GUH!

Two weeks in a row where Christian and Edge appear on the same program and there isn't any mention that they're brothers! I bet so many newer viewers of WWE have no idea that they're "brothers". Come on, even a backstage segment where they two high five or something...

It shouldn't matter this much but it does

RESPONSE FROM KE: Actually near the end of Christian's run in WWE they stopped referring to them as brothers but as former tag partners

Do you have any idea how many people read your blog on a daily or weekly basis? If you know, can you share that with us?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I do know but that's to secret Baltimore sun information. :)

I will say that Rings Posts consistently ranks in the top 5 for page view (among about 50 blogs) on baltimore sun.com. Last week it was No. 3.

Kev, why was there nothing about Andrew Test Martin on last nights show? As far as I'm aware there wasn't even any mention of his tragic death- i understand that they want to distance themselves from his death but this guy wrestled with them for years surely he deserved at least a mention?

To me, it really doesn’t matter what type of match is set up for Jericho. I just think as long as the WWE has a match in which the "villain" is taught a lesson. The crowd should pop pretty well.

Speaking of seeing a villain get their due, Adding Vikki to the match by an upset Steph for the backstage shenanigans would send this storyline through the roof. It wouldn’t be too late for Edge to use her during the match to eek out a victory, and then turn on her end the end...jus sayin.

Rey and JBL? Although they work well together there is no reason for me buying this. By the way, why pin the new IC champ. I guess WWE wanted to give Punk retribution from last week's loss.

Is it me or does MVP seem neutered now that he is a fac? I always wanted him to turn face but something seems a little off. His swagger seems to be gone. Someone should tell him to call The Rock or Stone Cold to get some advice about going face but keeping your edge.

...still say it time for a black faction again. There are a lot of bros in the WWE now. They would make a good crew. I missed the full effect of the Nation. I would love to see how the WWE handles it in the age of Obama.

Kevin, were you suprised there was no mention of Andrew "Test" Martin when the show began like WWE normally does when a wrestler formerly with the company dies?

RESPONSE FROM KE: It wasn't a total surprise.

Aside from the HBK/UT post-match confrontation, I thought this Raw was a letdown. That's the only match I'm looking forward to on the card.

Jericho vs. 3 card-carrying members of AARP? I guess this is what happens when Plans A, B, and C all fall through.

And not a single RIP for Andrew "Test" Martin. Pretty tasteless, I think. Kev, was he still in the WWE doghouse?

Colin who?

So they announce on WWE.com that the Von Erichs are the next inductee into HOF with Michael Hayes. Does this put a damper on the Freebirds joining them in HOF this year? Or do they still have a chance but with Kevin Von Erich returning the favor.

I dont think it is right that they didnt announce it on Raw and give the video tribute to them on TV due to the news of Test passing at young age and the Von Erichs also dying at young age. Hope they do give them justice and announce it on TV.

I understand the idea behind Triple H destroying Cody Rhodes to further his story line with Randy Orton, but would it have been so bad to let Rhodes get in even just a little bit of offense?

I dunno, it's kind of nice to see a little jobbing now and then. Cody's paying his dues, good for him!

Rhodes is the weak link of Legacy. He is not as awful as Manu or Sim Snuka, but he's not in Orton's or DiBiase's league. Every group needs a runt, though. He's to Legacy as Bossman was to The Corporation, D' Lo was to The Nation, 8-Ball was to DOA, and Mongo McMichael was to The Four Horseman.

Still, DiBiase and Rhodes should get to compete at Wrestlemania and not just be uselessly standing at ringside for the McMahon Tribute Main Event.

