I think that WWE realized that they screwed up by putting the light-hearted DX spot on Raw and messing with HHH's character after his loss, so they decided to air it on all the shows to emphasize that it wasn't live and therefore would still be consistent, since a pre-recorded ad scheduled for a Monday show could easily have been recorded before Sunday.

Good show. I agree that the beat the clock approach was a great way to clear up a muddled title picture.

Did you catch the Hurri-pop that Helms returns next week? Could a Helms-MVP feud be coming after all the shots Helms took over the past several weeks? Also, here's hoping the Khali Kiss-cam segments have been brought to an end.

Long time reader, first time replying:

I swear I saw Vampiro, then I realized it was J.Hardy.

Miz and morrison were hillarious last night. Even being heels, the people started to chant "one more time!" when they started to tease Festus.
I think the reason you don't like them is sometimes Miz overacts his performance. With his eyes so opened and that strange voice he does...
Matt hardy is still sticking to the same script he played at survivor series: Edge and Vickie were involved in Jeff unconsciousness. I would love to see Edge or Vickie reaction if they were accused directly.

Hey Kevin, how about this for a Wrestlemania scenario. Edge wins the triple threat and retains the belt. Jeff Hardy then wins the Royal Rumble, and faces Edge at Wrestlemania. In the meantime Matt Hardy loses his ECW belt. Matt will rebound and win the money in the bank ladder match at Mania. Jeff beats Edge later that night at Mania to finally claim the WWE title. Matt Hardy then comes out to help his brother celebrate and WHAM! , delivers a twist of fate to Jeff in the middle of the ring. He then procedes to hand his briefcase to the ref and pins him to win the WWE title. That will set off a classic brother vs brother feud like the Harts in the early nineties. Like you pointed out earlier this week, Matt is not going to be elevated much more, and a heel turn might do wonders for his career. And Jeff will continue his current "can't win the big one " gimmick with the fans solidly behind him.

Maybe the WWE can recycle the Who killed Mr. McMahon storyline. Only make it Who attacked Jeff Hardy.

Edge, Triple-H or Christian.

The 3rd option would be a great story angle if indeed he is once again in wwe.

It appears obvious that the WWE decided to listen to fans where Koslov is concerned... finally. Now let's see if they make him work his way up the food chain. Put him in the ring with the Big Show or the Undertaker, give him "real" competition without a title attached. He's not ready for a title of any kind, yet. One other thing, is it just me, or is anyone else tired of triple threats. My opinion, but they should let HHH and JH fight for the No. 1 contender spot and the winner (my money is on JH) would go on to face Edge at Armageddon. Just my opinion. Thanks Kevin for the outlet.

I like the beat-the-clock gimmick, but it would have been better if they had not revealed the opponents until match time. The surprise is part of the entertainment!

No matter how the title picture plays out HHH's character will still remain just a little stale.

I agree with Christopher. The only reason to reveal the opponents' identities early in the show is if they're headliners or particularly exciting matches. (Was anybody particularly thrilled to learn that Triple-H was wrestling...Shelton Benjamin?) WWE should have saved the reveals for belltime.

But overall, it was a good show.

Yeah, I think WWE is definitely overusing triple threat matches...

Good SD though. Glad to see Kozlov drop down the card after the vicious crowd response in Boston on Sunday.

No explanation about why Edge isn't insane anymore? Or why he doesn't want to kill Vickie? So all that character development just lead to a beard... boy oh boy

Glad that Koslov will now apparently have to work his way up the food chain. Do you think he was just thrown in there because they needed a heel to replace Edge for a while? If that was the case, I would have put the Big Show in there. At least the fans wouldn't have been yelling "Boring!" at a huge PPV.

I'm glad Edge is back, but I really wish WWE had the confidence in him to first be a stand alone heel - he doesn't need Vicki to be a heel - and second to have him win the title clean. Edge is over more than enough as a heel to win it clean. It's been a few years since he cashed in money in the bank and he's main evented at WM. He's proven himself worthy.

Something else on the heel note, and I'd love your opinion on this Kevin -
I'd love to see a good heel win clean (no cheating or 'controversial' wins) and still come off strong as a heel. I think that would be a great challenge for Edge, Orton and Jericho (and the creative team).... come up with ways for the fans to boo them after their matches, but still have clean wins.

The guy who said Matt Hardy should turn heel after Jeff finally wins the belt is really on to something.

I don't know about anyone else, but the Festus angle disgusts me. I enjoyed it while they were doing an "Of Mice and Men", Lennie and George style thing. But as soon as they start doing a Eugene-style "make-fun-of-the-retard" thing, it makes me furious. To me, this is on the level of your "don't mess with the dead", Kevin.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: The Festus character is too much of a cartoon for me to be offended.

