"Chavo Guerrero has become one of the least interesting characters in WWE, but he can still go in the ring. He and Rey Mysterio had the best match of the night. ..."

A man of his skills deserves better than an enhancement role. I want him to be booked as he was when he would cleanly defeat CM Punk in solid matches with the ECW title at stake. Hopefully, he will part ways with Vickie, sometime soon, for being her gopher hasn't done much for his career.

I disagree about Matt's promo, though. It was for the dogs.

Shawn is involved in yet another high-profile match that doesn't involve a World title. First against Angle, then Flair, and now 'Taker.

It would be hilarious if HBK's music hit and 'Taker came out imitating him.

I had high hopes for the Hardy match before it was Extreme Rules. I think they'll definently have one of the better matches that night.

It was nice seeing Gail Kim return. I hope this means she'll be fighting for that awful-looking Divas belt.

Do they really need to show so many videos of what happened on Raw every week on Smackdown?

WM is only two weeks away. I can't wait.

The Shawn Michaels parody of The Undertaker was pure genius.

Do you watch Classic AWA Wrestling on ESPN Classic?

Well, this week I twice saw Michaels on the program as one half of the Midnight Rockers with Marty Janetty.

First, I saw a match between the Midnight Rockers and Playboy Buddy Rose and Pretty Boy Doug Somers in which the Rockers prevailed. In fact, it might have even been the first time the two teams wrestled.

Michaels was all of 20 years old, had short hair and baby fat. But one could see that Michaels was the stronger half of the team. He was raw but could move around the ring. He used a variation of the superkick although not as a finishing move. Sweet Chin Music was still to come.

After the match they cut a promo. Michaels was even more raw although hardly anyone outside of Nick Bockwinkel, King Kong Brody and maybe Curt Hennig could cut much of a promo in the AWA. During the promo they had a confrontation with Rose and Sherri Martel. So it was interesting to see Michaels and Martel on opposite sides of the ring. It was also a sad reminder of yet another wrestler gone too soon.

Last night, they aired Michaels and Marty Jannetty being "interviewed" by Larry Zbyszko and moderated by Larry Nelson. It was terrible. Even Zbyszko, who had been a heel for years at this point, was stumbling all over his words. They kept talking over each other and Michaels was soft spoken to a fault.

Suffice it to say, Shawn Michaels has come a very long way from his early days in the AWA nearly 23 years ago.

Yeah this week was really impressive for WWE shows.

I was getting very annoyed by HHH constantly putting Orton on the defensive. Here's what I'm hoping will happen with their match. I'm hoping that HHH sets some sort of trap to keep Cody and Ted out of the match (similar to the cage thing he did with Cody), then I want to see the whole McMahon family get beat down single-handedly by Orton - Vince, Shane and Stephanie should all show up to attempt to help HHH when Orton has HHH almost beat and they should all get pummeled by Orton in one of his sadistic rages.

Then Orton should turn face...=D

And it was nice to see Cena's perspective on the triple threat - as he said he's on the outside of a love triangle looking in. Which, although I'm not excited about the idea of Cena winning the title again - it gives him a plausible win scenario where Edge and/or Big Show will get distracted by Vickie or focus too much on each other and Cena can just capitalize - so Cena can be the ultimate opportunist in this match. I'd still rather see Big Show win, just cuz I like him more.

I actually liked HBK's previous parody promo in the graveyard, and this "anti-deadman" priest entrance really took it up a notch. I love the way HBK is playing mindgames with Undertaker since that's really the heart of Undertaker's gimmick - to play mindgames with people. It not only makes Michaels look like a legitimate threat to Undertaker's winning streak - it makes Michaels a compelling threat to Undertaker's entire persona, maybe this iteration of Undertaker will get buried and we'll see a new version sans eyeliner and low-cut shirt...

For some reason I can't get excited about the Hardy/Hardy match... The promos they've cut have fallen considerably short of the video packages that have been made of them - the package they showed on Smackdown was brilliant. It actually had me kind of psych'd up but then watching Matt and Jeff cut 2 more live promos dropped my enthusiasm again... and it seems that the years of doing big crazy things has taken its toll on their bodies - when I see the matches from back when they were a tag team - I wonder if they're still capable of pulling off spots like that. And without those spots - are they really good enough in-ring actors to produce the kind of drama that headliners like Michaels, Undertaker, Edge, HHH, Orton etc. can? I'll cross my fingers, but I don't expect a whole lot from that.

I think it's interesting that twice in a row in these 8-man MITB tag matches - Finlay was shown dominant over everyone - seems to me he's about the least likely to win the match, are they just giving him a little spotlight time because he won't get it later? Who do you think is most likely to win MITB and who would you want to win?

