I really enjoy your perspective with this blog, keep up the good work. The beating that Shane delivered to Randy and his Legacy was not realistic at all. Kind of ruined what was otherwise a very good show.

Sorry Kev but I have to disagree, the best line of the night was when Santino was talking to Michael Cole and he said "have you lost wieght? You look great JR" haha, had me in stitches

Kevin, I couldn't have said it better concerning the Shane, Orton encounter. His heat was squashed. The only way, I see a way out of this for Orton, is to say that he did not want to touch another McMahon. Even that seems contrived.

Frankly, when I saw Shane appear, I thought (in a turn) he would look intense, as he did, and then shake Orton's hand setting up another family fued. It has been a while, and would bring back the tension between Steff, and Shane that was dropped a couple moths ago.

Thoughts?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I did think for a second that Shane was joining The Legacy.

Agree with the thoughts on Shane . I'm a longtime McMahon "basher" (specifically Vince) . I also grudingly admit that they are all good at what they do , and do add to the show . However what Shane did was a little over the top .

I think (read: HOPE) that was intentional, and Shane hooks up with the Legacy. otherwise that was painful to watch.

I didn't watch RAW, but based on your recap, here's a thought...maybe Shane had such an easy time tearing apart the Legacy and Orton because they let him? Somewhere down the road Shane joins up as the Corporate member of Legacy, they all have a good laugh at how everyone fell for it.
It would be one way to move the story forward. However, if there's not a reason like that then I agree, they just destroyed Orton and the Legacy's work of looking so good. Seems to me I never recall any one person tearing apart Evolution...certainly not a grey-haired non-wrestler....hmm...

One thing I noticed, I don't think the Legacy guys ever actually hit or even tried to hit Shane. DiBiase and Rhodes especially seemed to be making a effort to not strike him, and I don't think they ever did.

Is it possible Shane is with Legacy, and they planned that whole thing to fool Stephanie into thinking Shane is on her side? The Legacy guys not even trying hit Shane just seemed strange to me.

I agree. The ending of RAW was toally LAME. Shane's in decent shape but he's aslo in his mid 30's (something I can almost sympathise with). here's no way anyone should be able to buy the situatiuon whrere he could take out three guys in their 20's who are in better shape than he is. And did you see when he caught up with Orton the ramp and started punching at him again? You could tell he was really running out of steam. Also, was last week it for Vince until Wrestle Mania time? So much for the big build up to the "Return of Mr. McMahon".
One more thing. I can't tell you how glad I was not to see Knox during Rey's match.

Sidney M. Basil did a study for Pro Wrestling Illustrated a couple years ago that looked at the fact that Randy Orton is driven by a desire to do better in wrestling than his father. I think we've already confirmed that I'm a huge wrestling nerd...

Actually, Santino's line of the night was when he looked at Michael Cole and congratulated Jim Ross on losing weight.

Just curious, did you notice that WWE showed Chris Benoit in their WrestleMania "recall" moment? I've seen clips of the WM21 MITB "post-Benoit" and he's been completely edited out of the footage; however, this clip briefly showed his body (but not his face) twice. Do you think that was intentional by WWE? Do you think they're sending some sort of message with that?

Kev, huge fan of the blog, keep up the great work. I've been WWE/Wrestling fan all my life, and last night might be the single worst ending to a Monday Night Raw I've ever seen, and that's saying alot! I'm not so much on the bandwagon that all of Orton's heat was lost (which itwas) I'm more disappointed in the fact that he lost that edge he had been building since he came back from injury. Like you said many times in your blog, Orton was the most interesting character to watch on Raw from week to week and in my opinon the writers killed that Monday night. Love to hear your thoughts Kev and Let's Go Steelers!!!!

I was enjoying the Orton-McMahon story until Shane got physical. I don't know what the problem was, but a grown man should be able to do better than that - he looked like a little girl with the baby punches and slaps and he wasn't even being careful about making them look like they landed on Orton. It was badly handled. I felt sorry for the wrestlers having to try to make it look real when Shane was doing such a bad job.

I have to give you credit Kevin for being able to find more to like about the show than I did. It was a below average show before the closing segment, a show that was going nowhere fast. Punk loses clean in under 3 minutes, Jericho is on the road to being wasted, Orton acted contrary to his core character all night, first hiding behind lawyers when all he needed was his contractually won WM shot, and then actually retreating at the site of Shane McMahon, just one week after showing no fear of Vince. Only Santino's commentary and Cena/HBK were above average, and even that match was notches below their previous matches. To my utter amazement, the McMahons have managed to bury the top two heels in the business in consecutive weeks, perhaps irreversibly. I have seen people kick around the idea that this is all the setup of a big swerve, but this would be the absolute worst way to have one of the McMahons join Legacy (which I'm against anyway). Was anyone supposed to be thrown off by Shane's horrific looking punches, that perhaps could have made a 5 year old wince? These are the moments when I question why I'm a fan of wrestling, as if they're done solely to remind everyone that this is the same company that brought us Fake Diesel and Razor Ramon, Mae Young giving birth to a hand, and the immortal Gobbeldygooker. Granted they never put the world title on David Arquette, but you catch my drift.

