i like that hbk can't touch jbl before their match or else the offers off the table. It gives the chance for JBL to get great heat.

Even though HBK couldn't be JBL's slave by law, i like the idea that he said that JBL would own HBK's intellectual property (not in those words though) and any profits from HBK merch, etc. would be his. Unfortunately they made it sound like he'd have to do JBL's bidding.

I enjoyed the Cena - Jericho match for them most part, but Cena really needs to learn how to sell properly

Kevin,

Once again huge fan of your blog and want to let you no how much I appreciate that fact that you actually post regularly and interact/respond to the people like me who leave comments. Curious to what your thoughts are concerning Wrestlmaina at this point. I've been a wrestling fan for nearly all my life and never has WWE come across to me as so unorganized and all over the place when it comes to their Wrestlemania card. With this being the 25th Mania and Austin going into the hall you would think that they really would have went above and beyone when booking the show and really built and planned matches in advance. Curious what your thoughts are about that. And on a quick football note, I live in Sixburgh and I am a die hard Steeler fan but your shout out giving the Steelers props for winning the Super Bowl and being the best team was very classy. Thanks again Kev!

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I think Barista getting hurt changed the long-term plan, as well as Mickey Rourke's possible involvement. I'll reserve judgment until we see what the card is.

Not 100% sure if the Orton segment was for damage control. I think it is a set up for a swerve.

I am also not 100% sold that Orton, DiBiase and Rhodes have good chemistry. I guess we have to give it time.

Question... is it called the Elimination Chamber or the Mid-Card Mania? Unless there is a major surprise coming, who would pay to see that.

SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHY CM PUNK IS BEING JOBBED OUT AGAIN!!! TWO WEEKS IN A ROW!!! COME ON!!!

I was very happy to see Mickie James back in the ring this week, and tagging with Punk brought back memories of The Gathering in TNA. Surprised that the Women's Champ and the Tag Champs weren't on the show.

What are the chances we will see the likes of DH Smith, Reid Flair, Rick Steamboat Jr., even Joe Hennig in The Legacy? I know 3 of those guys are in the development federations but this stable has the potential to be a great one if the WWE doesn't shoot any of them down anytime this year. How do you feel about that and how do you feel about this quote: "Ted Dibiase Jr. for I.C. Champ!"

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Smith has been discussed for sure. Don't know if others are ready. I think DiBiase is a future singles star.

.... Since you bring it up , ( the NFL ) . Despite my dislike of the Steelers , I agree . They were the best team this year . As much as I love the Ravens , I was also willing to admit this anytime throughout the year . Every dog has its day though .

I give them an A for effort, but still, in the grand scheme of things, they took an A+ angle, turned into an F-quintuple minus, and raised it to a potential B-. Granted, all of this can easily be erased if Orton is allowed to absolutely destroy Shane for 20 minutes at the PPV. What will end up happening is that Shane will get in way too much offense, and will lose only due to his "injured ribs".

Cena/Jericho was good, but pretty much followed them template of every Cena/Jericho match. Jericho tapped way too quickly to the weakest looking submission move in the company. It also made little sense to have the only other credible performer in the elimination chamber (i.e., the only other person with even a 0.1% of being booked to win) defeated cleanly.

Speaking of defeats, what is it with the WWE and its booking of CM Punk after he wins titles? And why isn't the Punk/Regal return match (which could be very good) not going to be on PPV?

It also seems like they're about to end the JBL/HBK angle, perhaps just in time for a Undertaker/HBK WM 25 match? As the card stands and is currently headed, it doesn't have one match that is truly special, and HBK may be the only person on the roster (other than Thor, I mean HHH) who people would legitimately believe can beat UT at Mania. It's a much better option than feeding him Kozlov. Also, why are they presenting Taker as being willing to do the McMahon's bidding, instead of just booking the match just because they can?

