Here's a quick report from Raw live...

Dark Matches:

Takishi Morishima defeated Charlie Haas with a missle dropkick. It took Morishima a few minutes to get comfortable, but he looked pretty good in the ring. He looks like a more Asian Samoan Joe...

William Regal beat Jake Hager (local guy) with the running knee. Regal ran the match. Regal would do one of his 15 different chin locks, and Jake would counter, over and over. The kid was eager, but seemed a bit lost.

Biggest Pops:
1. CM Punk (by far).
2. John Cena (mixed reaction, but I've never seen a guy so over since Rock/Austin. If you remember the HHH-Cena match from Wrestlemania 22 you have some idea how Chicago treated him).
3. Batista

Biggest Heat:
1. Jericho (I could barely hear his promo the booing was so loud).
2. JBL
3. Jillian (she botched a Chicago song, couldn't tell which one).

Post-TV Taping:

JBL came out, cut a promo on the Cubs (there were a few there, and one of them - Ryan Dempster, I think - and JBL got in it verbally a bit) and on how pathetic Chicago is, and challenged Punk to a title match. It was a good match, which Punk won by countering the Clothesline From Hell into a GTS. After the win he got a loud ovation (80% of the crowd was still there) and cut a promo about how much he loves his hometown and how he was one of Cena's hired guns during his WM22 entrance. He said that anyone could be champ if they work hard and don't lose confidence in themselves.

Kevin, do you think that Michaels vs. Jericho will take place at Unforgiven, or do you think they're going to try and build this until Survivor Series?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I would guess it's for Unforgiven, especially since Jericho isn't part of the Championship Srcamble.

Kevin, who do you think the top heel on Raw is? JBL or Jericho? Given the fact that Jericho hit a woman it has to be him. JBL isn't to far behind. Jericho cut a really good promo to start off Raw. JBL' s 2 clotheslines from hell really got him a lot of heat to. Cole's interview with shawn was a great work by Shawn and Rebecca's lips looked swollen and her look was somber. I still think WWE is playing off TNA when Roode hit Sharmell.
Kane didn't do a thing for me last night, until Rey comes back I think this will be a slow envolving angle.
I like the Mickie James and Kelly Kelly team. the gave the meaning of double drop kick a whole new meaning. I thought it was the Rock n Roll Express for a second. This team actually gives me a few fantasies too.
The match of the night had to be the last. Punk/Jericho went back and forth and it was very entertaining. I think they are setting Punk up at Unforgiven and I think he will lose the title then. Either Cena or Batitsta will win the belt then.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: JBL is a great heel, but Jericho has more heat and is in a much better program.

I felt like I was watching Wrestling Challenge on a Saturday morning. I haven't seen so many matches on Raw that had headliners against borderline jobbers. I was waiting for Frank Williams, Johnny Rodz, Jose Luis Rivera, Salvatore Bellomo and Iron Mike Sharpe to do a run in for Noble or Burchill. Good builup for main guys, just weird to see that on Raw.

I was falling asleep during the Cena match, but was awake just enough to hear Cena's music hit as the victor. Even in my half asleep/half awake state I was angry that they made the tag team champions lose to Cena. I understand Cena is a top, if not the top, singles wreslter, but you're telling me that the tag team champions can't beat him in a handicap match? That just doesn't make sense to me at all.

Why does WWE have a weird obsession with making people look horrible in front of their hometown crowd?

First of all... How do both Chicago Natives (CM Punk & D-Lo Brown) NOT win in their hometown????

I agree with a point you made in an earlier blog, Kofi Kingston does not need the IC Belt to be over. And when you think about it, Neither does Santino. So my thoughts would have been to have Kofi interfere and cost Santino the Belt, thus putting it on D-Lo, who basically needs SOMETHING to get him over.

I liked Cryme Tyme "jacking" the championship belts. I thought they would have done that to Cade/Murdock when they were champs but instead they got fired.

With the Championship Scramble, I think if anything Punk will pull out some sort of last second win, which will once again have him portrayed as a "lucky/fluke" champion. Plus you have the other 5 members who can move on from Ungforgiven with programs with each other, blaming one another for costing them the title.
OR John Cena can win the title then lose it to CM Punk at the last minute, and thus finally causing the long awaited heel turn. Since a Cena/Punk program is the only program involving those guys that hasn't been done.