I agree (read: want to agree) with Kyle that is was a ruse. Shane has never looked that bad before. That being said, he looked legitimately blown up after about 4 punches. My only hope now is that no one sugarcoats it this week if he was truly booked to beat Orton down and that they change directions. It was brutal.

They need to re-start the Jericho feud too. Ric Flair was my first thought when I read about the movie, so he's def. a good choice. Jericho can steer it out of the skid though.

Interested to see if Orton can save his program. His "Fire Me!" screams I thought were his defining moment, when we'd look and say he turned the corner. I'm still so [mad] they wasted that moment....

Kev -- All part of the swerve.

1) No way Shane beats down a top star, let alone with his lackeys at his side. It's a set up.

2) The punches were SO bad; maybe because he was "supposed" to obviously miss?

3) Unless I missed it, the Legacy didn't get any offense in on Shane. Rhodes and Dibiase pulled him off of Orton, but no one really "hurt" him.

In light of recent TNA Impact's, I think I would have preferred: "Who does this guy think he is, [Mick Foley]?"

Kofi Kingston in the Elimination Chamber? How can that be, has to be some kind of swerve coming. That type of match is not up Kofi's alley. I was so shocked when he beat Kane. I really don't think Rey Mysterio should be in that type of match either. Both guys are small and high flyers for that matter. The Elimination Chamber should be for guys like Kane, HBK, JBL, Triple H, etc.
There were 2 Diva's I kinda missed last night, Mickie James and Candice Michelle. I guess they didn't have anything for them.
Looking at the Raw roster when the entered the stage, looks like the cutbacks and layoffs really hurting the WWE. I remember there used to be a time that the stage wasn't big enough for all of them to fit.
I noticed one thing a few weeks ago, that John Morrison and The Miz are appearing on all 3 WWE shows as well as the WWE website. Is it that bad that certain sports entertainers(or wrestlers if you prefer to call them that) have to be on more than 1 show?

don't you think the WWE keep making CM Punk look bad against top competitors? Sure he's the IC champ, but he has lost to Jericho 4 times. Not only that, be he has also lost to Orton, and he never really beat Batista.

I would bet on Shane being in cahoots with Legacy. If one thinks about it, Shane had a fight with Stephanie the last time we saw him. It just does not make any sense otherwise. If they did plan it like I suspect, it seems to have worked.

As I have said before, I do not watch as faithfully as I used to, but the last few weeks I have been enjoying the show for the most part...that is, until I saw Shane last nite. His punches looked so girly, it was embarasing to watch. I know what I will be doing next Monday...watching something else!! (I will DVR it and just fast forward next Tuesday)...

The line of the nite was when Beth said "We can keep her" referring to that girl (I forgot her name) and Santino is all happy and says to her "Your Keeped!!"

And I was thinking of a scenerio w/ JBL & Michales...what if JBL forces Michaels to wrestle Undertaker at Wrestlemania?? I cant see Undertaker and that Russian guy (ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ FEST) and Michaels/JBL will be pretty borring also. JBL can be like earn your money and end his streak...what do you think??

I was sad to see CM Punk failing to get a spot in the elimination chamber, I just don't understand his booking...at the rumble he was pretty much the only guy to get in some significant offense on Triple H (one-on-one anyway) and was allowed to hit his finisher on him, now it looks as though he probably won't be on the card for NWO at all. I wish they would stop going back and forth on guys like him, MVP and John Morrison.

Apparently, from what Meltzer said last night, the whole undiagnosed/ignored medical condition Randy Orton suffered from is a slap at the Benoit family, who wanted to sue WWE because the years and years of concussions that went untreated are, in their eyes, what caused Benoit's actions. If that is in any way true, I cannot begin to describe how eternally messed up that is.

As a kid I had to buy Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Inside Wrestling, and The Wrestler magazines every month so I am familiar With Dr. Basil. They should have brought in George Steele's doctor from TNT!!!

Thank God for 24 on Monday nights.I don't see the first hour of Raw and I just can't get into Stephanie as a character. Too much overacting and too much of trying to be like her dad for my taste. I liked her as a whiny princess when she first started on TV.