Ric just can't stay away. I really don't want to see Ric back. It is sad seeing the Nature Boy in his current state. Shane is a wimp. The old man takes a kick to the head. Shane was probably wearing padding when he took Orton's kick to his body. Hey Kevin I wanted to see if Orton was going to kick Stephanie out of her shoes. WOOOOOO

Okay Kevin - it's now to the point where I will tape Monday, Tuesday and Friday and fast forward so much of the shows that I can probably watch the 2 hour shows in 15 minutes each, between the constant replays of Orton kicking Vince in the head - Orton and his goons attacking Shane/Steph, there's just way too many replays for me, and not enough good current storylines. Orton and his goons bore me, JBL/Michaels storyline needs to be resolved real soon, Glameralla and Rosa needs to go, and Jericho ??? I just don't know. I wasted 2 hours actually watching it last night since I didn't feel well, but should have slept instead. I'm extremely disappointed right now in the main show (RAW) and if it doesn't get better soon, it will lose this viewer for sure.

I do agree with you that I hope Ric Flair's appearance does not mean he's returning after his elaborate send-off. Maybe he'll be a "new general manager" ??? And I am looking forward to the Undertaker being on RAW next week to wrestle Orton -- do you think he's going to switch over to RAW from Smackdown??? Anyway, I'll probably continue to watch it (or at least tape it) but I wish the storylines would get better.... I think you should join the creative writing team, Kevin.

I think it's worth pointing out that the illogic was only half the reason last week's ending was such a disaster. The other half was how pathetically it was executed—and anybody who missed it might not understand, because the booth crew has since edited the footage for replay and they did a commendable job of making Shane look like he actually "took" Orton. If you saw it live, Shane looked absolutely ridiculous, but the replays make his attack look halfway decent.

Props to the production crew for fixing that end.

"I have no idea why DiBiase and Rhodes were disqualified for double-teaming Cryme Tyme. Very lame finish"

Rhodes was illegally in the ring and did not leave before the referee made the five count.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Did the ref even make the count?

I thought the attention to the Orton angle went pretty well. Even if it was straight out of Smackdown for Playstation when you see the heels talking angrily in the hallway and then they take someone out later in the show. It all seems like it's missing something still. Poor Snuka and Manu. They could probably have salvaged a career if they were included in this angle to help Shane get revenge or something.

Also, just a small logic rant (sorry).
So has JBL paid Shawn anything yet? If not, how has Shawn been paying pills for 2 months? If so, shouldn't he be able to get by even if he got "fired?" Also, what about the DX royalties? Would we see JBL & HHH comercials this Christmas? Actually, that could be pretty funny. I think JBL should win at NWO though and they can have the WrestleMania rematch to go double or nothing. Shawn's soul vs 2 year's pay in cash. Sting can make a surprise debut in a flash of white light like he did in TNA and save the day.

The rest of the show was a waste IMO.

WWE hasn't done very well sticking to its male-female storylines lately. Both Maria/Festus and Kane/Kelly Kelly had a short set-up lead nowhere. No big loss, but I was looking forward to more Maria/Festus interaction.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I'm sure Festus was, too.

The ref did not make the five count kev.

Whatever happened to heel steph's mini feud with shane? Perhaps their father's injury brought them back together....?

Whatever happened to the seemingly inevitable punk/orton feud when orton returned to action?

"One more observation on JBL-Michaels: Why would JBL think that Michaels is a “broken-down old man” who he can easily defeat when Michaels just defeated Cena and almost beat him a second time? …"

JBL also thinks of himself as a Wrestling God. He is obviously out of his mind.

WrestleMania XXV
Chris Jericho vs. DH Smith (w/ Ric Flair and Roddy Piper)

Imagine how this could work. Smith represents all the legends that Jericho has disrespected and challenges Y2J to a match at 'Mania. Then Jericho wins in a suprisingly good match. Then Smith, Manu, and Snuka could rival the Legacy after 'Mania. The 'E should definatley do this.

"Did the ref even make the count?"

Yes. After Rhodes knocked JTG off the apron, the referee counted to two; Shad shoved Cody into the corner, and the ref made it to three (out of the camera frame); the ref was obscured by Shad's body when he reached four. I didn't hear him count "five!," so he might have called for the bell after "four!".

The ending for the tag team match would have made more sense if Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase ended up beating up Shad with some steel chairs.

That, at least, would have warranted a DQ ending.

It would also establish Rhodes & DiBiase as more vicious attackers.