Darn it I should be a writer for WWE. Lemme see if Vince's number is in the yellow pages.

See this is where I have trouble with wrestling sometimes...

Shawn Michaels' wife gets punched and gets a fat lip and it is this huge deal. Michaels and the announcers and everyone act as if she were raped and murdered...

But Triple H takes a sledge hammer and tries to hit someone in the head and it's just part of the game?

The Dudley Boys powerbomb a 70 year old woman through a table and they get an "Oh, you guys are BAD!" and then it's kinda laughed off.

I know, I know... I shouldn't look into my wrestling that much. It's just that they've gotten so cartoonish with some of the stuff over the years that it's hard to take something that seems so small by comparison so seriously.

Consistency is key.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I understand what you are saying, but I think what made the Michaels-Jericho angle a huge deal is that it Jericho legit punched Michaels' wife in the face. Whether it was an accident or it was agreed to ahead of time, the fact that he gave her a fat lip makes it more real to fans than a "fake" sledgehammer shot.

Primo Colon's debut was not cool.

After a strong, much better than expected SummerSlam PPV, the WWE followed it up with a god-awful Raw is Job, I mean War. Punk was good and strong, even in losing (which was predictable because the WWE always jobs stars in their hometowns), Jericho was captivating, the HBK piece was spot on, and the Cena/Batista interaction post match was well done and realistic. The rest of the show wasn't even worth a recap. They should have booked the Punk/Jericho match to end in a DQ, because neither guy should have lost cleanly, or relatively cleanly, as was the case last night. I think Burchill might want to update his resume, I think he's next on the chopping block. Noble could be so much more than what they use him for. Even the Glamarella segment, which is usally good, was lacking this week. Worse of all, and for the 2nd post PPV Raw in a row, Cena gets his heat back by making the tag team champs look like chumps. Perhaps HHH isn't the only one with a fetish to destroy the tag team division as soon as it gets an inkling of momemtum.

I think this Michaels/Jericho angle is one of the best modern angles I can remember.

They both have been perfect, and Rebecca couldn't have been any better.

I hope Lance Cade is learning from this and can be a star of the future.

I am actually happy watching wrestling again, thanks to this!

"G" - you forgot S.D. Jones .

Kev- Why didn't you mention Cryme Tyme stealing the tag team belts. It seems kind of dumb that they didnt notice they were arguing with one member, not two.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I have never like belt-stealing angles, but it does fit with CT's gimmick.

If I recall correctly, in 1999 Mankind and The Rock were defending the tag team titles against Bob and Crash Holly.

Midway through the match, Mankind left the match - leaving The Rock in a handicap match against the "super heavyweights."

The Rock lost a handicap match and he turned out okay. WWE should know by now that there are other ways for John Cena to get his heat back, without having to destory a talented tag team.

If Cena went out to the ring and said, "He beat me last night, but I almost beat him. I want a rematch someday," he's got his heat back (and the tag champs still have credibility).

If anyone remembers, I said the opposite always happens of the voting polls. The poll a week ago said Cena was the bigger star. But Batista won. I'm right again.

I really enjoy comments made on this blog. Lots of "smart marks" here.

I a previous post G spoke about headliners vs. jobber shows. Believe it or not I enjoyed those good old day better. I was never fond of giving away top matches on television. As a kid I really enjoy only going to the house shows to see the outcome of a match with two top stars.

As far as last night show. Just hope the tag champs won't be buried. I can't wait until Orton comes back to lead them.

I have to say this is the only blog that I have ever followed and posted on. Great work Kevin, this is really engaging.

Sorry about misspelling

Shawn Michaels has been my favorite wrestler for quite some time, but on a disappointing note, it was sad to find out that his Ladder Match with Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X was not the first in WWE history or their first against EACH OTHER.

I knew Shawn and Bret Hart had a Ladder match a few years before WM X so Michaels was still in the first in company history (to my understanding), but he and Razor had several Ladder Matches (Razor won every one) in the months leading up to WrestleMania X. Their match at WM X remains great, but a little is taken away when known it was not their first and spontaneous.

I also have a great Bret Hart story to tell next time he's a topic of discussion and all his supporters make posts.