As for Shane, I remember being at Raw in the late 90's and seeing The Rock defend the title....against Shane. Now he has had some good matches and works hard, but come on. Having him rip apart Legacy is dumb. Did he do that against DX.? No.

On a side note, the video of Steve Austin going into the Hall is very well done. One of the better videos in quite sometime.

Steelers still suck and I thought last night 's ending was hilarious and enjoyed every minute of it.Also loved the fact that JBL"s interference "cost" Shawn the chance for a win.Would be interesting to get a response from Kevin but since he's never ever responded to a single thing I asked or alluded too,I won't hold my breath waiting.I admire Orton's talent but hate his personality and antics as well as Jericho's.And has Mike Knox actually even wrestled anybody of note yet?And by the way Ryan,I'd bet money Shane McMAhon could kick your butt,actually as well.

Did Punk really have to job to Jericho??? Who booked that!!!

The Shane/Orton deal was so awful. Even it will be deemed as a set up later, it was still weak.

I don't want to open a can of worm and I won't claim to speak for all Afican-Americans but Orton seems to have no appreal for me personally. I've always noticed that your Rocks, Stone Colds, Hogans all were very over with Blacks too (wrestling fans as well as maintream Blacks). Although Blacks will never make or break a mega star...I just don't think Orton will ever hit that status. I know he gets much praise on this blog but he may be just another white guy to us...just asking everyone to see it from another side.

Glad Kofi is in the mix for No Way Out. Just hope that MVP gets his time. I've lost hope for Shelton.

Im hoping there is a twistin this storyline with the legacy, the legacy didnt really seem to want to hit shane, firstly i thought he would team with them, but after he speared Orton I thought the legacy would team up to attack shane, and Orton would punt him as well, there is no way shane could beat all 3 members, he wouldnt even be able to go against 1 of them in reality, but to be honest WWE creative have had worse storylines and angles....

Im liking the Rosa storyline, anything with Glamourella is gold! SSantino is great and Rosa has the right look for a diva (you know what I mean) I hope she is talented in the ring, seems its gonna be Rosa vs Beth at Wrestlemania, but maybe thats too early, need to build up Rosa before she turns. But I agree with Santino "I want to keep her!" and on another note I thought JR looked great yesterday too...haha

It has too be Melina vs Gail Kim at wrestlemania, that would be a great match! 2 best women wrestlers about, I wonder if Melina will turn heel again? She doesnt seem to do much as a face...

Chris Jericho hyping the Rourke situitaion suggests a wrestlemaina match, personaly I would love to see this, would put Jericho on the map to non wrestling fans, and no one deserves it more than him! and if anyone can carry Rourke in promos and wrestling its Jericho

Kane loosing to Kofi...I agree he should be in teh elimination chamber as no one sees kane as a threat anymore, he needs a good storyline, maybe leading to him getting his mask back? and needs the world heavywieght belt! I see him relegated to Money in the bank at wrestlemania, what a waste of talent

Another thought about the finish, I loved all the superstars turning on Orton, but why would shane hit them too? seems to imply a turn is in the future, maybe even Stephanie could turn, but it would make more sense with shane, he is the rebelious one after all

Like others I was dissapointed by the RAW ending. Shane was punching like he was Mae Young. I know others have suggested that Shane will join Orton but I suspect they will meet at No Way Out in a street fight of some kind with Orton coming out on top.

I didn't think the Jericho-Rourke thing got off to a bad start at all. Jericho's character is such an egomaniac that even an offhand remark would set him off.

But here's a horrible thought. Suppose they book Jericho to win the title in the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out and Rourke ends up wrestling Jericho for the title and then winning the belt a la David Arquette. Yes, I know it's an insult to compare Mickey Rourke with David Arquette or The Wrestler with Ready to Rumble. (Believe me, I once had to listen to Arquette do a voiceover for AT&T while on hold awaiting Detroit Tigers tickets. That was hell.) I hope that doesn't come to pass but then again anything can happen in the WWE.

OK. Calm down. Let's find my happy place and turn my thoughts to Melina. Glad she has a chance to have a run with the Womens Title as a face.

"And speaking of "Stone Cold," I don’t think even he was ever booked as strong as Shane was last night."

I think you're forgetting when Stone Cold single-handedly took out an entire ring filled with wcw/ecw alliance members with stunners for everything that moved.

I'm personally sick and tired of the WWE trying to force Shane on us as some kind of badass. He's a doughy 40 year old trust fund baby. Give me a break. :/

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I have tried to forget everything about the Invasion story line.

I hated that end segment too, but thinking about it more it looked like Rhodes and Dibiase never really fought back, they just tried to hold Shane down. I think it could be interpreted that they were weary of hitting another authority figure, so rather then fight back they just tried to end the fight.