Good lord was this weeks Raw horrendous. I mean the show has been getting worse and worse but this was the mother of all shistain shows. The WWE and TNA are competing on who can put on worse shows. I swear so far '09 has been as bad a year for Wrestling in the big two as 1995 was in Wcw and The WWE. I could care less about Cody Rhodes but boy did he get buried. How was HHH no dqed? I mean Jericho a few months ago got dqed for grabbing Kofi Kingston's tights. Hell guys get dqed for bringing in a weapon but HHH drills Cody with the sledgehammer and nothing happens. I think Barry Horowitz got more offense when he got squashed. I can't say I'm happy with a handicaop match at Wrestlemania with Piper , Steamboat and Snuka Vs Jericho. I mean even Lawler Vs Jericho would be better than this. Piper and Snuka have embarrassed themselves 1000 times getting in the ring past their prime so no big deal there I can't say I wanna see Steamboat do that too. Ayt least if he's getting back in the ring for the first time 1n 15 years at least make it one on one. How many times have Cena and Edge wrestled now? A million times? It wasn't much of a match either. I had laugh when Vickie jumped on Cena and placed him in a sort of crossface. Man the build to the two world title matches has been wretched as well as the build to the entire ppv.

Watching Raw last night was okay, but I was so disappointed that Stone Cold did not come out to deliver a Stunner and a message to Jericho. So disappointed that when it was clear there would be no Stone Cold, I turned off the TV and went to bed. Also, are there anymore Hall of Famers to be annouced? I would like to see Stan Hanson get a nod.

Kev you always say TNA reminds you of Wcw in 2000 well The WWE reminds me of Wcw of '99. What happened to Orton the fearless badass heel? The ending to Raw last week had to be the dumbest and most absurd thing you'll ever see. So all that build and Jericho faces the nursuing home crew? Geez wrestling is unwatchable these days. I might check out Roh for the first time.

Holy Raw of 02-03! I'm thinking of boycotting wrestling after watching the last few Raws along. TNA and WWE are as bad as Wcw and WWE was back in '95 as graves said. Maybe just maybe roh can make a mark like Ecw did around that time.

Wow. What a let-down. I was considering buying the PPV until last night. Jericho is the best heel they have (I believe he draws more heat than Orton) and they put him against 3 50 year old wreslters? That may be a match for Survivior Series but not WM. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they tried their bests to get Rourke, Hogan, or Austin but couldn't. The Undertaker vs. Michaels is the only match I feel has been well done. The other matches just don't get you excited enough to pay $50. I believe they could build a great story after WM if they have Stephanie turn on HHH but I doubt they'll do it. I was also hoping for a JBL face turn in front of the Texas crowd but that won't happen either.

You rightfully bash Russo all the time for bad booking but why not Stephanie and Brian Gerwitz? They have been booking the WWE into the ground since '02. At least Russo had incredible sucess as the head writer in 98-99 when has Gerwitz ever done that. Raw was at it's peak was drawing ratings in the 7's these days it's in the mid to high 3's. Russo did create a bunch of new stars Gerwitz and Steph not so much.

Seems pretty predictable to me Jericho will blow through all the "legends." Then tries to go after Rourke. At that point Stone Cold comes down and finishes him off, has a beer with Rourke.

I know Diesel(Kevin Nash) has been acknowledged as the lowest drawing champ in WWE history but HHH has to be up there(or is it down there?) Since Austin and Rock stopped wrestling HHH has been the supposed top guy and well since '02 business has been down big time since it's glory days of Austin. He has buried everyone and their mother over those years. The only time he was even a draw was in 2000 but really he was competiting against The Rock so even then he wasn't the top guy. He hasn't been a great in ring worker since '01. He was a joke back in the ring 02-03. He was as immobile as it gets. Over the last few years he's been better but really is no better than above average. The only guy he's put over the last few years is Bartista(who is extremely limited on the mic and in the ring) and is no threat to him. He is clearly not giving up his spot and his character is pretty unlikeable. He buries people in his promos always out smarts the heels and never shows any weakness.

Raw these days is the cure for insominisa. I haven't made it through an entire Raw in weeks. Orton has lost all momentum since kicking Vince in the head thanks to Shane and HHH.

Meh HHH treated Rhodes more like Barry Horowitz(then again Barry did get some offense) Raw's ratings have been going down the past three weeks(from 4.1 to 3.6) and there seems to be very little interest in the ppv what with a bunch of matches we've seen a million times(Orton-HHH, Cena-Edge) and the worst mitb match ever considering the slugs in that match.