Remember, Cena had the tar beat out of him during the vast majority of his match. He's the biggest star in the company and I don't have a problem with him beating the young Team Priceless at this point in their careers, since he made them look pretty good.

The problem with Raw, coming off a really impressive PPV, is it was damn boring. Kane's announcement was a dud, no Santino mic time, no Jericho/HBK interaction, some questionable matches (Batista-Burchill, JBL-Noble, D'Lo-Santino). Nothing really happened besides the championship scramble announcement.

"By the way, whatever happened to the Vince McMahon storyine?"

Maybe Kane kidnapped whoever was writing it. If Vince Russo were still booking for WWE, I would bet on it.

I don't usually go marky for JBL, but his facial expression after beating down Noble was superb.

Kev, did you catch ECW on Tuesday? This was the best ECW show that the WWE has put on. I think having two ECW Championship matches ending in less than one minute is a joke (Mania and SS). Hardy and Henry had a heck of a match tonight. I wish they had it at Summer Slam because it might get more people to watch ECW. The show is solid, as it doesn't have the glitz of Raw, but it's vastly improved since the 1st broadcast on Sci Fi.

Kev, is it time for Taker to turn heel and will King take Foley's place on Smackdown, with Tazz teaming up again with Cole on Raw?

Kev, I hope I wasn't the only one who caught the fact that Kane said he "figuratively" killed Rey Mysterio.

Did you notice that Kane had something in his teeth when he cut his promo? He's got to stop taking advice on oral hygeine from Snitsky. Perhaps he should set up an appointment with Dr. Isaac Yankem, D.D.S.

i'm pretty sure smackdown will also do the scramble because they also did the elimination chamber that raw anounced first.

Kev, who do you think will be involved if they do the scramble?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: They are doing a scramble. The participants were announced at the tapings last night. Unlike on Raw, Smackdown had qualifying matches, so I don't want to spoil it for anyone.-

I'm beginning to think from your blogs that you'd make a much better booker than most of the fuys in WWE creative right now, Kev. Your comment about the Tag Champs was dead-on. I think WWE booking has its high and low points, but if the bookers had the sense of heat, momentum, and legitimacy that you did it would make for some much better programming.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I appreciate that. I've told this story before, but just in case you didn't know, I actually did interview with WWE in 2001 for a position with the creative team. I went through two days of interviews in Stamford, Conn., with Stephanie McMahon (who would have been my boss) and the rest of the creative team (which included Michael Hayes and Paul Heyman at the time).

They did not offer me the job. When I asked waht their thinking was, they said: "We are looking for someone who has experience writing for soap operas."

The way Raw has been booked lately, I fear that the scramble match will end with two people doing a pin at the same time in the last three seconds of the match, so you have to guys who claim to be world champion, or somesuch nonsense...

Can someone please buy JBL a bra for his manboobs. They are getting bigger every week and I struggle to take him seriously. Raw has gone back to being lacklustre this last few weeks. We need Vince back to liven things up again.

Hi Kevin,

Do you think we might get an Ironman match from Jericho and Michaels, it would be a cool way to end the feud.

Willie

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I think a feud with such a personal issue needs a more violent gimmick match.

thanks for telling me about the scramble, i will read the results .

thanks again =)

I actually thought that the Raw was quite good. One reason for this is that Cena did less talking than usual. I just don't find his promos to be very compelling, with one exception: I thought that Cena's "one day" promo about Batista was excellent storytelling.

If I'm charitable, I may throw in the time when he called Sabu a "suicidal, homicidal, genicidal, dance recital sheik of the week."

Hi kevin,

If it is really almost over for Shawn Micheals, what do you think of this?

Have him put over jericho (or some angle that favours chris) to end the fued, give him some time off, have him come back to win the rumble, and rather than have the belt the issue for WM25, have him declare that he is going out having done something that's never been done - beat the Undertaker at WM. And then have him actually do it. If it is almost over for him, that should be his last match. I know he might want to have his last match against HHH, but I think beating the undertaker at WM would mean more to the fans. That said, I like the Undertaker, big fan actually, but his matches at WM would be even more interesting if it wasn't a foregone conclusion that he'd win.

Hope that scenario gets slipped into WWE. What do you think about it?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I am not convinced that Undertaker is ever losing at Mania.