Still would have been better if Shane got attcked though

Excellent article. The last few punches Shane threw at Orton were some of the worst I've ever seen. The previous worst was 2 minutes earlier when Shane jumped on top of Orton and started punching him with the power of a 2 year old. I hope WWE really considers what angle they're taking with this. If Shane is not with them, then they did Orton a huge dis-service. I'm not an Orton fan, but I can appreciate what he's doing for the business.

Shane's beatdown was the worst ending on Raw since a few months ago when JBL ran over John Cena, yet Cena was still able to wrestle a week later.

It completely took away whatever momentum winning the Rumble gave the Legacy.

The Punk-Jericho match was also disappointing.

"I liked the spot in the Cena-Michaels match where Cena did the “You Can’t See Me” deal and Michaels caught him in a crossface. …"

Really? I may watch the tape sooner than later.

I think that after kinston beat kane I thin that he might have a chance 2 beat john cena on the chamipon cause I love cena but it will also show that ifthe next wwe draft I think that john cean, Randy Orton, And Golddust should go 2 ecw cause ecw need more powerful wrestling in 2 ecw.

I think that Randy Orton did a great job on beat the s*** on shane cause shane need 2 shut his mouth up

lmao what a joke ending, yah wrestling is spose to be suspending disbelief but come on.

I guess I was kind of alone in liking the Shane angle. I'm a big mark for Shane since the Summer Slam elbow onto Test in 1999. I would have liked to have seen the Raw wrestlers act more like lumebrjacks and feed Orton back to Shane. Overall, I think the segment went on a bit too long, but was enjoyable

I must be a nerd

I was really disgusted with the way Shane single-handedly took out the Legacy. it was bad enough that HHH almost did the same thing at the Royal Rumble the night before, but at least he's a wrestler. When was the last time Shane even competed in a match? I was hoping either Steph or Shane would be joining Legacy (and I suppose they still might), but if this turns into another wrestler du jour vs. the McMahons, I will be supremely disappointed. And the subtle regression of Orton into the "cowardly heel" role with the lawyers and therapist was a little disappointing considering how confident and edgy he had been to this point. The WWE needs to be very careful not to ruin his character after all the work they did to build him.

Kevin,

With this whole JBL-Shawn Micheals and John Cena angle, what about JBL and Micheals take the last 2 spots in the elimination chamber match via tag team victory next week or something and then HBK wins the belt at NWO therefore a Triple Threat match for the WHC at WM25. But where does Randy Orton fir into this. I am kind of thinking now that having Orton win wasnt the right call. And yeah i was wondering if Abyss and Randy has the same therapist.

Yeh I have to agree with the Shane O Mac frenzy the other night been over the top. how can a guy in his mid to late 30's beat down 3 mid to late 20 superstarts who are in great shape and were getting over with the fans. Good blog as always Kev keep up the work.

I couldn't wait to check this site out to see what everyone thought. I was hoping I had missed something at the end of raw because I was shocked at seeing Orton basically knocked out by the saddest looking boxing punches, I'd ever seen. I agree with Kevin and you all that Orton lost all his momentum after that sad display at the end of raw. I couldn't believe that Legacy dominated the Rumble a night before and then got destroyed by a shane the next night.

I think the intent was to put the idea across that Shane was so enraged that he "Hulked Up" and just went totally ape doody on everybody no matter who it was, like his anger and rage made him impervious to pain. The problem was that Shane could not punch to save his life. This does not kill Orton's heat. He is still a complete jerk and people will remember that more than being knocked out by Shane. The guy is pure evil. I would go so far as to say that in the past two weeks he has made his case for best heel ever, a title I previously attached to Ted DiBiase, Sr. He is absolutely crazy. On a side note, I can't wait for Shane to put Orton through an announce table. HERE COMES THE MONEY!!!!

I agree with everything you wrote this week.

I would add only to point out that Michael Cole opened the show by mispronouncing "intermittent" (in-TER-mitt-ent). I don't usually jump on people for mispronouncing words—but most people aren't professional announcers, and those words aren't usually key terms in a show's lead-off angle. Do some prep work.

I'm happy that Kofi won, but Kane as a character has been killed. He was unstoppable as the Big Red Machine when he was wearing his mask, but he's been vulnerable ever since. I think he would have been a monster heel, as he had the intimidation factor going. Maybe I'm just getting nostalgic thinking about the Attitude era, but I miss when Kane was getting pushed (he WAS a World Champion for a night)

I have heard Orton say he wants a 4th member of Legacy and he is "looking" for a big guy. I suppose the next member would be an enforcer type like Arn Anderson was to the Horsemen. This week's Raw could serve as the catalyst for seeking an enforcer since Rhodes and DiBiase didn't protect Orton very well. How about Umaga? If being the nephew of the Wild Somoans counts as being 2nd generation, he would make a perfect enforcer.

