The thing I loved about Hornswoggle, and why I'm totally mystified by him being separated from Finlay in the draft, is what he did for Finlay's character. While I don't think a wrestling company should necessarily be promoting a social agenda, I liked that Finlay being a caring father was tied into his persona as one of the most manly, brawling, tougher-than-you superstars in the company. I think there's more than enough bad father figures in pop culture today, and having a respected face use his fatherhood to reinforce his persona as a "real man" was something I always appreciated.

But should Hornswoggle be winning matches like that? Like the song says, no chance in hell.

Didn't Lita tear her ACL in a match against Trish at the 2005 New Year's Revolution PPV? That match came to an abrupt end. Seems Eugene also seriously hurt his knee on that same card and his match was also wrapped up quickly.

Triple H always finishes his matches though, even when his quad rolls up like a window shade, because he's as tough (or foolish) as they come.

For what it's worth, I prefer the family-friendly WWE to the Attitude-era antics. And I'm an adult.

(But yeah, "family-friendly" doesn't necessarily mean Jar-Jar Binks.)

.... to be Rudy Charles for five minutes ... or even two minutes .

RESPONSE FROM KE: Having an nearly unconscious Angelina Love in your arms -- sounds like a lonely guy's fantasy. ... As for you and Angelina, I'd say more like two minutes (on your best day). :)

That's Love's third concussion since joining TNA. That can't be too healthy.

Evan steals the show again, this time with the very underrated burchill. I think ecw is my favorite wwe program now, especially with swoggle gone.

Any thoughts on what will become of swagger if christian wins the title and enters a program with koslov?

Kevin - I'm still trying to catch my breath from that blow below the belt ! HA-HA
About two minutes for you and Shawn too ? ;)

RESPONSE FROM KE: Nah. 30 seconds.

I don't know. Randy Orton kissing an unconscious married woman doesn't seem family friendly to me. And I don't think a midget balances it out much.

Wrestling is weird.

TNA's womens division has just turned into chaos ever since Gail Kim left. They should have put the belt on Angelina when the Beautiful People were most over, Pre Kip.

I think WWE is taking the family fun too far. While I thought the super sex that occurred a few years back was too much, the no blading rule is kind of ridiculous. Hitting a guy with a steel stair case is one thing but having him bleed from it is another. That doesn't make sense. I don't want my kids to see bra and panties matches but I don't mind a forehead getting opened up every now and then. Does that make me a bad parent?

To Frank:

But I miss the bra and panties matches :(

Hey Kevin,

great blog as always. Off topic, but do you think that Shawn Micheals will get another title run before retiring? I remember reading that WM 26 may be his last match. I think he should definetly get a run and I'd like to see him win the belt at Summerslam. I think Cena should put him over for the belt as he gives Cena his best matches. Shawn has had the best matches and programs in almost every event, and he hasn't had the belt for years. He should definetly get the belt, then hand it off around Survivor series or Royal Rumble to an up and comer like Punk, Morrison, Kingston or MVP. It would be a great way to solidify a new main eventer. (I'd LOVE to see Shawn wrestle Kofi Kingston! THAT would be a great match!)
If WM 26 is in fact his last match, the whole event should be centered around him.

Should Hornswaggle have been able to beat Natalya? No. But I will say I enjoy his presence on the WWE and I'm grown up, so I can imagine the thrill kids get from seeing him.

Perhaps these things move in cycles. I was a kid during the Hulkamania days and I was allowed to watch because my parents found it harmless viewing (and my folks were pretty strict when it came to TV--most cartoons were banned in my household). By the time the Attitude Era rolled around, I was a teenager and could watch on my own and the nature of the attitude era is what drew my attention back, but... Now that I'm about to be a parent myself, I actually like that the WWE is going PG, because I'd like to be able to watch with my kids. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

What the WWE needs to do is find some compromise between completely family-friendly and the way things were in the attitude era. Maybe if it's just giving one of the shows a slightly later time slot and letting it be the more "adult" show, while the other one stays family friendly.

I agree with Frank King. The Attitude Era did make WWE more entertaining and brought wrestling into a new era, but at the same time I think it was one of the worst eras in WWE history. You had a lot of stupid angles with stupid characters wrestling in stupid matches that all seemed to end with some sort of interference. In amongst all the crap were some jewels, like Mankind/Taker at King of the Ring 1998, D-Generation X, and anything Steve Austin said/did. I actually think the WWE has a better product now than back then. I would like to see some blading, though. You can't make the product too puritanical.

I agreee with Michelle, WWE should look at the splitting of brands to appeal to different audiences. Make one show the "PG" show, and have another show starting later be the "adult" show. They certainly have enough shows to accomplish this.

I guess I'm just a dirty old man but, I like blood matches and I like bra and panties matches. Nowadays, when a Diva's match comes on, I use the time to grab a snack from the fridge. Bring back the blood fueds like from the days of Johnny Valentins and Chief Big Heart and bring back the Diva moments like when Trish had to strip, almost completely, for the boss. Oh, as for Jeff Hardy, don't let the door hit you on your way out. I never liked him. And, he can take Mysterio with him.

I agree with Michelle, Cliff, Magnificent Mark and Eric. While I don't want my kids to see the massive sexuality that occurred a few years ago, I don't mind it. Maybe an adult show and PG show could be a beneficial compromise.

No blading?!?

What about Ric Flair? His face was a bloody mess thanks to the assualt by Chris Jericho on the Raw episode before WrestleMania.

I may be wrong. Maybe it happened naturally. When Ric got hit by that video camera, I even "felt" the pain.

RESPONSE FROM KE: As far as I could tell, the blood was hardway.

A chair shot draws blood two years ago, but now it doesn't? There's no explaining how that's possible. I don't need to see an Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL gusher every night, but I don't see much harm in the boys getting juice from time to time.

And can anyone explain how having your head run into the ring post causes a cut? If anything, it seems it would knock a guy out cold before opening him up. Just one of those things that keeps me awake at night . . .

I thought it would be intresting if they go forward with DH Smith hooking up with Kidd and Nattie, as some have suggested, and Nattie starts a little female power struggle with Tiffany. Tiffany wasn't all that bad on the mic and it would give her caracter someting to do, see how she rolls with it. She can't be any worse than Adamle.

Magnificent One -
The old blood fueds were great . I don't know if you're old enough to remember back in the day when Classy Freddie Blassie was still a wrestler . His schtick was to file his teeth during interviews and gnaw on the foreheads of his opponents . They used to put a big X on the television screen when he drew blood .
Good times .

Did you catch Natalya's "Uncle Bret" reference?

Kev - Having watched the replay of the TNA Women's Championship match on YouTube, there is no way that the producers/referee/wrestlers should have continued the match. Rudy Charles should've called an audible and declared the match 'over' due to injury. I think a live audience as well as TNA Creative would've understood and had a chance to 'fix' things on Impact or the next PPV. I get that matches are booked certain ways to have a winner. But in this case, it looked so stupid to even a novice wrestling fan when Love was completely out and Wilde 'popped up' at two. Not only is it a 'show must go on' mentality but is dangerous for a performer as good as Love.

Actually, I don't see a whole lot of difference between the WWE during the Attitude Era and now. I think it's mainly the stars that were different. And at least we don't have to have a Wrestlemainia match contested in pudding.

The Raw Rebound once again reared its head on ECW. I wish that Raw would be confined to Monday nights, but with WWE politics being what it is, that's not likely to happen.

Natalya and Kidd were wearing pink and black, but they didn't look like the Hart Foundation when Nattie got rolled up by the green kid.