I don't think the damage control for Orton succeeded as well as you did, but it was a decent attempt. My hope is that this match at No Way Out is a blow-off to the McMahon feud, and that they don't take Orton out of the title picture at WM for some other gimmicky McMahon match.
I am very surprised they are having this HBK/JBL stipulation at No Way Out rather than WrestleMania. I assume this match will probably not end the feud and lead to a bigger match at WM, but I'm not sure how you come up with something to top a match where the loser could basically become a slave to the other wrestler.
And it was nice to see that although Kane lost his qualifying match for the Elimination Chamber, all he had to do was make a phone call to get in the match anyway. Kind of makes a farce of the whole qualifying process, doesn't it?

I find it a bit odd that you totally did not mention Taker vs Orton next week on RAW. I mean what is this supposed to do? Orton cannot be beat down clean, he is without any doubt the number 1 on the WWE roster now (RAW & SD combined). And Taker won't lose clean, that's as simple as 1+1. And most surely he won't take a dirty beatdown by Legacy, its a one time RAW appearance and that would look bad. I mean what sense does it make?? No longtime storyline, both superstars not going to lose clean and a DQ seems the only way out. And the only DQ possible is Taker getting outnumbered by Legacy and Kane coming in (oh come on, thats lame and stale). Or do you visualize Shane coming in again with some stupid weapon to even it out. Considering No Way out coming up the Sunday after that, I think Shane will get the upper hand in another weapon-based attack. Orton wins at No Way Out. Thats the only logic WWE works on right? The winner at PPV gets outsmarted at the RAW/SD event before the PPV. Stale and lame. How many times have we seen this?!

And I am one of the millions of WWE viewers who would like to see Cena on a 20 week losing streak, IMHO Cena deserves it more than MVP. I read online that Vince is getting frustrated with people booing Cena. For the first time, his force feeding the fans isn't working and I hope he accepts defeat soon.

After some promising plot developments, the WWE slipped back to their old tricks this week and last.

They had something for a moment there with Orton versus Vince McMahon. Now, the involvement with Shane in the middle of the issue has really sabotaged the angle and the friction.

Shane made Orton look weak one week and his minions look the same way the next. Shane's a one trick pony with his jumping off the ropes. He wasn't so good on the mike last night, either. His delivery was more mechanical than emotional. Neither he or his sister have ever demonstrated that they have the charisma or personality to handle the lead corporate representative/talking head role for anything more than a short period.

The fact the Undertaker is now being used as essentially an undercard guy, to advance this Orton-Shane feud and, presumably, to put Orton and his lackeys over, prior to the match with Shane, shows just how mixed up their booking has become.

The wrestlers in the back must be biting their collective tongues watching this play out. Then again they've seen it before -- the WWE had Kane jobbing to Shane a few years ago.

Cena, with all of his blather about respecting wrestling traditions, sure didn't show much respect for them in his match against Jericho. He squirmed out af a Boston crab for a weak reversal win and then effectively no sold the hold he had just been in immediately afterwards by bouncing and prancing around the ring like he had just stepped out of the dressing room.

JBL-Michaels has just become a bit too silly. They never know when to quit. I give JBL some credit though -- he's doing his best to make the story work.

Not only did Jericho tap out to the STF, he did it very quickly right after Cena had withstood the walls of Jericho for some time. Maybe they needed to end the show to get to Burn Notice.

I guess I can't fault him too much but why was Punk looking at Mickie and Layla, turning his back to Regal, and allowing Regal to turn the tide of the match?

The worst part of the Rhodes-DiBiase disqualification was that it happened right after Shad hit Rhodes. How is Rhodes supposed to get out of the ring when he is being hit from behind?

When they announced the main event was Jericho vs Cena, I thought (or hoped) that Jericho would get a tainted victory of some kind over Cena to build him up for the Elimination Chamber. After all, nobody expects any of the other participants in the Chamber match to have a chance of headlining Wrestlemania as the champion: it's only Jericho or Cena. As another reader posted above, it makes no sense to cleanly job Jericho so close to the PPV.

Cena's promos have gotten so terrible since his return that I have arrived at the point where I just have to fast forward them. Pity because Jericho was on a roll before being interrupted. I thought for certain that Jericho would have mentioned Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

They should turn Kelly Kelly heel and have her be the valet for Kane & Knox. They can call the team KKK ... oh, wait. Seriously though, Kane & Knox fit well as a tag team and it would be a good rub for Knox if they continue as such after No Way Out. Even their name sounds like a legitimate tag team combo.