My first thought at watching Shane walk toward the ring was that it would be a good idea to take some wrestlers with him to subdue Rhodes and DiBiase. But it kinda makes sense that he would be so incensed at Orton kicking his father in the head that the adrenalin would be flowing enough to allow him to take on three guys. It also makes sense that he would tire easy if he was running on adrenalin.

And Shane is 39. Let's be careful about calling him over the hill :). He's younger than me.

Wholeheartedly agreed. Man you told it like it is. Lmfao! Yesterday's RAW was a joke. At first I thought you were going to start praising yesterday's RAW because you started out the blog on how it was unbelievable and I was like oh brother, but then you just told it like it is. I mean, wtf? Shane McMahon can dominate every wrestler in the WWE! Way to make the whole company look like weaklings and make them all suck!

I was just rewatching Raw and Orton referred to himself as a father of a newborn. Lest we forget the hankey pankey with Kelly Kelly storyline and realize that Orton's a dad. WWE Creative doesn't think these things through.

Shane McMahon is the one with IED. lulz.

I deserve HBK's all powerful superkick to the face for marking out...

What a sad state of affairs. Last week's episode of Raw featured a brilliant ending that had everyone talking about it for days. Everyone was curious to know what would happen next. Orton (predictably) winning the Royal Rumble was more fuel to the fire. There was expectations for more fuel, more sparks, more fire. Even an explosion. Instead we all got a cold shower.

I thought bringing up the IDE spin was unnecessary and wholly out of character for Orton. It was enough that he won the Rumble: he could simply threaten to sue and get an injunction to avoid getting fired. No need to bring lawyers or therapist out there. Still, the opening segment could have been overlooked if the ending had made up for it. What we got was a prime example of how those up in the ivory towers can be so out of touch with the rest of the wrestling world. Whoever thought that Shane McMahon turning into the Incredible Hulk was a good idea should start thinking of retiring from the business for good.

As for the rest of the show, I suspect the reason Punk & Regal are not in the elimination chamber is so that we can see an IC title rematch at No Way Out. Kane has pretty much become the male version of Victoria: used only to elevate others.

I thought it was weird that HBK had to face Cena, of all people, so that he (or JBL) can qualify for an elimination chamber to defeat Cena for the title. What was Cena even doing in a qualification match? What if he had lost? No more champion in the elimination chamber? Is it not unfair for both HBK and JBL that they had to go through the top champion to enter the chamber while Kingston & Mysterio only had to tangle with Kane & Regal respectively? Bizarre.

The ending of Raw was absolutely terrible - worst I've seen in a long time. Orton and his group was made to look like a joke getting beat up by Shane, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I can't see the Legacy proving a success unless they start looking a bit tougher and DiBiase and Rhodes develop a personality.
I also agree the Jericho-Rourke angle started badly. Put a bit of effort into it please WWE!

Don't know if you have read the interview Kev but whilst TNA were over here in the UK promoting their tour, Dixie Carter said in an interview with the Daily Star that Christian had indeed left the company to join the wwe.

Shane will lead the Legacy soon...this was started with Steff and Shane a month back or so....We all saw this coming...maybe Jerrico will lead the Steff side..lol

I can see by the comments that it wasn't just me. Shane "Now, I can defend my father this week" McMahon beating on Legacy with those "punches". Wait a few weeks, he'll become dysfunctional again and attack his father - if the ratings need it. WWE has really gotten pathetic.

I agree that Shane's offense was pretty awful in the closing segment, but I wouldn't say it ruined the angle or the show. I still think this is shaping up to a Stephanie heel turn and her joining Legacy. As she has repeatedly reminded us, "Raw is her show". It would make sense for Legacy to have an authority figure on board. It also plays into the storyline nicely, Steph and Orton choreographed Vince's injury last week to get him out of the picture, and now Steph chooses not to fire Orton...so he can take out Shane with a ount at NWO!

My only problem is that ultimately, is has to lead to Orton v Cena at WM, and I've seen that too often to get excited about it at all.

I didn't find anything wrong with the lawyers, therapist, and IED angle of Orton's storyline. Granted, he does have a guaranteed spot at Wrestlemania...that is unless he got fired; then he has nothing.