Seems like Christian would be a good choice except that he so freshly joined ECW - unless he's changing brands already. I'll always keep my fingers crossed for Kofi but I can't see it happening. Maybe MVP drops the US title in the rematch with Shelton and then wins MITB and rubs it in Shelton's face?

Or maybe Hornswoggle sneaks in and grabs it while everyone is unconscious? =D

I was very suprised they started with a match that we have lready seen, with a few minor changes of the teams, I would have much prefered to see some single mataches with them, ie Shelton vs CM punk. I think they are tring to build Finlay up to look like a potential winner, but we all know he is not a serios challenger, I see Christian winning, but bieng the first(ish) winner of the money in the bank to not win, they cant carry on winning every year

Jesse and Festus have never been a team I liked, have to admit was glad not to see them for a few weeks, looks like someone agrees with me as they became jobbers....

THe 6 man tag team match was okay, but seen the Primos vs Miz and Morrison sdo many times its not even fresh anymore, let alone for wrestlemania. I wonder who the lumberjacks will be, Kendrick and Kozlov? On another note why was the Bella twin argument not given more emphaises?

Maybe thats apparent looking at the Hardy boyz feud though, I was so excited for this feud, but WWE seem to have given it no time but for a few clishe promos from matt and Jeff....just hope the match pays off, and I am still curios to how it will finish, matt loosing would bury him to mid card for ever

R truth should be in money in the bank, simple as, much more deserving than finaly. I hope he is not going to be a lumberjack at wrestlemania and thats it. Was a good match with him and Matt, they seemed to have good chemistry, but no time for it to get great

Cena is quickly becoming a favorite of mine (I was a cena hater just last month!) The promo he delivered was great....but purposless, we all know the history of wrestlemania and what the championship means to him, seemed to just be there to allow a big show vs cena confrontation...and big show was a parady of the old saying "the bigger they are, the harder they fall", never seen someone fall so badly from the ring...

Chavo has the potential still to be great, he and Rey had an amazing match, brough back memories from the cruiserweigh days, but chavo really needs a makeover and a new storyline, maybe a turn to get away from vickie?

After my dissapointment last week of no diva match they make one the main event this week (but for a promo), was sad there was no maria, but always happy to see Maryse :) And Gail kim returning! Wow, i though they would save her for wrestlemania, cant wait to see her in action again, though please not in a main event a week before the biggest PPV of the year?

The HBK promo was good, undertaker comming from under was great, they are doing a good job with this

Overall Smackdown was a bit lacklusture, filled with so many promos, and few short matches, personaly I prefer more of a mix...and no HHH, Orton, Edge, Vickie? Common WWE compell me to split with my cash for Wrestlemania!

I always thought Michaels was at his best when he was the cocky HBK that would show people up, stab them in the back and/or belittle someone on the mic. It would be great to see him as a super heel once more although he'd probably be a tweener since he's so popular. There could be many fresh matches if this would occur.

I just threw - up in my mouth over Kev's fawning of Shawn Michaels .

Best promo yet by HBK. Totally agree that he was channeling his former Heartbreak Kid gimmick of the late 90s. You don't see him making trouble and misbehaving like that nowadays; the stripping; the dancing. Man, I loved it. I wish he would continue to be like that. What a transformation especially considering how he was with JBL?

Honestly tho, that promo made me wish their were some kind of spiritual holy gimmick antithesis of The Undertaker who comes down to the ring amongst all that smoke with angels as opposed to druids whiteness as opposed to black, beaming lightness instead of the darkness and purple haze during promos. It be like Jesus vs. Satan. Taker has never really taken on anyone the direct opposite like that at least to my recollection.

I loved Taker going old school and literally bursting through the ring apron shades of his feud with Big Daddy Cool Diesel and Mankind back in 1996. They both took from their past a little. As you said, HBK seems to be one-upping the Undertaker as he promised he'd do. Loved that feud and kinda wish that gimmick was more than one night. Oh well!!!

Moving on, I spoke about this last week, Big Show squashing Jessie maybe but isn't Festus supposed to be somewhat formidable judging from many of his initial matches and feuds. Now all of a sudden he can be squashed even with a partner against the Big Show. There's no way they would allow Edge to do something like that nor would it be very believable. Come on! Squashing Festus alone would be pushing it (not Jessie) but squashing both of those stars. Again, WWE has got to think about formidability of matches and look back on what they've done with these athletes so that things are believable and make sense. I remember Festus being able to take out anyone once that bell rang. He somehow got ten times weaker no later than a year.

Just because Cena had what their children looked like, I have to admit I snickered during that promo he made on Monday. Looks like Vicki and Show would give birth to a transvestite woman. Whoever heard of that? lol!