I was diappointed with the fact that Edge won the title at Survivor Series the way he did, but I was looking forward to this SD for some answers to all the obvious questions. Apparently the WWE's respsonse is to just ignore the inconsistencies and hope no one remembers them. I mean really, a few months ago Vickie un-suspended the UnderTaker to destroy Edge, and now she's putting Edge in title matches. Um...why?
And the insistence on continuing the "Jeff Hardy is a screw-up" theme is getting a little thin when you actually try to paint him a screw-up for not showing up for his Survivor Series match ( he was assaulted, for cripes sake!) and then for showing up late and "getting involved"...hmmm, wasn't he supposed to be involved originally anyway? And maybe the WWE can stop making Matt Hardy do promos where he basically calls his own brother a constant let-down. If/when Hardy wins "the big one", he will surely have earned it, with all the reminders he's constantly having rubbed in his face of his personal shortcomings.
And I can't be the only one who could care less about a potential Maria/ Michelle McCool feud, regardless of who turns heel.

Edge is not an original WWE Champion,unless if he can Wrestle HHH one on one

I was hoping that we would never have to hear Edge or Vickie say baby I love you or baby anything for that matter. That soap opera became boring a long time ago. What's next? Vickie is pregnant and it turns out that it isn't Edge's child but Vince's instead?

Its amazing how long Jeff Hardy has been around without a major title yet still generates such interest. It's a real credit to the guy to not need a major championship win to remain relevant for so long.

For some comic relief, they should consider a goofball angle where Vince McMahon and Mike Adamle tag up. Wasn't Adamle learning to wrestle a few months ago?

They could call the team Back to the Future and have them feud with Miz and Morrison (along the lines of Austin versus McMahon a few years back).

McMahon and Adamle could decry reality tv, modern music, tabloid journalism and the other things Miz and Morrison espouse. The injured Ken Kennedy could even be brought in to assist McMahon. Kennedy could claim allegiance to McMahon because he hired him, give him his first shot at the big time, kept his spirits up when he was injured, taught him to respect the business, etc. It could be good for a few laughs at the bottom of the card.

Great idea, Chris.

This would be a great angle if WWE had the balls to pull it off. After turning on Jeff and cashing in his "money-in-the-bank" seconds after completing this brutally long campaign for the gold, Matt can walk out with the strap as Wrestlemania comes to a close. Then he come out the next night on RAW (with a haircut and a new, very "un-Hardyish" look) and explain that he was tired of being pushed aside because he wasn't the "enigma" or "the cute one". He could say he was tired of always playing it "straight", while his brother was doing whatever he wanted, and it never paid off for him. So he did what he had to do and he's not sorry and that Jeff didn't work half as hard as he did. Jeff went to other organizations and Jeff couldn't stop getting in trouble, but Jeff gets all the breaks? Not anymore.

Man, this would be a career-changer and a career-maker for both Hardy's and could easily be the biggest feud of 2009.

This is a perfect example of why the WWE needs to give a few folks who watch and know wrestling a chance on the writing staff instead of constantly filling it's ranks with ex-soap opera writers.

Thanks Chris. I think this is the first time I've totally marked out since 1996.

The only thing I don't get is that Edge has the John Cena "spinner belt" and it doesn't even spin. What's the point of having a spinner belt that doesn't spin? They should just get rid of it and make a custom belt for Edge.

They Vickie and Edge thing was good while it lasted, but to start it up again now, is a mistake, as all the fans are going to get bored with it, has the storyline has gone on for to long. I am disappointed in the way WWE has gone in the last few months. After CM Punk won the title, I thought we would see some fresh faces getting a push, but alas it is the same old faces winning the titles and getting the title matches.

Alright - I'm sick of the Vickie/Edge storyline and sick of Edge taking "vacation" for awhile then coming back and "stealing" the belt.
I don't have a problem with Cena winning the belt from Jericho - mainly because Cena was out for an injury, but nowhere have I read that Edge was out for injury, etc. And if it is indeed Edge/Triple H/Jeff Hardy at Armageddon in December, my call is that Kozlov or one of Edge's cronies like "Hawkins and Ryder" (where have they been lately????) will interfere thus causing a disqualification in which case, I think, Edge maintains the belt. We know Edge will keep it for awhile - Vickie will make sure of that.

Response to Anonymous: "I'd love to see a good heel win clean (no cheating or 'controversial' wins) and still come off strong as a heel. I think that would be a great challenge for Edge, Orton and Jericho (and the creative team).... come up with ways for the fans to boo them after their matches, but still have clean wins."

I have been seeing that happen often, and ironically, it annoys me! Randy Orton won many of his biggest title defenses within the rules (Survivor Series 2007, Royal Rumble 2008, WrestleMania XXIV) and Chris Jericho beat CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, and Batista without breaking the rules (at least in the final exchange). Then, we saw Miz & Morrison upset Rey Mysterio & HBK straight up (even if Michael Cole said they "stole one") a couple weeks ago.

I guess if I want to see it less and you want to see it more, we could say WWE has a good balance going where they are not overkilling it in either direction.