Think about it, if you qualified for a promotion at your job, but a week before you kicked your boss in the head and concussed him, could you come back and threaten to sue the company for not promoting you? Odds are you would've been arrested for assault and battery before getting to the point of gaining the promotion, so honestly I'm surprised Orton was able to compete in the Rumble at all after that punt to McMahon. Was it out of character for Orton to hide behind the lawyers and therapist? Perhaps, but ask yourself this: how much more do you despise him for hiding behind a legal team? Don't forget the fact that fans were cheering him the night before when he won the Rumble, and we're not supposed to cheer heels anymore...unless it's TNA...

As far as Kofi winning the EC Qualification Match, I think it's a breath of fresh air. I don't think Kofi will win, but his athleticism in the match is a plus, as opposed to having Kane lumber through it. I think it's ironically funny when we complain at how stale the WWE product is, but when they do something fresh, we criticize them harshly for it b/c it's not what we're use to seeing. I personally didn't think Kane or Bobby Lashley deserved to be in the MITB match, but they were, and they added brute strength and physical intensity to the match. Kofi may do something that gives fans that "Oh My God!!!" moment. Let's at least give him the chance to fail before we start to bury his presence in the match.

Uhhh.... 40+ comments and everyone says how fake Shane's punches were. Maybe I was watching a different Raw than everyone else, but most of the punches Shane threw were real. I saw him deck Dibiase, Rhodes, and Haas with legit shots. As far as age is concerned, 37 year old Shane Mosley dominated Antonio Margarito who is 30 years old on Saturday night. It was one of the best boxing matches I've seen in a long time, so I wouldn't cite age as a reason someone can't throw down. Also, has anyone heard of Bernard Hopkins? He's 44, and in peak condition.

Kev, this has got to be some kind of punishment for Orton's stiff kick to Vince last week. Remember when you could tell that someone was in trouble with management in WWE? That's right, they would be paired in a tag match with the APA and then get the snot kicked out of them. Simmons and Bradshaw would hit them with about a thousand stiff punches, powerbombs, and shoulder blocks and then Bradshaw would clothesline them into next week, followed with them being buied or released about a week later. Now they aren't going to bury or release Orton, and they can't beat him up because he's so injury prone. So what do you do? You make him sell to Shane's "Mae Young" offense (yes stolen from an earlier poster, thanks). If he isn't sufficiently embarrassed at this point, I don't know what you could do to the guy.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Don't buy that theory at all. Making your No. 1 heel look weak is not good for business, especially so close to WrestleMania.

Wow, thanks for the quick response! Enjoy the blog. Truth be told, it's probably a set up for Shane to become the corporate/management leader of the Legacy. When can we expect that swerve to happen? Next week or some time after No Way Out?

shanes punches were not real..and they looked terrible. i think you had to be watching a different show sean. because when i was watching it with my mate we watched the part on the ramp in slow motion and were just p------ ourselfs with shanes air boxing. seriously, they were way off and orton just looked a bit confused over it.
i got a bad feeling as soon as shane got into the ring.. i was hoping for a shane mcmahon orton street fight at no way out, with shane getting his a-- kicked but putting on an awesome match like he usually does but... i dont think thats gonna work now! only thing i can hope for now is a swerve so that shane is in legacy to hopefully save the angle..

You all as wrestling fans have missed this one. He didn't kill Orton's Heat. Next week or in future weeks I predict a squashing of Shane and Stephanie as well. Now with Orton in charge who will step up to extinguish this fire? Orton will grow even large from this making him the ulimate heel. Just wait and see.

Hey All of you who think it was stupid that Shane McMahon was able to beat up Randy Orton and his looser lackys well maybe its true.

Shane McMahon was bitterly angry with Orton for the way he punted Vince in the head last week i do not blame Shane one bit for bringing Orton donwn a peg he has been a cocky [jerk] for so long of course Orton being Orton couldent just leave the fact he assaulted his boss but he made a bigger hole for himself by brazingly saying he would sue wwe tuff you hit ya boss you pay with ya job it happens in the real world.

But like Stephanie sead fireing Randy Orton would be to easey she and Shane have hudge plans for the ass of Legacey and if at the end of there revenge Steph whants to suspend Orton for a year just for the hell of it then thats fine with me Steph is not dumb she nows if she suspends Orton he carnt sue wwe cuss he is not fired Orton decerves everything thats comming to him and much much much more on top

Okay Kevin - re: Monday Night --- Just read your comments not all the others --- my favorite re: future story line/ramifications of course is the Cena/JBL/Michaels after Michaels loss Monday. Other than that and Kofi beating Kane, I could have cared less. I personally can't stand Orton and this stuff with the attorneys and shrink - oh well - Orton has always had anger management issues - I'm still amazed at the comment he made to Steph "Now that you've popped out a couple of kids, you're relatively worthless?!?!" -- As a female, I think he's a male chauvinist --- wonder if he feels that way about his wife, now that she's given him a daughter --- On another note, the funniest part of the night was the sloppy punches Shane was throwing --- he reminded me of a first grader in a fight. Worst sucker punches I've seen thrown on WWE. Oh well, hopefully since I found out last night Matt Hardy is going over to Smackdown - that will be worth watching. I'm ready to give up on Monday Nights.....

