wait for a babyface to save Kelly squared? i think it would be better if the WWE creative team make Kane and Kelly squared as on screen couples...maybe Kelly can wear a mask...after Kane burnt her

Kevin,
With Batista reportedly being out of action into the Summer, do you think a Superstar from Smackdown might get moved over to Raw to fill the void? I know it hasn't happened so far, and they've been able to fill the show adequately up to this point. However, Batista does leave a main even level talent void on Raw, both literally and figuratively speaking.

Stephanie McMahon looks great she has no reason to be self conscious about baby weight. I too saw her backstage at the Verizon Center last month in DC. She appeared to be just getting there and not seen the makeup folks yet, and yet she appeared to be a knock out ( No Pun Intended ). Triple H One Lucky Man.

Baron

Speaking of new finishers for the Diva's. Whatever happened to Mickie James' Long Kiss Goodnight? That had to be the greatest finisher in wrestling history by far!

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: No argument fro me on that one.

"Hootie McBooty" may look great but she's the most annoying character (not Vicki Guerreo - I love to boo you, more like XPac - get the heck off my TV set) ever! Vince can't get back soon enough.

This was a much better show after last week's debacle of shows. The main event was good, and the tag match title match was especially good, and the champs finally got some needed mic time. Unlike last week, the buildup to Legacy was actually compelling, Manu showed more fire than he has since he's been called up, and the booting of Snuka was surprising. The IC title match was good while it lasted, and was a nice teaser for what should be a fantastic match. Only the Jillian/Kelly Kelly match was unwatchable, and even then only when Kelly was on offense.

In 2008, Jericho was easily (in my opinion) the best heel the WWE had after his feud with Shawn Michaels started. Now I feel like Orton is new lead heel and before 2009 is over, may also end up a lead face. It's shaping up to be his year as long as he stays healthy.

Raw was a big improvement over last week. The whole strange storyline involving Legacy has me excited to watch Raw again. I'm actually wondering for once where a storyline is headed.

Stephanie McMahon if your reading this. i just want you to know that i love you like a fat kid loves cake.

I feel that Randy Orton is a natural heel and so any attempt to push him as a face would be quite risky. In one of his books, Mick Foley noted how the Rock played a mean character even as a face. I hope the WWE remembers that because good guys do not always need to be such clean and wholesome nice boys like Cena or Kingston. The only way that Orton can successfully get over as a face, I believe, is if they let him retain his arrogant and serious demeanor. No jokes, no sucking up to the fans, no playing to the crowd, no nonsense. More of an anti-hero than a hero.

As for Vince, a one-off appearance would be welcomed but I sincerely hope he doesn't stay around long. We have seen him as the authority figure far too often already.

Good show I thought. The main event reminded me of the Raws of early 2007 when we had Rated RKO regularly fighting HBK and Cena (who had tension) but of course with Jericho replacing Edge.

Did anyone notice when Randy Orton and Chris Jerico were cutting a promo at the begining of Raw that Randy had his wedding band on hmmm....What about Kelly Kelly If they are trying to make Randy seem like a eligable bachlor than before he goes on camera he should take off his wedding ring...
Just thought that I would point it I just now relised that.

Last night's Raw was the best in recent memory.

I'm glad to see that Steph read my post in the Smackdown discussion talking about how it was hypocritical for HHH to be making fun of other women's sizes.

You must have real clout Eck.

I still say JBL wins the belt from Cena at the Rumble, with HBK winning the Rumble match itself setting up JBL v. HBK for Mania

Great show.

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I actually want to see JBL win the title at the Royal Rumble and defend it at WrestleMania against HBK.

HBK could win the Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out and JBL would think that Shawn's going to lay down for him. Then, it turns out he's his own man or something like that and he's fighting to win back his self respect...

If they focus this storyline more on JBL's plan to defend the belt at WrestleMania and less on the fact that HBK is broke, then it's more compelling in my mind. These two had one match on Raw a few years back and it was decent, so I figure they could deliver a great match at Mania.

I'm rooting for JBL at the Rumble!

not a big Orton fan, but having him intergrated in three storyline at once is a nice touch. Thumps up to Creative. Hopefully they will work the Punk revenge for the head punting in the mix after he if finished with Regal. Can't forget about Batista's revenge either. Building the company around a non-champion is interesting. Not sure where it is going though...maybe to a championship huh?

Please no more tv pins for Jericho. Its too soon to job him out...even to main eventers. Orton was pinned a couple of times on tv in the last 30 days too... "that's not cool".