Hey look, I have to enter the letter "k" in the field below.

Kevin, how do you exlain the involvment of the Undertaker in the Orton / McMahon storyline? I find it strange that Stephanie has to ask Kane to bring his brother from Smackdown to fight Orton. Since she is the GM of Raw, couldn't she "punish" Orton by having him fight in a Handicap match with some guys from Raw, for instance? Asking the Taker to come for help makes the Raw roster look weak (or maybe unwilling to fight Orton: it would have been great if we saw Stephanie asking different Raw stars to compete against Orton next week and they would all decline out of fear, leading her to ask the only man in WWE who does'n know what fear means to stand by her side)...

I also agree that they should have used Manu and Snuka at some point. Here are two guys who have all the reasons in the world to hate Orton, Rhodes and DiBiase, why could they not be used at least as a secondary force?

I fear that next week will again show Orton as a cowardly heel, probably sacrifying Rhodes and DiBiase to the Undertaker to save his butt (and soul). Of course they can't allow Orton to beat the Taker cleanly...

I also think that Priceless should be shown stronger: after their impressive performance at the Rumble, why not have them destroy Cryme Tyme (and then continuing hitting them after the end of the match, thus showing how awfully heelish they are)?

Anyways, I think that this Raw very good, and that they pretty much saved the angle after last week horrible Shane attack. Still, the main problem is always the unbeatable Cena: Jericho had him in his Walls for a looong time, then of course Cena reverses the move (when was the last time that anyone tapped out from the Walls of Jericho, by the way?) and transforms it in this awful STFU that seems so unbearable that Jricho taps out in one second... and the Cena jumps on his feet and celebrates, as if he had not spent the last two minutes trapped in the Walls of Jericho. I guess we just have to live with that, since it happens all the tilme.

Actually if you watch it again mate, the referee did make the 5 count and had a right to DQ them. Pay more attention aye and please you guys criticzise WWE way way too much. If you dont like it dont watch it and stop complaining.

Kev, I had this thought while watching RAW and curious to hear your take on it.

If Orton continues to beat-up on the McMahon family (especially if he gets to Stephanie), how probable is it HHH would come to RAW to confront Orton about attacking his real-life wife and in-laws?

Personally, I would love to see it and WWE in past segments has made references to HHH's "out-of-the-ring" family without coming straight out and saying it.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I don't know if it would happen, but I think it's overdue for HHH to acknowledge that he is Stephanie's husband.

Kevin,

Is there any chance that Jericho might be facing Austin at Wrestlemania? I can see Austin defending the honor of the veterans against the snobby Jericho.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN: That was my suggestion.

Eck,

Another great recap, as always. Every week I look forward to reading what you have to say. Raw is the only show I watch, so for the rest, you are my main source as to what happened.

I agree with previous posters that the Raw Elimination Chamber match looks pretty weak. Again, Jericho is the only one with a realistic chance of winning, but if he taps clean to Cena in a singles match, there's no way he wins the EC match. I think Cena wins and goes to WM XXV to take on Orton.

Any guesses as to who the final 2 slots in the SD EC match will go to?

Also, Kev, I wanted to commend you on your classy comments about the Steelers winning the Super Bowl. As a Steeler fan, I loathe the Ravens as much as you despise my Steelers. That being said, I just wanted to say thanks for staying classy - just like I knew you would.

Maybe Kofi didn't hit Shane back because he just got the huge chance to be in the Elimination Chamber and didn't want to ruin it by fighting back against Shane?

No you guys he did make the count cause I was watching the whole time and I Knew thats why they got DQ'd immediately watch it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57JByS-jx6o&feature=channel He starts the count at 6:27

Steph is in cahoots w/ Orton. I think she comes down to support shane at the match and then turns on him. Then comes the whole "You've always been jealous of me Shane, you think just becasue your Dad's son that this business would be given to you...While I was the one who was actually working..etc..etc.." I just wonder if HHH will come into the storyline since it's been acknowledged in ring that they are married.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: I thought Stephanie and Orton were working together from the beginning. But after Orton went to punt her in the head, I'm not as sure. How did he know that Shane would get there in time to dive in front of her?

