I am surprised that good ole' J.R. will be introducing "Cowboy" Bill Watts in the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony and not Hank Aaron.

The stipulation between Orton and HHH doesn't even make sense. Sure, it may build anticipation for the match, but Orton has been flaunting that he won a Wrestlemania title shot - why would he try to get HHH to touch him, get out of the match, and then not get the Wrestlemania title shot? Explain that one, Freddy Prinze Russo...

When Maryse slammed Melina to the floor, there was a full moon! Thanks WWE for the close-up replay :-)

Cowboy Bill Watts to the Hall of fame - who says it doesn't pay to be an A-hole?

Count 'em 5 Smackdown superstars on Raw?

If HHH-Orton and Edge-Cena end up being the main Wrestlemania matches, I'm not sure why they keep reminding us in their promos that they've fought many times before...

Another week of past Wrestlemania highlights, and more Bret Hart. Hmm...

RESPONSE FROM KE: I thought the same thing about the Orton-Triple H logic. The stipulation should have been that if Triple H touches him, Triple H is stripped of the title.

Jericho's clashes w/ the WWE Hall of Famers are becoming weekly must-see tv. I hope WWE is moving toward a women's Unification title match at Wrestlemania.It would make the women's division more interesting if there was 1 champion defending the title on both brands.Also it would give the belt maker a chance to create a new belt worthy of an undisputed champion. Both women's belts are horrible looking.

How could anybody sell the pedigree? It's the fakest looking move in the history of the business.

Kev do you reckon John Cena is been booked to be alittle weaker laterly.Later to me it seems the case but I could be wrong

Hey Kevin
Always get chuckle from your column, keep up nice work. Having said that - you do know that Wrasslin is not real and its all preplanned - right? Just checking!

RESPONSE FROM KE: Not real? Pre-planned? Right. And I suppose there's no Santa Claus either.

Shocked that Knox did not win the qualifying match last night. I think fans would rather see what he could do in the MITB match. It would have added some freshness. The MITB match should traditional become the match where we will see the next break out star - not a macth to through all of the left over stars in.

Believe me, after Mania Taker will pin Koslov on tv and all over house show. is mix in the lead up to mania wasn't helpful. Koslov will soon move to Khaliville.

I guess Mickey Rourke is not in the mix anymore. I thought that he'd show up after the Oscars, challenge Jericho again. The Hulkster would get involved, either as a manager for him (though Flair could take that role) or as his choice to face Jericho. Then he interferes, costing Jericho the match. Austin could also be the choice though he is not as old as "the Legends".

Hulk/Cena is like the match with The Rock, only much less interesting as the torch has already been passed years ago. What about an Austin vs.Cena match?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Rourke is still scheduled to be "in attendance" at Mania.

Hey Kev - Nice recap. I'll be in attendance for WM 25 and really wouldn't mind seeing the Hulkster in action.

Its funny whenever Orton and Hunter are feuding together, that they feel the need to rub heads.

I think its going to be a triple threat between Show/Edge/Cena. Though, they've done a poor job with Big Show's character ever since last Wrestle Mania.

I think its going to be Lawler/Jericho. Lawler and Cole have been doing their best to show huge amounts of horrible acted fake disdain every week.

I think everyone has been overlooking the incredibly obvious....Chris Jericho vs Terry Funk at WM25.

Kev,

A couple of thoughts; first, I couldn't be happier that Kane won last nights triple threat match. How could anyone believe Mysterio beating those two monsters. It's about time WWE showed a little reality. Also, with Jericho putting down legends week after week, don't you think the ultimate build-up would lead to a WrestleMania showdown between Jericho and Hogan. Of course, Hogan would win the match and, then, one by one the other legends would come into the ring and beat the crap out of Jericho. The crowd would love it. Your thoughts.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Hogan-Jericho makes more sense to me than Hogan-Cena. I do believe all the legends that have been on Raw in recent weeks will be at Mania and get their shots in on jericho.

I know Austin and Hogan have both been touted (and the most likely) as Jerico's Wrestlemania opponent, but what about the name that I am guna throw out there.

Ultimate Warrior - It was rumored last year that he wanted to appear in a match at wrestlemania 25 so could he be he saviour of the legends?

Also regarding John Cena, could it be possible that he might have a match with the Rock? Last year they had all the heat at the hall of fame ceremony, and the Rock did say he wished he had wrestled Cena. Plus, now the WWE is more kiddy friendly it would coinside with the Rock's new Disney film which is getting released a week before Wrestlemania kicks-off. Wishful thinking I know

I hope the Jericho angle isn't building to Lawler...or Rourke for that matter. It would be such a letdown...it's such a great angle that is being built up so well, and people are going to want to pay to see him get his teeth kicked in by a legend. I too hope it will end up being Austin, or maybe Hogan if the Cena/Hogan thing doesn't go down.