,,,nor from me regarding Micki and the "long kiss goodnight"

I see no way Manu and Snuka get over with the crowd unless they are in the Legacy...merely feuding with DiBiase and Rhodes (who, at least as it comes across on TV, doesn't get much of a reaction either at this point) won't do it, IMO. They are way too generic, they look like jobbers!

As for an Orton turn, I think it would be interesting, assuming they leave his character mostly as it is, kind of like a Triple H style face. If they tried to make him into a Cena or Mysterio type that played to the kids and was all about "respect", it would be a colossal failure.

I don't like how they're going about getting Mike Knox over as a heel. I think he looks weak how he keeps blind- siding a guy who is literally half his size for apparently no reason at all. Especially last night when Rey was already down. What purpose does this angle serve? And because Rey always slays the giant, you'd think there'd be a better feud for him to start out his Raw tenure with.
Also, Jillian is a pretty good worker. Much better than I realized before. She carried Kelly Kelly last night.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I think it gets Knox heel heat that he is twice Rey's size yet he still cheap-shots him and attacks him from behind.

I do think Jillian is underrated.

I agree that it seems like the HBK/JBL storyline is leading up to a wrestlemania main event.

It seems likely that for the 25th anniversary WM would have "mr wrestlemania" winning the title. And it would create a very emotion-rich main event. I think shawn michaels will somehow contribute to JBL winning the title at the rumble but if Michaels won't be in the rumble it would take some maneuvering to make Michaels the contender against JBL - maybe whoever wins the rumble concedes his title shot to Michaels? Maybe Michaels wins MITB?

I look forward to seeing how this storyline goes, even though it is really far fetched...

Following my previous thought...

What if WM 25 is the face-turn for Orton where he gives Shawn Michaels his chance to take out JBL for the championship? That'd be an interesting way to tie in a couple different storylines into the same main event.

It would be nice to have more than one storyline involved in the main-event match for WM 25

Eck - Do you see any possibility of Goldust becoming part of the Legacy? That would be pretty entertaining.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I don't see that. I could possibly see him being on the face side that opposes the Legacy.

This is about ECW last nite, I know alot of people think finlay is too old to be wrestling, but with he death of beniot, finlay has taken over the job of making the young stars, What he did last nite is a testiment to old school wrestlers. People my say his funny act with Hornswaggle is wrong, but what he did for Swagger last nite has given me more respect for him as a person. He made Swagger last nite a superstar just like he did Lashley before he won titles. So hats off the old school wrestlers.

Was it me or did the "The Miz" really hit a turning point last night?

I must say I have never been a fan of his mic skills or wrestling abilities but last night he seems to have migrated over to a legitamate wrestler in my mind as his promo captured me from the beginning and his work in the tag match was great.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Actually, even though I have been critical of him in the past, I think he hit a turning point before last night.

In the Legacy crowd, I think Orton and Snuka are the two that can leverage their lineage and what they've learned from it enough to make an impact. Orton already has. We'll see with Snuka.. DiBiase, Manu, and RHodes will be more challenged. Manu doesn't have much there t leverage. DiBiase may, but who really wants to see another Million Dollar Man gimmick? Cody might but his current persona is a far cry from his father's.

How about Golddust? Isn't that Dustin Rhodes, another of Dusty's boys? He's managed to do OK staking out an unique persona of his own, to say the least......

Would be a great change to have JBL and Shawn Michaels in a Wrestlemania main event, but if that did happen I wonder what they would do with orton and jericho. And I really cant see WWE leaving cena out of a wrestlemania main event

Raw is definitely picking up the pace in the last few weeks. I can see where Michaels will be champ one way or the other in the near future.

Kevin, are you still on the radio once a week? Haven't heard you in a few weeks. Didn't know if it was the holidays or something else?
Enjoy your blog

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I am still on WNST. I'll have a post up about the schedule moving forward.

Question - say Matt Hardy is revealed as his brother's attacker, thus necessitating a heel turn. Who then is the top face on ECW? Finlay? He's more about putting new guys over at this point, I think. Who takes over as the face of ECW? Just wondering what everyone thought ...

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: It's a valid question, assuming Hardy is the guy (I'm not as convinced as I once was that he is). Finlay, for sure, would remain a top face. Also Evan Bourne when he gets back also, and perhaps a guy such as Hurricane Helms would be moved to ECW.

What about moving Manu to Smackdown so he can team up with William Regal's favorite wrestler, "Yumanga"? This would rekindle the Wild Samoans! Capt. Lou could come out of retirement and be their manager.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Albano is 75 now.

Does Cody Rhodes even have a persona?

Off topic Kev , - are you making a road trip to Tennessee this weekend to watch the Ravens beat the Titans ? ( I predict ravens 17-16 )

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I considered going, but I think I'll do the Tampa trip instead. How's that for confidence?