The legacy angle is still working out some teething problems, and it did seem like the opening segment was damage limitation after Shane's much criticised performance last week. I still think an orton and stephanie conspiracy may be the result of this angle in the long run.

With Mickey Rourke looking unlikely for a match at wrestlemania, I really do hope Naitch isn't his replacement. Ric's send-off was great and a return to the ring would really sour that.

When Jericho was cutting his promo about washed up legends being removed from the HOF, the 1st thing I thought was Jericho v Austin at WM. If Austin is in shape for one last match he coudn't ask for a better worker to be in there with, and they have the long running animosity of Jericho's undisputed title win to play off...we can only wish!

I tried to tell you last week Rourke wasn't going to be wrestling at 'Mania...

I'm happy and worried that RF is returning. I'm glad to see Flair back on TV (particularly after doing the retirement tour of local mid-atlantic venues a couple months ago), but am worried he's going to either return to the ring at WM or take a beat-down on Raw to further an angle, neither of which are befitting. Part of me hoped for an angle where he'd retire as world champion and take the big gold belt with him--it was his to start with--but we fans can't have everything.

RF is the best ever at cutting promos and working a crowd, so it should be interesting, but I will watch apprehensively--I hope Ric's treated right given all he has meant to the business.

"They should turn Kelly Kelly heel and have her be the valet for Kane & Knox"

Noooooo!!!!!!

WWE, if you are reading this, don't, don't, don't ruin Kelly Kelly for me by giving her a heel turn.

Aside from the Kelly suggestion, I am in favour of Kane and Knox becoming a tag team. Their teamwork on Raw was surprising good, and I would like to see Kane get another crack at Miz and Morrison.

Christopher, I was just kidding with the Kelly Kelly suggestion.

I agree with the guy that is against pairing Kane, Mike Knox, and Kelly Kelly together...

...with the WWE trying to go for a PG image, do you think the team of KKK would be a step in the right direction?

Orton has recived some of his heat back, but its still no where near what it was 2 weeks ago. Unlike when he kicked Vince in the head, I wasn't really shocked to see him attack Shane. Even him attempting to kick Stephanie wasn't as shocking. If Orton is to ever get all his heat back, he's gonna have to mess up Shane pretty bad in their match at No Way Out.

I thought the angle last week where Shane attacked Legacy was beyond ridiculous, but at least WWE damage control came out this week. It wasn't the greatest explanation in the world, but they did realize they made a mistake. TNA continually does stupid angles with no good explanation.

Surprised no-one's mentioned the REALLY obvious plugging of "No Way Out" on the t-shirts of Dibiase and Rhodes as they stand next to a shocked Orton after he kicks Shane in the stomach.

I know that it's technically good marketing to remind people that No Way Out is coming up, but the obvious nature made me chuckle.

Tip your hat to the Steelers??? Son you better move to Pittsburgh. Cause win lose or draw it's in all Baltimoreans hearts to Hate the Steelers. Heck I bet you like the new President???
Baron

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: Trust me, I hate the Steelers. I'll always hate the Steelers. But they deserved to win it this season.

Nature boy needs to stay retired because the last time he retired, he left it about 15 years to late. Raw was average once again.

The only reason the Steelers won was because the ref's fixed it like they did against the Seahawks, not quite as obvious as that game, but there were numerous calls that were questionable at best, although the interception on the 1 yard line returned for a TD didn't help :(

Everyone seems to think WWE did damage control this week. Why couldn't it have happened like Orton said it did? Several people noted how Legacy didn't fight back. It makes Orton seem conniving in an Edge and HHH sort of way.

"Everyone seems to think WWE did damage control this week. Why couldn't it have happened like Orton said it did?"

There are some people (like me) who just don't think Orton is that smart. In or out of charactor.

Hey Kevin,

It may just come out of subject, but, what about Batista? Don't him and Randy Orton have some unfinished buisness? and when ever Batista comes back, won't it will affect what ever happens in to Randy. What if the McMahon's bring Batista Back?

I have to say the Rhodes/Di Biase fight was a little stupid at the end, yes he may have been in the ring illegally and the ref had started the count, but once he was thrown into the corner and was being attacked thus unable to exit the ring why did the referee not stop the count?

The legacy to me seems like quite a good stable and would be nice to see all 3 with a belt before long, help them assert their claim that they are the future.