I was at the show, too, and when I realized that the entire Miz promo was during a commercial break, I was really disappointed because I agree, it was very impressive. He knows how to be hated and since so many people want to boo him anyway, he feeds off of it perfectly.

I didn't get there until almost the start of Raw because of work, and am upset that I didn't get to see Swagger.

Now onto Smackdown in 2 weeks at 1st Mariner. Can't wait to see the awesome upper card they have there, especially Edge and Taker.

I wanted to ask, though, do you really think that Ziggler may have potential to get over big and get a push? He looked really good in his match against Batista. I was shocked to see him get that much offense in a "desperate little man vs. powerful big man" style match. I fully expected a few quick punches, a kick and then a Demon Bomb for a pinfall in under a minute.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I think Ziggler would have a shot at getting over on ECW.

You luckynogood....you met Mickie James in the flesh?! I hate you so much right now

Been waiting for your post to see what you had to say. Mainly because I thoroughly enjoyed Raw last night and i think it was the best episode since Ric's send-off.

A couple of things.

First, the walk through the crowd by Jericho was nothing short of genius. It's so hard these days to get legitimate heat and i think Jericho is able to do it weekly. I wonder if imitating John Cena with a heel twist was Jericho's idea. It was just brilliant. When he turns to that kid and asked him not to touch him or get thrown out, even I started to hate Jericho a bit, even whilst I was admiring his heel work on the stick.

On the same note, Michaels' current program with JBL just took a turn for the better. Although, it would've been better if they had teased it a bit. Like a couple of weeks before, if shawn could've looked a little down backstage. And a face could've made a comment or asked him 'how are things?' with michaels responding despondently... it would've been better. but shawn's facial expressions are the best in the biz.

i guess it was no fluke that jericho and michaels had the best program this year against each other. As they are now carrying that momentum with them to other programs. I hope wrestlers don't start to overuse the family angle though (Michaels' wife. Jericho's kids. And now Michaels' financial/family situation). I think stopping there is enough.

I use to really like Batista's presence but im getting awfully tired of his 'no-sells.' I know that Nic Nemeth is still working his way up. But Batista not selling the move hurts Ziggler a lot. Especially when those moves were great and were performed at a high level. The jump kick from floor to apron was fantastic on tv.

I was afraid that Santino, although still very funny, had been losing it lately. (i think his peak performance was his promo with rey mysterio... likening him to hornswaggle, and talking about his mask, and batman). that was a couple of months back. but his bit acting like 'melanie' and doing her entrance. santino is one of a kind in all my years of watching wrestling.

Orton has been getting face reactions lately. Im glad he was able to bring heat to himself again. The intensity with which he beat down Cena garnered him boos from the crowd. Finally. Good for Randy.

Good to see Kofi get a pinfall. I dont think i've seen that in a long long time.

I thought Raw was a good show, but there wasn't nearly enough wrestling - only the tag match opener satisfied me in terms of in-the-ring and even that was pretty standard stuff.

I thought Santino was absolutely hysterical in his commentary and two segments. He's one of the great modern-day wrestling personalities.

I think the company is doing a good job with the feuds (Jericho-Cena, JBL-HBK, and even Knox-Mysterio), but the buildup for Orton-Batista was lackluster to say the least.

Good to see Melina get a prominent show. Probably the most talented woman in the company. I love the split!

For the first time in a long time I was actually excited to see Raw after last week's good showing. And yeah, I definitely agree that this week’s show was not as good as the last. The live crowd can’t be faulted because it came across loud on T.V. pretty much the entire night. I just don’t get it. Last week’s show seemed much improved over episodes in the past few months, and then they stop the momentum by going back to the same boring formula of long winded promos and lackluster matches.

Now the ratings will probably go back down, and everyone in Stamford is going to be scratching their heads thinking, “Duh, I wunda how dis cood happin?” Gee, maybe because people want to see things move along at a pace a little bit faster than molasses in January. I guess the writers are saving all of their “creative genius” for the road to Wrestlemania, but I think most fans have given up and found better things to do with their time. All I can hope is that they purposely made last night’s show suck so that they can further the angle set up last week with Shane saying that Stephanie was going to run Raw into the ground. If that’s the plan, then it’s working better than they could have imagined.

I don't know if you Tivo'd the show and watched it back yet, but I don't think they aired that Miz promo.

The funniest part of Santino's failed attempt at doing Melina's ring entrance was the adlibs from him and Beth while he was writhing in pain.

Beth: "No, not there! Of all places, why did it have to be there?!"

Santino: "Oh, my groins!"

Nice post Kev . Re: being there live , for myself I've always looked at attending any sporting event as a social event and pretty much write -off trying to follow the action . More times than not I would probably prefer to view from the comfort of my couch !

Glad you had fun Eck.

At least you were able to watch the Melina/Santino segment without Michael Cole's gratuitous fake laughter ruining everything.