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout Kev !!!!

I really enjoyed the show and feel like they are doing a better job of holding interest throughout the night.

Though I do think they broke TNA's record for breaking up a faction too soon (if that's indeed the case)between last week and last night. I don't see the logic in it, but it wouldn't be the first time. I just can't see a team of Manu and Snuka getting heat on their own at this point.

Really, your going to Tampa to watch Pittsburgh play the Giants. Say hello to Kate Mara for me.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Yeah, deep down I think it will be Steelers-Giants, too, but I'm trying to keep the faith.

Hey Kev I was just thinking when I saw everyone putting HBK JBL for the Mania main event and I thought that it would be too predictable if that happened. So what I think they'll do is have like either Jericho or Orton win the rumble then if Cena loses the title at the rumble you can have him challenge for it till mania and then at No Way Out if they do the Elimination Chamber thing again(Which I hear they are) I think Shawn could win it. So then you have A triple threat for the title between HBK JBL and either Orton/Jericho or you have a fatal four way with HBK JBL Cena and Orton/Jericho. Then WWE makes everyone happy they put cena in the main event which makes them happy they have either Orton/Jericho in it which makes internet wrestling fans happy and you get to tie up the ends of the HBK JBL angle. If any of those possibilities happen I still see HBK walking out of Mania with the title however if JBL doesn't win the title at the rumble I don't see it happening. Anyway What do you think the possibilities of that happening are.

"RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Actually, even though I have been critical of him in the past, I think he hit a turning point before last night."

Your right, he probably did I was just busy grabbing a cold one or something whenever he would come out in the past. LOL

I attended this show live (my first live wrestling event ever) with my fiance who up until that point had never been much of a wrestling fan.

As far as the crowd's reaction to Cody Rhodes, it was exactly like it came across on television (if not worse). I was thoroughly disappointed in the results of the CM Punk/Regal match but the Mysterio/Kingston/Miz/Morrison match was incredible. The crowd was absolutely livid during the Miz/Morrison promo which, in seeing live, was pure brilliance.

We had a great time, even getting on Mickie James' kiss cam (which I don't think was televised), and now my fiance plans to go to every WWE event that comes to town.

And I'm perfectly fine with that.

i disagree with people above me. we'll definitely have hbk/jbk at WM25 but not for the strap. how can you forget that cena is still considered the biggest star and the biggest draw in the company. i personally believe that it'll either be cena/jbl/hbk or just cena/orton (more likely, but has been done a trillion times)

I strongly disagree. I understand your reasoning behind it all when you say that about Orton because he is very involved at the moment, but him as an overall superstar himself in terms of ability, he's good, but not great.

Randy is talented, but quite frankly he's overrated. If Orton was wrestling during the 80s/90s, he'd be a mid-carder, if even that because i'm pushing the envelope a bit just when I say that much about him. He's a decent, worth-watching superstar in-ring with mediocre mic skills.

His heel character as of late, has been bland. It seems as if he's struggling to stay heel, which is partly his fault, WWE's, and the fans.

^^^^^^ In regards to the above statement, it's Orton's fault because he's simply just a very one-dimensional character. Randy needs to step outside of the box and be more complex with himself as an in-ring performer and as an overall superstar.

It's WWE's fault because they didn't bring him back face. Seriously, a well established superstar, especially someone like Randy Orton nowadays, makes a comeback and he won't get cheered? Even if he was heel before he left, it's just always best for a returning superstar to come back face, it's common sense really.

On the other hand, the fans play a huge role in why his heel work lacks now. They want to cheer the guy, I even see RKO signs at shows nowadays, so if they want to cheer him, then why not give them what they want? My point exactly. Which goes back to my comments about Orton not stepping outside of the box and WWE's stupidity in relation to simple logic.

HHH when he was with Evolution would get the biggest cheers when his music hit. Then he would get booed once he got on the mic. Same thing with Austin during the WWE v The Alliance angle, same thing with The Rock when he came back and feuded with Goldberg. In fact Undertaker dropped the Ministry of Darkness angle when WWE realized that him sacrificing Ryan Shamrock and Stephanie McMahon were still greeted with cheers. Even having Vince as the hidden power could not get the fans to boo Taker.

Orton is on the cusp of that rarified air amongst fans where their "face" characters still are heels they just do heelish things to other heels which makes them face.

In the 80's Hogan, Stemboat, Rhodes etc... would never get a sledge hammer and beat someone with it and get cheered. They only used weapons when their opponent already had or they were booked in the "Unsanctioned Match".