The whole WM card seems like a bunch of add-ins and afterthoughts as opposed to the culmination of any major angles.

The HHH/Orton angle has intensity, but it seems like it's wasted. None of those attacks makes me want to shell out $50. It's bordering on absurd (and that's generous). It makes me think the match will be a bust and all the McMahons will be involved to put themselves over for their triumph over Orton.

The one thing about the Edge segments that was funny was when he flipped about the "size" of Big Show. I think they could use that as a way to make Edge stay with Vickie and keep them both heels if he gets an inferiority complex and won't let her go. If he admits using her then she may get turned and then what good is she?

I also agree on the letdown for the Jericho match. I sensed it heading this way, but I wonder if the Hogan back surgery really did mess things up or if this angle was as half-assed as everything else. It looked like they were just stalling a few weeks and now they pulled the trigger on this impending trainwreck as opposed to something that will sell tickets. The knock on Hogan in the ring is that it wouldn't be pretty, but I can't see this match being pretty or more than 3 minutes bell-to-bell. It wouldn've added some punch to a dead Raw/WM card if Flair stepped onto the ramp and cued up some Real American. A Flair and Hogan tandem would be pretty sick. Maybe at least after the WM match there will be some shattered glass when everyone is getting their licks in on Jericho.

The Divas match is a disaster waiting to happen too. You can just tell they're biding their time before hitting reset on the whole division. Maybe Gail Kim saves that mess.

The only money match is HBK/Taker. It has the drama behind it as well as the fact that you know it will be the best actual wrestling of the whole night.

Lastly, it was good to see and hear Christian get some face time. It's a shame they had to squeeze Hornswaggle in there. I think he butchered the lines about MITB and chasing the title because they were being screamed in the headset. When he ad-libbed he was as funny as ever.

Watch the WWE swerve us and reveal The Rock as Jericho's opponent :) But in all seriousness i really hope this is not the final match for Jericho. I think it would be really boring. I like the Edge-Vickie-others storyline although i hate the way they ended RAW last night..

Kevin,
Do you think it's at all possible for WWE to go back to having, at least a couple of, jobbers appearing on Smackdown and Raw in order to build momentum towards a PPV match? PPVs don't seem special anymore because you see top stars wrestling each other all the time. I mean I've seen Edge vs. Cena, Orton vs. HHH done a hundred times. I'm not paying $50 to see it because it's WM. I'm sure this has been discussed ad naseum and I know that management lives and dies by TV ratings every week, but wouldn't this add to PPV buy rates? Maybe not pure jobbers but more Hacksaws, Super Crazy, etc. I really don't think ratings will decrease that much. You can still have a main event and people will still tune in to watch their favorite stars. Give wrestlers momentem and then have them battle at the PPVs. Just my two cents.

Trips is burying Orton, same as he did to Jericho when he was Undisputed Champion. He totally neuters the over heel, makes them look like his b****. Took Jericho till last year to get his credibility back.

Hmmm, remember when Orton was the hottest thing in wrestling?

Seems like a lifetime ago....

Orton feuding with HHH is killing his persona that he built up.

He was becoming such a badass uber cool heel now he's gone back to wussy and acting like HHH's woman. If WWE had any sense he would dominate HHH at every corner and beat him cleanly at WM.... then WWE could be thinking possibly about the next TRUE breakout star, even if that were not to occur they've ruined all possibility of that potentially happening.

can't say enough how dissapointing the last few weeks have been for the WWE. When Orton RKO'd Stephanie and HHH looked like his head was going to explode in rage, I marked out like a school boy. At that moment, despite being a retread of an old fued, the WM25 main event would be can't miss. How silly of me to forget that this is the WWE we are talking about. What a disaster.

