WWE has gotten a lot better in recent weeks, now that they are trying to push a few more young talents on the show.

Just a bit baffeled by the fact that the Great Khali can even be on the card, let alone be in the main event at Summerslam when fans routinely chant "You Can't Wrestle!" Vince must have legitimately knocked his brains out in that accident weeks ago. It's the only explanation for how it happened. At least there are some other good key matches that will make up for it. On the positive side, If it does turn into a good match though, it should shut up the HHH haters. Nobody will be able to say it was a good match because he's married to Stephanie.

Hopefully CM Punk can have a good match with JBL. He had a great match with Batista... though I think the match with JBL won't be as good.

Its a shame they are putting Kingston in a match with Santino. Those mixed tag matches are not PPV material. It would have been so much better to have him up against a real opponent, because the crowd seems to be getting behind him (I know I am) No matter what the outcome, Kingston will not benefit from the outcome. I find Marella entertaining, but I really think Marella should only be used on Raw for comedy purposes (and let him fluke a win here and there) He (and Mark Henry) don't belong on a Summerslam card when Kendrick and Morrison don't get a spot. (or Kennedy, Benjamin, Burchill, Cody and Ted, etc.) At least they are probably booking Big SHow & Umaga aand MVP and Hardy. And Jericho.... who's he going to take on? Jimmy Wang Yang?

Summerslam has potential to be a big one, but the big moments could be offset by the fact that in three title matches, one of the opponents can even wrestle... Khali, Henry and Santino. Like I say, Vince must be knocked silly for real.

Such a predictable show. For the one millionth time, we see PPV opponents win tag belts together. See that coming? Only a mile away.

The CM Punk match was booked illogically, just like a TNA match. If you get a triple threat when time runs out, and Jericho has you in the Walls with 30 seconds left, wouldn't it make sense just to tap so you can secure a 1 on 1, instead of trying to fight off the Walls as time runs low, to get a triple threat? It didn't end up as a draw, of course, but logic would still dictate that Punk should have tapped to Jericho as time was about to run out.

Jericho debuts wrestling trunks - first time ever? He should give his old pants to Matt Striker, who is in desperate need of some new ring attire!

Is it just me or is Kofi Kingston the Koko B. Ware of 2008?

Kevin -
You took the words right out of my mouth, however i actually think Adamle did a pretty good job. He was booked really well. Last night I was thought concerning the fact that a George Bush persona would have been a better choice.

Batista - Cena winning the title is an over-booked storyline. I was hoping that DiBiase and Rhodes would get the victory also. I'd rather see Punk/Batista. Somehow Batista vs Cena seems like a real person vs a cartoon character. I can't wait til' its over between the two.

Look for an unpredictable ending on the Kingston mixed tag match at SummerSlam.

I would like to know where the PPV might be shown in the Anne Arundel County area if anyone knows???

While I was happy to see Punk finally booked strong as a champion, I was sorry to see the outcome. Having JBL and Khali as the two challengers to the world titles at one of the premiere PPVs on the calendar is pretty bad. I realize Hell in a cell and Cena/Batista are the big ticket matches, but does that mean the title matches have to be this bad? I would've rather seen a triple threat outcome this once, because now Y2J seems to have no opponent for Summerslam and may be left off the card entirely.
I have no problem with beth Phoenix getting the women's belt back (despite being a mickie fan), but Santino as the IC champ again? The same guy who was jobbing to Cousin Sal and Beth herself mere weeks ago? is this the new CM Punk path to a title- job for months on end and then luck into a title? They have to start booking these people better before they put belts on them or it just devalues the title.
I think my favorite part of Adamle's awkard opening statment was him saying he doesn't want to live in an America where the fans can voice their opinions via petition. Priceless.

jack in hebron; you're just like bret favre. no, wait a minute, favre had talent. anyway, you said you were posting your last entry and, the, lo and behold, there you were again. I had already bought the chips and dip for my "we finally got rid of that jacka** jack from hebron" party. either stay away or, you owe me $19.65.

I thought last night was fine. I wish it had been an East coast show, so that Cena would have gotten booed out of the building every time he held up his new tag title.

I still think SD! is WWE's number one show, do to having more wrestling and better wrestlers.

Adamle was alot better then I expected. I think Regal could fill the Rove roll that you mentioned.

I was furious when they took the belts off DiBiase and Rhodes. This is the third time in two years, second time with Cena involved, they they have run the strange bed fellows tag team storyline. DiBiase and Rhodes were restoring some relevance to the division and with Cryme Tyme an obvious feud in the making, this was dumb.