Do you think they could be going the old WCW route of "This isn't part of the script?"? Is it possible that Stephanie and Shane "veered from the script" and Shane was hitting Orton with "real" punches, as opposed to what they usually do. Priceless didn't know what to do, so they just tried to hold him down instead of fight back.

Kevin you never gave your thoughs on 12 rounds
i perspnaly think that it looks better then the marine....what did you think of the trailer?

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Judging by the trailer, I do agree that it looks better than The Marine. The story lines are very similar, however.

kill mcmahons kill mcmahons kill mcmahon kill kill kill...kick kick kick...hurt hurt hurt!!!!

Shane could have at least brought the mean street posse out with him. Then we could have had the Posse vs Legacy at No Way Out in a street fight.

You know an angle is bad when your girlfriend complains about it. "They expect me to believe that this guy who won the Rumble last night, against 29 other guys, can't beat up this old dude? Do they think I'm an idiot?" I had no idea how to answer that.

Age shouldn't really matter as a previous poster pointed out, but this is Shane McMahon, not a professional athlete. I have a feeling he's not at top physical shape. If anything he probably has a little winter weight going on.

Orton's drawing ability is next to nothing anyway, so it wouldn't have been great heat to that of a JBL or Jericho regardless of Shane's part in it. Personally, the punches did look off, but I don't think he killed any of the heat. To me, he actually helped Orton's heat because if a face comes- back-to-give-the-heel-what's-coming-to-em', then of course that would bring extra for the heat that Orton would get as well as the pops for Shane " sticking up for daddy."

This week's ending was pathetic....but it can still be saved!!!

When Orton punted Vince, Randy Orton acted as if he had a "voice" inside of his head that told him to punt Vince and he decided to do what would save him from being fired. He listened to that "voice" and he is the only one who understands what he did. Orton plays the perfect psychopath. It’s someone who only makes sense in their own head. I think that’s why Randy Orton looked regretful after punting Vince McMahon as he snapped back to reality.

This week Orton didn’t even throw a punch and just layed there, trying to sell those pathetic punches (sorry shane…steph slaps harder that ur punches) and acted as if he didn’t want to take another McMahon out and is all weak but not from the punches but from controlling his own urges to punt shane. This is sorta like Orton controlling those “voices” and trying not to go psychotic.

If executed correctly, I think this would make an interesting gimmick. If Orton is put into situations like he was with shane and vince again than he has to attack. And soon he will not be able to control those “voices” and this will escalate to the point where Randy Orton is no longer apologetic for any of his actions and he will RKO and punt everyone for fun or who gets in his way. I think the crowd would enjoy seeing Randy Orton as a malicious and psychotic heel. It would make for an interesting relationship with having an unstable Orton lead Legacy too. It would make him unpredictable as you will not know if you are getting Randy Orton the wrestler or Randy Orton the psycho. Throw in a little bi-polar personality in there too and it would be great.

Why did JBL want Michaels to compete on his behalf in the first place? Does JBL have more confidence in Shawn than in himself?

Did I hear Michael Cole correctly? Did he describe Cena's strength as "ridiculous"? I would ridicule Cena's shtick, but I would not ridicule his strength.

Sean the Cynic,

You may be right, you had to be watching a different RAW. The punches were real alright, real weak. His entire "assault" looked like something from the Jerry Springer cutting room floor. Sure he had a couple decent ones in there, but they were mostly wild, flailing blows from somebody who was gassed after 10 seconds. The age comparisons mean nothing, those are pristine athletes who have been training most of their adult lives and remain in tip top shape, Shane was almost winded just from walking down the ramp.

Between this embarrassment, the Jericho debacle from last week, and the way Jack Swagger was killed on ECW last night, I'm starting to think this must be "destroy heel heat" month for the WWE.

Yo Chris! Ridiculous has become an adjective that means "incredible" as well as meaning "unbelievable". It's usually been used in a negative tone, but that has also changed recently to mean something good.

I guess that I have to change with the times. I hope that Friday's Smackdown is ridiculously good.