And what is arguably even worse is the payoff for the Y2J angle. All those weeks of great promos and nuclear fan heat have led up to a handicap match against 3 broken down 60 year old men? Really? That's the payoff for this angle? Not only is that going to be an abortion of a match, and a waste of a hot heel at their biggest show, but it also has backed them into a huge corner. The fans are clamoring for evil Jericho to get his ass kicked, and thats the natural completion of the angle, but if Jericho gets pinned by an old man it destroys any credibility he has. Even with it being a handicap match. Snuka can barely even walk! It could be called a handicap match not because its 3 on 1, but because of piper, snuka, and steamboats special parking permits.Are people really buying the PPV to see arrogant Jericho beat up by 60 year old men? How does Jericho win? It defies the natural conclusion of the angle! But if he loses to these guys, even with the inevitable flair/rourke interference, isn't that a career killer? I am flabbergasted that this match is the best they can come up with, and I am praying that there is another suprise down the road to change this match and spare jericho and the wwe's fans from this potential disaster.

unlike the ending to "The Wrestler" it won't be ambigious. It will be tragic."

How true.

Wasn't going to buy Mania anyways, but if they wanted to cement that fact, they pretty much did this week. I guess they can;t control if Austin doesn;t want to wrestle Jericho, but at least get him a better match than this one, even if you have to ditch the legends angle at the last minute and go elsewhere to get one.

And the HHH machine is once again destroying all in it's path. You knew that would happen again, now it's just a few more weeks of the "cerebral assassin" getting over on everyone and reminding us of his many nicknames. I really hate that guy.

After last week's Triple H-Orton confrontation the follow up was weak.

The lowering of a steel cage wasn't a bad idea. But why didn't Orton and DiBiase just roll into the ring as it was being lowered? The cage was going all of 2 miles an hour. And Triple H being able to fend off Orton and DiBiase coming into the cage with the sledgehammer? It made Orton and for that matter Legacy look very impotent. But I'm sure Orton will get back at Triple H either next week or the week after.

I've written it here before. Santino Marella is the Chico Marx of the WWE. I'm surprised you didn't make an observation about Santino Marella's double entendre last night on Rosa Mendes. Jerry Lawler asked Santino how Rosa was fitting in as his intern. Santino replied, "She fits nice."

Somehow I don't think Vicki Guerrero is the only one on RAW who is being unfaithful.

hi kevin i think stone cold could still
get envoled in the jericho storyline
by giving jericho a stunner during the match. i would of rather seen ric flair
say he was wrestle jericho at maina
and then have austin come out on raw
and talk him out of it and he be the one to wrestler jericho.

The HBK/Undertaker moment on the ramp was pretty surprising, and if HBK wasn't in his hometown, he would have been booed out of the building.

Still can't figure out what JBL's historic moment will be, but I hope your prediction is wrong, because it seems anti-climactic based on his hype.

As for the Show/Edge/Vicki angle, I think that's the light-hearted and fun angle, which offsets the HHH/Orton angle perfectly, in regards to the 2 World Title storylines.

Was it just me or was Michael Cole colossally horrible last night. That guy is just so horrible.

That was a huge letdown in the Jericho angle. Something tells me Vince also wishes Hogan or Stone Cold has been able to face Y2J.

During the build up to the attack on Jericho, I kept waiting for some breaking glass. I really hope that the match is not against Piper, Snuka, and Steamboat.

I was also hoping for a smirk from Edge during the hug.

As you said Eck, I really hope this isn't the payoff to the Jericho angle. Heck, I would've rather saw him face off with Lawler at Mania, than these 3 washed up bums. I was upset about the JBL deal as well. I would've liked to see him go into Mania as a face and square off against Koslov. Rey is great in the ring, but he would be better off in the MITB match (big letdown with the guy's in that match as well). Eck, what do you think the plans for Miz and Morrison will be? I really hope these two are not left off the Mania card. Would have loved to see them both in MITB or have a tag match against Rey and Evan Bourne. All I'm really looking forward too is Orton-HHH, Taker-Hbk, and hopefully Santino in the 25 Diva battle royal. Keep up the great work Eck, great read as always.