Why do they keep saying it's the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania when 25 years ago it was 1984 and Wrestlemania 1 was in 1985? I realize it's the 25th one, but not really 25th anniversary.

The WWE has something here with Orton, I mean NWO mid-90s something. I would love to see him actually win at Wrestlemania, maybe to the point of putting Triple H "out of his misery" for a definite period of time. Orton divides and conquers the show for an extended period of time while the WWE is lost trying to mount a front. All sorts of possibilities here that make this the most intriguing storyline they've had in a long, long time.

A women's title unification match less than a year after the Diva's title debuted? Seems kind of too soon, doesn't it? If there was to be a unification match, I'd rather it be between Melina and Michelle McCool, the best diva on Smackdown in both wrestling skills and personality. Maryse is hot but she is TERRIBLE.

It's too soon for them to unify the women championships so I don't think that will happen. Just a non-title match between the two champions. The tag titles, on the other hand, might get unified at Wrestlemania.

HHH's promo last night was one of the best that I've seen. I really wanted to see how Orton would explain why he would pick HHH to wrestle at Wrestlemania instead of Cena or Edge but as it turns out, HHH provided the explanation and it was a pretty convincing one.

As for the other big program, I think a triple threat is more likely. It does not feel like there's enough time to effectively turn Edge or Big Show face ... although I suppose the crowds will instantly cheer the Canadian if he divorce Vickie and rebels against her authority.

im sorry but after last night its gotta be hogan-jericho..i mean hogan standing up for the legends is what hulkamania was about,fighting for the rights of every man..if its jericho-cena,or worse jericho-lawler,,it would to me seem like such a let down.

We are all speculating that Cena/Hogan will happen at WM25, and I for one would not want to see that. But could we be seeing a Jericho/Cena match? Play along with me, with Jericho showing no "respect" for the legends of the business and Cena being about "respect, and his love for the business, would it be safe to say that they may be building a program around this, as a way to show that Cena does not need a belt in order to be the top face in the company? This would actually be a possible show stealer/stopper if done correctly. Just my 2 cents.

Hi Kevin - I hadn't thought about a 3 way match at WM25 between Edge/Cena/Big Show --- that should be interesting; however, I feel of the 3, Edge is the weakest, but he'll find some way to retain that belt. When he lost last night by DQ and Vickie announced the match between Big Show/Edge, my first thought was maybe Cena wouldn't be at WM due to promoting his movie that just came out or will soon, but I like the idea of triple threat match way better.

Couple other issues that have been annoying me --- I know Jericho does the mic very well, but does he even wrestle anymore? I can't remember when he last wrestled on regular tv, excluding Pay Per View - and frankly, I'd love one of the "old timers" to punch him in the mouth. On another note, I wish they'd do some other combinations of wrestlers --- I know you wrote about Monday night, but I'm tired of seeing Carlito/Primo vs Miz and Morrision every single week --- whatever happened to Ryder/Hawkins since they're not attached to Edge anymore? Do they even wrestle? Also on RAW, can't Rey Mysterio wrestle someone other than Kane or Mike Knox??? Becoming very, very boring there.....

Very glad Shawn Michaels beat Kozlov or as some of my friends refer to him as "Mr. Tighty-Whiteys" --- so now he's been defeated and Shawn will face Undertaker --- not sure who I want to win that match - I like them both.

This Orton stuff is really insulting my/our intelligence right now with the writing - sorry --- although I like Triple H, if I was watching it recorded, I'd be fast forwarding --- he could have Triple H arrested??? What about him assaulting a woman? Sorry, better story writing is needed to keep me following this one. I know it's scripted, but him kicking Vince, etc. in the head, and destroying the McMahons - we all know who signs Orton's paychecks and could fire him in a minute (no lawyers needed) --- so personally I'm getting tired of him acting like he runs the company (I sort of hope Triple H re-breaks his collarbone or his neck so I don't have to see him week after week).

The only good thing was we only had to deal with Vickie for a minute at the end of the night.

Sorry for the rant Kevin --- I'm sort of getting discouraged with both the writing and the predictability of the matches, etc. ---- Hope it gets better soon.

Actually the highlight of wrestling for me lately is your blogs with your opinion/perspective, the other comments, etc. Keep them coming.

I thought it might have been a nice one-off match to have Sim come out to defend his father and then face Jericho later in the evening. Sim would have gotten a little airtime and Jericho would have gotten some ring action. I thought it was a missed opportunity.

i think this may finally be the year that big show wins the big one-the wrestlemania main event. at least they finally moved away from having him wrestle nothing matches-sumo match with akebono, match with floyd mayweather, (don't get me wrong, they are both high-profile matches, but still) and tag title match from wrestlemania 22. also, don't want to spoil anything for tonight's ecw, but what's up with this year's mitb match? last year was awesome, but so far this year it sucks. i mean, cmon, mark henry vs. santino marella in a qualifying match?