This is my first time reading you but it most certainly won't be the last! Man, you hit the nail right on the head when it comes to the Shane/ Orton scene. As Emmit Smith would say : Randy Orton's heat just got debacled. I won't lie, that kind of ruined the entire show for me. Shane's not exactly close to landing punches, him taking out the ENTIRE Legacy group, decking Kofi, asking "where's Orton??" when anyone with eyeballs could clearly see he went to the back.....not a fun 76 minutes. Or how ever long it was. Seemed like 76. Or 75. Maybe next week the Black Scorpion can show up to attack Orton, the Yellow Dog will beat down DiBiase, and the Midnight Rider will debacle Rhodes. Cody that is. Not Dusty Dust. He was debacled when he was a common man..........THHHHSSSAAAAFFFIIIIIRRREEEE!!!!!!.....Anyway, love the article man. I'll defintely be coming back. Thanks!

I 155% argree with the Shane attack on Randy, for the 5min or so it lasted I was at the edge of my seat waiting for Orton to finish him off and leave another McMahon starring at the ceiling wondering why his head is 5 parts!

It got ridiculous that Orton needed help out of the ring I mean cme on its the Legend KIller that last week slapped, kicked and just to top it all off, punted the boss in the head. Saying that, it was hilarious when Shane threw some punches and they were sooo wide and air and Randy would react, and then on the next look at him like 'are you serious, Im Randy Orton and I'm supposed to be beaten with these "punches" lol

Im getting bored with the whole JBL, Shawn and Cena thing, mainly Cena!

It would have been fine had Shane had a weapon - a roll of quarters, brass knuckles, a blackjack, a bullwhip, or even spit some money green mist.

I kept waiting for Randy to hit an RKO but the weak Shane-O beatdown persisted.

Shane was borderline slapstick.

Don't these guys rehearse?

i thought i was gonna die watching shane air punch Randy Orton...it was so pathetic i was hoping steph would jump in and slap shane for doing such a horrible job!!

and poor Legacy trying to sell those punches...but i still have hope...they can still turn this around as Orton never even attempted to hit shane and same with Rhodes and Debiase...yes he was falling all over the place and was being helped by Debiase out the ring but maybe he can use the "voices" in his head and say he was fighting them and was trying super hard to not kick the crap out of another MacMahon....that's why he was weak and never fought back...because of fighting his urges not shane's attempted punches...lol

I'm in Australia and loved it about time Shane came back for a fight Orton needs to be put in his place the arrogent piece of crap that he is.
Would love to see Shane and Orton in a street fight with the stipulation that any one that interferes will be FIRED

I was glad to finally see Orton get what is coming to him, i follow WWE and I dont know what they see in Orton but he has gotten away with too many things behind the scenes. He has tested positive many times for Illegal susbstances and has never been suspended as like others in the company has when they have been caught, he has been treated special by the company, and i dont think its fair, i can't stand him he thinks he is god's gift to the WWE and the show would be nothing with out him, i would watch it more if he was gone. Its about time someone beat the hell out of him, it may not have been realistic but i am glad it happened, i know for a fact that other Wrestlers in the WWE dont really care for Orton. Because what you see on TV is what you get behind the scenes too. He acts like he is too good for anybody. I say give him some needed time off or better yet send him to TNA with all the other losers and druggies. I also think HHH has been taking too much crap too, he lays down for everyone now. He is too good of a wrestler to be laying down for these chumps. Bring back the old days when the storylines didnt matter and wrestlers would stand up for other wrestlers and you were surprised by things that happened because it wasnt scripted. But if they are going to use scripts then I think they should bring in a storyline with HHH and Stephanie and have HHH take on Orton he did say some cruel things about his wife and kids. Everyone knows they are married in real life so why not use it. It would be better than what he is doing now. And the Shawn Michaels storyline is stupid too. Shawn is better than that. Its a waste. He dont need JBL's money. DX needs to come back and add some humor into these shows.

Sorry, Kevin. I would safely say that 95% of all wrestling fans would like to see one more serious push for Kane winning the World Title. Besides the ECW Championship (which was quite a joke), he has only held the world title for 24 hours. Before he gets too old, they should run at least one more Undertaker-like run and finally win the title.

this was terrible how can Cena be wrestling qualifing matches for his title #1 and secondly this whole Mcmahon/Legacy thing is stupid why bring out Vince for 10 mins just to let him go away for another month it's like WWE is not even thinking thru their angles i know it's a weekly show but the plots shouldn't somewhat change every week such as i thought it would be Shane v. Steph for control of Raw but obviously not which would have made sense to me if Monday steph would have proclaimed that she was the mastermind of Legacy and took out vince so she could retain her power over raw after the Y2J sit. and it still might turn out that way but why drag it out for another few weeks same with the JBL/Shawn feud lets get it started already. and i love Miz & Morrison but them being on just about every show is getting to be silly Iknow they are supose to be the best tag team and i guess because they are on ECW but the RAW champs and ECW/ SD have a talent exchange so they work 2 of 3 every week.