I totally agree that Jericho vs. Piper/Snuka/Steamboat is depressingly underwhelming, both because of the build-up, and because Jericho is a decent worker—and while those guys were truly great in their day, I feel confident saying they are incapable of delivering a WrestleMania-level match at this point in their lives.

I'm a sucker for Legends, and I love when they make cameos. But that doesn't mean that I want to see them wrestle. The most embarrassing match in recent memory was when Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda showed up on Raw one night. (And Windham had once been one of my favorite wrestlers.) As I recall, it was so bad they didn't even finish the match.

I could care less about Cena-Edge-Show. But then, I hate Triple Threat matches generally. It's a grossly overused gimmick.

Hey Kev,

First off feel better!

second: they announced on wwe.com that Von Erichs are the newest inductees to the Hall of Fame, your thoughts?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Post forthcoming.

The best use of the Jericho/Legends handicap match would be if it were a gauntlet match, so Jericho could get two wins and one loss, but still give a happy ending to the storyline.

Hmm, an unusually high percentage of negative responses to WWE this week , hmm.

Considering WWE has a solid feud going between John Morrison & The Miz and Carlito & Primo Colon, they should have Shawn Michaels & The Undertaker win one set of the tag titles.

It would be great because no one would see it coming!!![/sarcasm]

Well, I guess your readers would see it coming now that I've mentioned it.

One other thought:

Did anyone else notice how hot the crowd was? They seemed over the top with everything. I thought it added a lot to the show.

Wouldn't it be funny if, during a match face turns heel and heel turns face? Been watching wrestling since '69. Has this ever happened?
Sounds weird, I know.
Keep up the good work Kev!!

Perhaps the fact that WWE has yet to list the Jericho match on it's website along w/ the other match previews is alludes to that not being the actual match.

orton-hhh fued is one of the best in the wwe for a long time, despite us seeing this match before, the angle is fresh and the intensity is off the charts.

hbk-undertaker is a dream match for almost everyone and the build up is going great too.

im very suprised no one has mentioned the jeff hardy vs matt hardy fued, as the build to this has been great and very personal. This is also very fresh as we've never really seen a full blown fued between the two and this could be a show stealer and im really looking forward to it.

Mitb will be good as aslways. Even though people are complaining about the people in it, i think its got a good mix, although i would've liked to see evan bourne in there.

Jericho vs the legends could either be good or bad but we'll wait and see what happens as it hasnt been confirmed.

cena-edge-big show is quite complex but could be a good match. As someone already said i think this is more the light-hearted match compared to the hhh v orton match.

25 divas battle royal is quite a good idea, as it has that wrestlemania feel.

jbl-mysterio will be a decent midcard match, im just glad the ic title will be defended.

Hopefully miz and morrison vs the colons for the unified tag titles will be announced as that could be a great match.

great article by the way.

The total lack of long term planning is killing the WWE. Everything looks thrown together at the last minute, and only HBK/Taker seems like a WM level match. Orton's momentum has completely dissipated since the punt of VKM. The right thing for business would have been building to a clean Orton victory, cementing for the WWE its first megaheel in years. Instead, Orton has been effectively neutered to the point that the match doesn't matter in the big picture. The Cena/Edge/Show storyline is so inane it doesn't deserve discussion. Chris Jericho has only been the best performer in the business for the last 8 months, and the best plan they could cook up was to job him to a bunch of 60 year olds and probably get a stunner or two for his troubles. The Hardys feud has been blah even though the match itself has off the charts potential. The Divas Battle Royale has cluster written all over it. There may or may not be a tag team title unification match, even Money in the Back looks less than appealing. This is hardly shaping up to be a WM card, more like something that would have been a halfway decent "In Your House" PPV a decade ago.

if hhh beats orton at mania, or burys him.. im gonna stop watching wwe.

if santino isnt a part of the show also im gonna stop!! i did it a few years ago, i can do it again!

and i completely agree with whoever mentioned cole being horrible on raw. he was making me cringe. the thing is king isnt much better these days... JR is a hell of a lot funnier than king at the moment. his dead pan humour is tops!