@ Barney,

Orton still has the Royal Rumble clause, he can easily challenge Edge and get Show out of the title running in kayfabe wise. Also, he can keep with his lawyers and send HHH to jail like he was going to do. It basically leads to 4 weeks of Orton taunting the hell out of HHH to get him to swing and lose out on competiting at WM25, all the while being able to have Legacy attack HHH.

As for Eric, youtube when HHH pedigrees HBK. It damn near killed the man if they don't do it right.

Like another person mentioned - I was waiting for Sim Snuka to come out and get also get destoryed by Jericho.

I know he has no chance of getting the WrestleMania match, but do you see Sim defending his father/all the legends next week? He would lose and it would be up to *somebody else* (i.e., WrestleMania opponent) to get the job done.

Or, do you think Sim will soon join Manu on the indie circuit?

It doesn't matter who JEricho actually faces at Mania.

The highlight of JEricho's match will be when all the legends take turns in sequence getting their revenge on him in the end. That will be cool!

Yeah the Orton/HHH storyline makes little sense but I guess we'll give it a pass because its Wrestlemania season and this ain't TNA. Oh Yeah!

Listen brother, assuming Austin/Jericho at Mania (the best scenario), then it will be Hogan/Cena if one believes the rumor mill.

What's Cena gonna do.......ah well you know the rest.

Dittos coming to Jeanette for her opinion of wrestling/blogs. I get my wrestling fix reading Kevin's blog. Unfortunately WWE's product ain't what it used to be. Vince should know by now how important this blog is.

What about Batista coming back from injury to represent the legends against Y2J? Jericho v Batista with Ric Flair and Mickey Rourke in his corner.

" YAWN " I was bored again. Randy drop kicking Vince's head started off so good it has gone down hill from there. Jericho was entertaining again. Snuka looked really old. And come on HBK beating the Russian, that was a poor job by the Russian. I have to agree with Barry. The WWE needs something because it's been a real bore the past 3 weeks. But I enjoy your blog. WOOOOOO

:( Kev -- what do you mean there is no Santa Claus.. if there is no Santa Claus who is that fat jolly dude who comes into my house every Christmas and eats my cookies ..

I am loving the Jericho heat he is getting .. I cannot think of anyone who has executed his role more perfectly than he has - defintely not Orton and his team of lawyers .. it's ironic that all of the gimics Charlie Haas did here recently are the same guys they are dragging out of the woods to make special appearances - could Bret Hart be far behind ..

im really surprised to see that it wouldnt be edge vs john cena at wrestlemania 25. after hearing that the world heavyweight championship match for raw's main event last night i knew it wadnt going to happen. hulk hogan vs john cena would be an awesome match thats a wrestlemania headliner right there. yes id really like to see cena vs edge but its obviously not going to happen. its got to be a definite that cena will have a match at wrestlemania its just a question of who and a story. i think cena vs hogan is a very likely match.i mean its good business and that would bring in a heck of alot of money. i dont really seem to care for big show vs edge. but i can live with it if the story is good. theres not much more to say for hhh vs orton. thats a given to be hell of a match. that cant touch orton or wrestlemania match blown off story is good but it should be the other way around i mean why would orton want to blow off his title shot? he's obviously going to be provoking hhh but if hhh touches him that blows off the match and y would orton blow off a title shot at wrestlemania it almost doesnt make any sense. hhh and orton are going to be at war. well i wouldnt dred though wwe will come up with something and theres still time before the biggest stage of them all

Hey Kevin - What about the Rock appearing at Wrestlemania? He has a movie coming out...Cena did have some pointed remarks bout him and the business ..This is Wrestlemania 25 for pete sakes! This should be treated as the big anniversary as it is! ..They had more stars appearing for Raw's anniversary ..they should at least have - Trish Stratus, Lita, The Rock, Hogan, Ric Flair, RVD, Savage, Brock Lesnar, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke & Goldberg appearing in some sort of capacity...Piper's pit..Jerrico...something that recognizes them all and gets a little heated ...

"Michael Cole said that Kozlov had never been pinned. He needed to add “in singles competition.” He was pinned in the Smackdown elimination chamber match three weeks ago. …"

I am cutting Cole some slack because ... Well, acutally, I'm not cutting him slack; he should know about Kozlov being pinned. That being said, he got MITB thing right, last night, so I think that he is far from being hopeless.

HHH does have the most fake-looking move in the history of the business, but it is not The Pedigree; it's the facebuster.

P.S. Shawn looked young in that WM XII footage. He has aged alot.