How about a more creative finish. Just like Cena accidentally hit Batista a few weeks ago to get this ball rolling, how about Batista missing a spear and drilling Cena (the legal man). Batista gets up and doesn't look especially upset, Rhodes/Ted pulls his feet and yanks him out of the ring, the other falls on Cena for the escape win. We get build and the champs survive.

On the Santino front, I don't know how well Kofi is really doing with the IC title. I don't think he was ready for it when he won it. If Santino wins the belt when Beth Phoenix pins Mickie James and then loses it to, oh say, Rey Mastrio the next night, it could work. Kofi and Burchill can continue a TV-based feud during the down months between SummerSlam and Survivor Series while Mysterio defends the title against the likes of Lance Cade or some other heel.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I like your finish to the Cena/Batista-Rhodes/DiBiase match better than what actually happened.

Severe thunderstorms and generally insane weather ruined my recording of RAW(Stupid Satelite) but what I did see really just didnt do it for me.

What I cant figure out yet, is if Adamle is going to be a face or heel styled GM as right now nothing he's done points solidly in either direction.

Does this once again diminish the allure of the Tag champs or had it already lost it completely.

What could be interesting, is a last minute addition to the SS card making Cena and Batista defend the belts against Rhodes and DiBiase, and right as the match starts, Adamle comes out and informs Cena and Batista that their match would be next so don't wear yourselves out. Yes, it would take more attention away from the tag belts, but could add more fuel into their feud. I'd enjoy seeing it, but it probably would detract from their main program and the allure of the "first match" deal.

On a side note, if Orton was to come back today, which brand would you stick him in to? RAW already seems very crowded at the top slots and Smackdown could benefit a lot from another major heel(not to mention the whole Rated RKO deal).

its de ja vu in many places, for example, john cena wins a tag team title with one of his opponent very close to a huge pay-per-view , khali is facing a champion at a pay-per-view just to job , marella can become champion without even having to break a sweat and finally, mvp against a hardy which will see mvp jobbing yet again ...ummm.. i think i have seen this before

Did Santino always have that ridiculous unibrow? Funny stuff.

Aside from HHH v Khali, the Summerslam card is looking pretty good. I'm intrigued by Big Show v Umaga. Undertaker v Edge will be great now that Mr. Copeland has his "edge" back thanks to Mick Foley. MVP v Hardy should be darn good.

Unfortunately, all the aforementioned matches come from the Smackdown brand. The only match from RAW worth watching is Cena v Batista and that feels way too rushed. I don't get it, Summerslam is essentially the WWE's second biggest PPV of the year. But they put HHH against a jobber and hold off on Jericho-HBK because they don't want too good of a show?

PS - Last week it was spoiling SNME, this week it is throwing in political commentary. Come on, Kev

Kev,

Totally disagree with your "unpredictability and spontaneity" take. I was getting tired of the "random" disorder because it wasn't random. Chaos for the sake of chaos to me is just boring. It appeared more like a random indy house show than a WWE event.

I also enjoyed Mike Adamle as GM. He seemed a lot more comfortable doing his prepared material than he ever did at ringside. The fact that the fans booed him so ferociously at the beginning made me believe that ther was a dark promo somewhere that got him over. He came across as optimistic and I think the first show of the "Adamle Era" was a success. The matches for Summer Slam came into focus just when they needed to.

I was disappointed that they continue to cheapen the tag team division by tossing singles wrestlers together and cleanly defeating established teams. They did the same garbage last year with Matt Hardy and MVP. The relationship between Hardy and MVP was developed while the tag team titles became props in a storyline that had nothing to do with tag team wrestling.

And I am going to laugh my (butt) of when Santino gets pinned by Mickey at SummerSlam.

Does anyone else think Matt Striker resembles Rick Martel?

That Knoxville crowd was hot for Raw. That's a rare venue for a live show, and the first time Raw has been there in five years. I'm a Tennessee native, so I'm bias, but I was glad to see the home of the Vols tear up Monday night.

You have to admit Kevin that Randy Poffo would be a superior GM to what Adamle is doing...

Would anyone like to see the emergence of another "NWO" type of front??? WWE needs a spark...

I see the 'E' dipped into the old "let's have feuding wrestlers win tag team gold" bag of goodies, yet again. I guess I'm not overly upset about it, because I have a hunch Rhodes and DiBiase will regain the titles next week, and they got in a ton of offense in the match. Some pre-match mic time wouldn't have hurt, either. The "ovation game" was dorky, almost like they weren't aware they were still on live TV.

It's a shame they aren't doing more to build Kingston's character because he's every entertaining in the ring. I'm not crazy about the mixed tag team match, it just seems a little too "gimmicky" for a PPV, and the prospect of Santino (who I love as a character) becoming IC champ weeks after losing to a woman in 90 seconds is bad, David Arquette winning the WCW title bad. OK, maybe not that bad, but not far from it either.