Something needs to be done about that.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Fake laughter? Really? I know I wasn't faking it.

Exactly if there ever comes a time I stop watching wrestling, Cole's phony laugh will be at the top of the list.

I haven't been watching regularly in awhile, although I did catch last night's episode. I read your blog frequently to catch all the things I've missed. That said, what happened to Randy Orton? He was such a little weasel and now he comes across as a monster no-nonsense anti hero. I was totally blown away by how good he was. He very reminiscent of early 2000's Triple H, Austin and even Rock. He always had the look of a superstar, but he has really matured.

Watching at home, the Mysterio injury looked real...not a work. WWE seemed to fill time with extra commercials to compensate for the lost match. I could be wrong, but what purpose would a work serve other than to elevate a Knox/Mysterio feud in the future. Any word on Mysterio's "injury" today?

The show played well on TV, I thought.

Kofi Kingston is becoming my favorite underrated wrestler. He reminds me of Jack Black doing SNL: He just gets to *into* it, it's infectious.

Eck,

I'm not kidding. Go watch a clip from YouTube. Cole's horrible over-laughing pretty much ruined it for the fans at home.

The "What?!" chants....

I could not agree with you more - I've always hated those stupid chants as well. It just goes to show how over Stone Cold Steve Austin was and still is. When I first heard him do that years ago, I thought it was the dumbest thing he ever did (besides do a no show) and the fans still loved it anyway, and now several years later they still do it. I don't get it either...... and while I'm happy the Miz is starting to show something actually worth watching, I kinda wish someone else did that!

I missed Raw last week and finally watched some of it on You Tube..... Poor Mr. Kennedy.... That promo on his movie and that Barack Obama thing.... had to be the worst promo in the history of promos. Mr Kennedy cannot do the babyface thing and he plays a good heel. I really hope he was forced to do that whole speech and it wasn't his idea. It was the worst return from injury I've ever seen.

I'm a big John Cena fan and I loved the mean streak he's been showing the last couple of weeks,but the Orton and Jericho 4 on 1 crap just gets old after a while.Never have liked JBL and I'm not really sure what to make of that offering Shawn a job bit.But I swear I laughed for 5 minutes after Santino's/Melina imitation.Haven't seen anything that funny in a long time.And the Golddust followup was good too.I like Kingston as rookie of the year next week,who's your pick?and Triple H and Shawn Michaels hawking the Christmas stuff has been pretty good too,lol.

In being there live I was surprised at just how many cheers Orton actually got. On TV it doesn't come across as it did live, when they first showed him backstage I thought he got almost a face reaction.

I dare say Orton is as well received by the teen and up male crowd as Cena is by the kids and women.

Also, I think the thing with the crowd not being into the Swagger/Ortiz match was because people don't watch ECW, don't know who they are. I overheard the people behind me saying they had never seen either guy before.

Did you catch the "Edgehead" sign mishap on the Titantron during one of the breaks? LOL.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I did catch the sign mishap. Todd Grisham did the right thing by not selling it.

It's been a really long time since I laughed out loud during Raw. And again during the (first) replay! Thanks, Santino!

Never saw the Golddust thing coming.Thought that the two hands behind Santino was Hornswoogle. Would be nice if Golddust got electricuted again and returned to Dustin and joining Priceless.

Where is DiBiase????

Not a big Orton fan, but would'nt it be good if he was pushed as the heel who gets face pops???

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: DiBiase got married and then began filming "The Marine 2."

I think Misterio fall was an accident. I mean think about it, if the angle was to make Misterio's arm get hurt, why not have Knox injury his arm like is usually done in injury angles?? Plus it helps put Knox over.

And Cena ROYALY messed up the angle at the end of the show. Back in '86, Jake the snake DDTed Steamboat on the floor and he was out COLD legitimately. Know Randy Orton not only DDTs him on the floor but does it off an elevated ramp and he's still conscious??? HORRIBLE selling and it ruined the legitmacy of the angle.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I see what you're saying on the DDT on the floor, but , remember, the DDT was Jake's finisher, so doing one on the floor would be devastating. Now, a DDT is a transition move.

The ratings went up. I stand corrected.

It was a solid show but definitely a notch down from a week ago. The JBL/HBK angle would have worked better if there had been some buildup to Michaels' financial woes. Considering he's been a top star for nearly two decades and a guy who's had zero issues out of the ring over the last 10 or so years, financial or otherwise, it just didn't come across as believable that he'd lost everything that fast.

How in the heck does Kane now all of a sudden love the fans, when just a few weeks ago he hated them and talked about how they hid behind masks like Rey Misterio??? Terrible continuity by the WWE.

"How in the heck does Kane now all of a sudden love the fans, when just a few weeks ago he hated them and talked about how they hid behind masks like Rey Misterio??? Terrible continuity by the WWE."

He was being sarcastic about loving the fans.