Couple thoughts....If Melina knew she was gonna be taking a bump like that why was she barley wearing a dress like that.Don't get me wrong I loved it,but after she took that DDT and was supposed to be knocked out,she was pulling it down so no one would she her no-no cha-cha.
What is Rey Rey gonna do for WrestleMania now,I've wrote before about how they are wasting his talent and now he has no clear picture going into WM.Bummer!It would be nice to see him paired up aganist Jericho somehow but he dosen't really fit in with what Jericho is doing right now.
Speaking of Jericho, as a life long Jericholic I didn't think he could do anything to make me want to booo him(I mean that in a good way),but man he his the best heel in the world right now!!To build that much heat in this day and age is almost impossible.

Just one question. Do you think they'll ever explain the whole Million Dollar Mania stage crash on Vince, or are we just supposed to forget about that?

RESPONSE FROM KE: They could always come back to it at some point, but it looks like its been dropped for now.

I agree with budpaul, CM Punk belongs in Mitb, and Kane has done Mitb and ladder matches before and shown to actually be decent at them, But does the thought of Mark Henry climbing a ladder scare anyone else?

As quick as you are to pinpoint when JR and Michael Cole misspeak, I'm surprised you didn't mention the clip of Superfly Jimmy Snuka PINNING Rowdy Roddy Piper. For years, Piper claimed that the first time he was ever pinned in the WWF was WrestleMania VIII (having refused to let Hulk Hogan or anyone else pin him). On page 231 of "In the Pit with Piper," he makes the claim in print.

As soon as I saw it, my first thought was that Piper was no longer in the good graces of WWE.

RESPONSE FROM KE: You're 100 percent right. I didn''t even notice it the first time, but I went back and watched the tape and Snuka did get a three count. Like you, I did not think that Piper did any jobs during that time.

I know this is outta left field but I somehow can see Cena winning a spot in the Money in The Bank match, winning it and then ca$hing it after the Edge/Big Show match up?

I liked the Orton/HHH promo last night. I just thought they missed a golden opportunity not having Hunter bring up Orton's deserter status when he was mentioning all the things Jr ran from.

I too would like to see Austin vs Jericho at WM25. I have no desire at all to see hogan get beat up for 10mins, hulk up and do 2 clotheslines a body slam and a leg drop for the win. The match that has my attention is Taker vs HBK. One of my favourite ever matches is the hell in a cell match at bad blood in 97. I don't see Shawn winning but this is the true main event for WM25 in my view. Jeff and Matt should also be great and i hope they do something with Christian. Looking forward to WM25...

I bet they ran the angle with John Cena this way because they have something special planned for him, but they want the back way in of turning the match into a triple threat. If the plan of Cena vs. Hogan (or other) doesn't pan out they can back track to triple threat.

Can someone please let WWE know that this isn't the 25th anniversary or Wrestlemania? If that were the case, Wrestlemania 2 would have been the first anniversary of Wrestlemania... When you get married, you don't celebrate your first anniversary that day do you? You wait a year and then celebrate your first anniversary...

I think Jericho is going to face a whole mess of ledgends at Wrestlemania. Seeing how the game is coming out it only makes sense.

MIB this year is going to be crap! Kane and now Mark Henery?!?!?

Hey Kevin,

What is your opinion on Rey Mysterio as a performer? I just think that every time I've watched him, particularly in the last several months since Survivor Series, he's torn it up and had some of the most exciting matches I can remember. He was awesome in that triple threat on Raw, and I hope he gets a chance to qualify for MITB match and he's definetly my choice to win it. True, he's not the best promo guy, but his matches are stealing the show. I hope WWE gives him the pat on the back that he deserves.

PS Please put Kofi Kingston in MITB as well and book him in some great spots. He's another breakout star waiting to happen. (and R-Truth)

RESPONSE FROM KE: I have always enjoyed watching Rey. He's toned his style down somewhat but he can still go.

I know ECW is the least popular of the three brands posts, but last tuesday it was great.
Natalya deliver a nice sharpshooter, and it was teased a Tyson/DJ Gabriel feud, which works great for me, as mid card feuds sometimes involves much better workers than top card feuds.
The Six man Tag team was terrific, and it was well booked as the team of champions won.
I know you can't make a post about every single show because you also have a life, but I couldn't stop writing this.
You already said this once. ECW manages to deliver a solid one hour show, with credible, coherent booking, and great wrestling action.

Would Orton really lose his title shot at Wrestlemania if he provokes HHH into touching him before the event? Couldn't he just challenge another champion? The Royal Rumble winner is guaranteed a title MATCH not a title CHALLENGE.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Sure, I'll buy that.

i think cena-michels-taker could be a good match but hogan cena would create more hype.