I must agree with you on your opinion about keeping these athletes apart. Bringing them together so much especially before a huge even like WM doesn't strike me as very smart. They've been doing that a lot lately in regards to the Ladder Match.

I hate to be a jerk, but I don't think Jeff Hardy will ever be a pro at cutting promos like Jericho, Edge, and some of these other guys just because of that accent he has. I can't point my finger on it but there's this way he talks that kind of ruins his promos each and everytime he has one. You can tell he's really trying though and making changes for effect which is why I feel like a jerk pointing that out

Wish we could see more of Umaga.

"Do they really need to show so many videos of what happened on Raw every week on Smackdown?"

I wonder the same thing. Fans may stop watching both shows if they can see all the storyline developments on just one of them. If they were to give us a brief advertisement about what is scheduled for a future episode, that would make sense, but all of these summaries are annoying and counterproductive.

I agree. The HBK Tribute to Taker stole the show. I was practically dying from laughter when his music hit and he started STRIPPING? .O. The whole segment....People always talk about how great The Rock or Stone Cold was on the mic but dammit HBK cuts some of the best promos ever. Last night was a good example but I remember when he feuded with Hogan. He cut an 11 minute promo about Hogan IN MONTREAL. It was classic! I hate that Shawn will lose at Mania but all the same it'll be a good match. I think this match was more or less on his 'to-do-list' before he retires.

I also agree about Cena. I love the guy now for some odd reason.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Hardy match anymore but I'm sure they'll beat the hell out of each other and make up for the loss of momentum.

I think you're overstating it to suggest that Gail Kim got a 'decent pop', Kevin.

I've heard bigger pops for Tony Chimel and more fan interest during a Vladimir Kozlov match.

It's good to see Gail again though.
She's got a good look and will raise the standard of work in the women's division.

The Matt Hardy promo was intended to be sick and twisted, but in my opinion it was pretty funny. I realize WWE is going PG, but since when do heels kiss puppies? Despite the poor building of the Hardyz feud, there still seems to be a lot of anticipation for the match, just based on the show these two are capable of putting on.
Hopefully Wrestlemania marks the end of Edge and Chavo’s involvement with Vickie, it’s limiting them both big time. Seriously, did R-Truth and Kendrick personally offend Vince in some capacity? Such a waste of talent.
You’re exactly right, Wrestlemania is supposed to be special, what are they doing giving away matches between Edge, Cena, and Big Show, I know it’s close to the main event but maybe we’ll see another twist on the match.
Looks like they’re pushing Kane for the MITB match, though it could just be (pun intended) a red herring.

Heh, I came here to post a comment on something and guess what? First comment on the page says exactly what I was thinking. Moving back to Smackdown was the worst thing that could have happened to Chavo. They need to move him back to ECW. Think of what he could do as a face in a fued against Swagger or Kidd or as a heel against Christian or Bourne.

God, some of these comments are long-winded. A lot of them are longer than the blog.

"That means we will have seen all three of the possible singles matches... It seems to me like you would want to keep them apart before the big match."

I agree, but then what are we supposed to say about the tag match between the Colons and Miz/Morrison? These four have been wrestling the same match EVERY week for the past...what, month? six weeks?

So they're wrestling for the umpteenth time at WrestleMania. Except that I've already seen it, and seen it, and seen it again, and I no longer care.

Kev,my friend,sounds like you have a bit of a MANCRUSH on HBK.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't -- not there there would be anything wrong with that, of course.

Since Christian was mentioned - What is happening with Jack Swagger at Wrestlemania? Nothing? I would have though Swagger v Christian for the title.....WWE is missing a good one here...How can a brand champion - E - C - W not be on the biggest show of all?!!!

GregoryAsch -
Kevin's wife give's him permission to call her Shawn .

Kevin has every right to extol the praises of Shawn Michaels for that amazing promo. It was, in a word, perfect.

Besides, he's not the only one giving Michaels his due on this one, so cut him some slack. :)

Welcome back Mina ! :)

LOL @ The Big Show showing "good intensity after Cena dumped him out of the ring." Umm, he showed good stupidity, and was made to look like even MORE of a joke. Big Show is THE worst "actor" in wrestling, and if anyone believes he has a shot at winning at Mania then they are in more need of brains than a bald-headed woman needs a wig.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I actually think Big Show is one of the better actors.

The HBK promo on Friday was excellent in every way. Shawn is very good with presentation. Artistically, the promo was very aethestically pleasing. Someone mentioned the Montreal promo in '05, and I'd have to agree. That promo, IMO, was the greatest promo I've ever seen. Shawn's manipulation of the fans is unparalled. As great as The Rock was, he's never manipulated the fans like HBK.