"I hate Triple Threat matches generally. It's a grossly overused gimmick."

I totally agree. Winning a triple-threat match is more about being in the right place at the right time than about defeating an opponent. I think that WWE uses this concept because it is a way to get titles off of people without making them look weak, but I really don't like it. Call me old fashioned, but I say that no one truly wins unless someone truly loses.

The Undertaker-Shawn match should be very interesting. Last year, I didn't think for a second that Edge would end 'Taker's streak, but this year, I think that Shawn really can do it. I want 'Taker to win, but I think that the match really is a toss-up.

Why is it every time I come to this site all you guys ever talk about is wrestling?C'mon,did anybody see Watchmen? It was awsome!!
Seriously,this WM looks pretty bad on paper but I think it'll turn out to be pretty decent when it's all said and done.HBK vs. UT is a gimme that's gonna be a classic.I can't wait for the spot in the match when both gus are lying in the middle of the ring, exhausted,and then HBK kip's up at the same time as the UT sit's up.(chills).Orton and HHH are both great workers and should put on a great match,but if it's going to be in a cage there has to be blood.Especially with how personal they are playing this up to be.I actually hope to see Big Show come out on top in the 3 way,Cena and Edge have had to many turns with the titles.Either that or Edge has to retain and have a nice long run with the belt,to much flip-floping for me.Both belts just changed hands last month.I might be in the minority but I like triple threat matches,I don't think they belong in the main event of WM but I digress.And I'm actually expecting something cool to happen in MITB like Mark Henry taking a sick fall from the top of the ladder thru a bunch of tabels at ringside.I also think that everybody is underestimating Jericho's abilty to put on a great show regardless of who he's in there with.I look to him to have some fun spots with Steamboat.(However I am with everybody that the air was taken out of this last nite.)And who knows with Evan Bourne coming back tonight on ECW maybe he'll challenge Swagger for the ECW silver.That has alot of potential.And Hardy vs. Hardy should deliver despite the lack of build up.And if they decide to have tag team title unification match Miz and Morrision againist the Colon's has already proven that it can deliver.Give it a chance people.

Hey Andre - ocassionally we can get Kevin to shift gears and talk RAVENS football . Anytime of the year is good to talk about the Ravens ;)

Hey, Kev! I gotta say I never realized that you had so many whiners reading your blog. As far as some matches not belonging, like the Diva's Battle Royal - though I'd like to see it as a device for Gail Kim's return - and the Legends - uh, apperance against Jerico, you can't have 4 hours of non-stop action without some pauses to reset in there. It'd be too exhausting and nobody'd be up for the climax(es). So to speak.

HBK-Taker will be a good match. I think that Shawn will put up a good fight but will lose.

HHH-Orton: I'm a Triple H fan, but I think they'll go will a title change for the 5th straight PPV and HHH will win it back at Backlash

Cena-Edge-Big Show: I'd love to see Show win the big one for the first time in 5 1/2 years, but I'm predicting Cena to win it.

MITB: I'd have to go with who I predicted would win it back during his long losing streak, MVP will win MITB and will finally become a World Champion

Diva's Battle Royal: I don't know if they will have her return before Wrestlemania, but Gail Kim is listed for this, so I'm predicting her to win it.

Jeff-Matt: Jeff will win

Tag Title Unification Match: I think that they will make it 6 person with one twin on each side. Miz/Morrison
is my prediction.

JBL-Mysterio: JBL will win and will retire after

Jericho-Legends: I'm not sure who he's facing, but Jericho will lose

Wow lots of WWE negativity. Can't say I blame everyone.

I've read TNA has actually had some good PPVs of late.

I'm not so sure The Big Show is "anatomically superior" to Edge.

Remember that GTV episode in the men's room where Venis looked over at Big Show and said "And they call you the big show?"

You know the writers are wanting to break out of the TV PG shell.