I've seen some people say Punk should have tapped out to prevent a three way match, but taking the easy road doesn't play into his character. Not tapping out while being in the Walls for nearly a minute showed toughness. He was very strong in the match, and it was a very good TV match.

It was great to see actual wrestling on RAW, and there wasn't a single clunker of a match (I can't call the Kane/Striker squash a match). A night full of clean finishes, what a concept...

Adamle wasn't bad in his first night on the job, and walked the line between heel and face well. I hope they have something planned for Jericho, because it's a shame he doesn't have a match at SummerSlam.

Here's a thought: Adamle said the mixed-tag match was a winner taker all affair. What if Beth pins Mickie (or Kofi, for that matter) and wins BOTH the woman's title and the Intercontinental championship as well?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I think the stip is that if Phoenix/Marella win, she gets the women's title and he gets the IC title.

The GM role needs to go. Wrestling survived for a long time without one, in fact it flourished. I just don't see what it adds to the show - and every wrestling show, including Impact, has someone in this role.

I see Beth pinning James at SS and keeping the IC belt for herself. That could lead to great things with Santino and the Womens Championship.

I hate Cena promos, all he does is yell and ramble.

You have to admit Kevin that Randy Poffo would be a superior GM to what Adamle is doing...

I think Mickie and Kofi will retain via DQ. Santino Marella has been so bad lately maybe he tries to help via using a chair or something, gets caught hitting Kofi with it (who is the legal man) and gets himself and Beth dq'ed. Would still show Beth as a monster heel saying she dominates the match for her team. Kofi still retains, and Beth has a reason to challenge Mickie for the Women's title again... maybe at Wrestlemania.

"magnificent ??? mark " - where do i send the check ?

"It didn't end up as a draw, of course, but logic would still dictate that Punk should have tapped out to Jericho as time was about to run out."

I think the booking logic is that fans don't get behind babyfaces who tap out (at least this fan doesn't). A flukey champion who taps out would be especially bad, in my opinion.

In the opening segment, Jericho made reference to his brawl with JBL. The previous week, Lance Cade talked about his career idling with the singing cowboy. I appreciate the increased effort at continuity.

Paul Burchill is a piece of cardboard, and he and Kofi have no chemistry together. I can't wait for this feud to be over with so they can separate and work with other people.

If I could pick the next IC title contender, I would go with Jamie Noble. James Gibson is a good wrestler with a loverable character. He's also one of the MANY overlooked and underutilized talents under the WWE umbrella.

Hear me out.

Backstage, Noble is confiding all of his woes to Kofi Kingston, who-- being the good guy that he is--offers Noble a non-title match out of sympathy for all of his trouble.

Noble pulls off an upset victory that night, leading to a title match at Summerslam, in which Paul Burchill interferes, costing Kofi the match.

In the end, not only does Jamie become the IC champion, but he gets the girl as well, making for a somewhat memorable Summerslam moment.

Then, down the line, once the Kofi/Burchill feud is settled, Noble and Kingston can feud for the title. Maybe Jamie decides he doesn't want to return the favor, and denies Kofi a rematch, demanding that he go through some of the obstacles that Noble has been forced to first, such as facing men like Kane and Batista (which would weaken him).

Personally, I think the IC title is going to Beth Phoenix. I've been waiting for them to start pairing her off against men, like they did with Chyna in the past. That's IF there is no stip preventing it.

I'm glad Regal is back. I would like to see him challenge Punk for the title in the near future, esp. after the match they had on RAW the previous week.

Punk's the perfect person for Regal to have a WH title feud with, since Punk isn't held in ASTRONOMICALLY high regard, like a Triple H. If JBL can challenge for the title, Regal should be able to also.

I agree 100% with Christopher, as I don't want a face champ and especially one that is trying to build up a strong run, after a shaky start, to tap so instead of a triple threat, he gets a 1 on 1 match. JBL, in my opinion, got off to a bad start in his comeback, but since the draft, his promos are better and his matches are better. I like Punk vs JBL, but not if JBL wins because it would kill any credibility for the future of Punk as a serious contender.

I loved every match on Raw and I thought that Mike did a great job straddling the fence. I also like the idea of Beth and Santino vs Kofi and Mickie at SS in a winner take all match. All four parties involved, have been very entertaining since the draft and deserve to be at SS. I do hope that Mickie and Katie will continue their feud, as what a match they had.

I am looking forward to seeing what happens when Kane goes ballistic when he is forced to open the bag because I'm not sure how many more major angles he is going to get. I was intrigued with the "is he alive or is he dead" bit so I would hate to see it end with Kane saying he is better.