work of the last few weeks will have been wasted.

jack in hebron wrote:
"I apologize if I came across as being wise"

We are used to that by now jack. Now stop apologizing and embrace your inner heel!

I'm not sure if Cody Rhodes said "shine my shoes" or not, but even if he did, is that supposed to be racist? I would take it more as saying "you are beneath me". I think one would have to be looking for something to get something out of that. And even if it is racist, well, if it gets heat, it gets heat. Are we so politically correct that we can't inject some reality into the product? Wasn't the Nation Of Domination a racially motivated stable? Wouldn't a good way to get across that Rhodes and DiBiase are spoiled elitist heels by showing a little of the racism that spoiled elitists are known for? In fact I wouldn't mind seeing a worker like Shelton Benjamin play the race card a bit. Have him say he feels he's been unfairly treated and held back because of his race. Of course, Michael "Possibly. Senile." Hayes' dumb*** just mucked up any chance of that angle going over, but you get my drift.

I'd like to see Holly come back as Bob Holly, and after exacting his revenge on Rhodes and DiBiase, get into a program where he goes after "management" for an unfulfilled career. He could go on about the long years of hard work has has given to the WWE with nothing to show for it. Maybe repackage him a little bit and do an Austin-like program, with maybe a title run later on...

RAW sucked. JBL is boring, Cena is a cartoon and nothing about their program makes sense. RAW needs to be the more "realistic show", so if they're gonna do any paranormal stuff with Kane, they need to move it over to the kids show, Smackdown, or the realm of vampires and boogeymen known as ECW..

They cut the Anaconda Vice because most choke finishers were banned after Chris Benoit "did his thing".

Hopefully, Punk gets a strong, clean win against Batista this Sunday followed by an appropriate push on RAW.

If WWE actually ends up trashing a young talent like Punk at this point, they may be hopeless and I may be done with WWE after 30+ up and down years.

"Kevin- am I the only one that wonders when they're gonna start booking Rey with more matches."

Rey's getting old (age-wise). He's gotten pretty injury-prone (as of late), has two bad knees (if I'm not mistaken) and his mobility is way down--15+ years of flying will do that to a man.

I'm guessing that he probably can't keep up with a lot of the smaller/younger cruisers anymore and WWE seems to only know how to book one type of match when it comes to small guy against big guy (underdog, David vs. Goliath, etc.) which gets/has gotten stale, especially in Rey's case. I'm a big fan of Rey and I'd like to seem him utilized better as well, but the fact is that the fans only want to see him fly despite his technical wrestling ability. What I'd like to see at this point in his career is Rey as an on-air mentor leading a stable of cruiserweight heels comprised of wrestlers such as CM Punk (especially if he loses the belt at Bash), Jimmy Yang, Paul London etc. who feel they're not getting the respect they deserve. Too bad he's so over with kids that that'll probably never happen.

I know you cant cover it all but MAN was ECW good last night!
The Hardys and Miz & Morrison put on a really good match. Miz isnt bad now. Gotta give him credit, he has heat, has learned A LOT and is putting on a fairly good show. John Morrison i hope gets to go singles matches now and show up on Smackdown more. dude is wicked talented. anyways, hope you all got to see the Match.
Matt

Kevin - responding to your response to me AGAIN , thank you for the explanation ( believe me I already knew your answer and respect it ) .
You had every right to tell me that if I didn't like what you wrote , not to read it as you have told some in the past ( in which I've always been a defender of you) . But you didn't , as we both respect each other's opininion .
I am aware of your other reponsibilities and am glad you had a chance to make others aware of them . I guess that what I am guilty of is that as a fan of this blog , and in particular your writing style , humor , etc . maybe there's a certain amount of jealousy that it's not applied to my favorite brand of wrestling ( TNA ) as often as I'd wish .......... boy was that a kiss -up or what :)

Lee - thanks for the advice .

one question kev , when you said no need to apologize , was that meant for me , or red haired stepchildren ?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: All of the above.

" What I'd like to see at this point in his career is Rey as an on-air mentor leading a stable of cruiserweight heels comprised of wrestlers such as CM Punk (especially if he loses the belt at Bash), Jimmy Yang, Paul London etc. who feel they're not getting the respect they deserve. " I actually like this idea. They don't necessarsarly have to make this stable a heel one. Would'nt be MORE interesting if the entire WWE was involved? And then, when the young cats start getting to cocky, have Rey side with the vets. That would make for a classsic storyline that could last for months!