Finlay turning heel is good for ECW, now maybe wwe will give finlay the title since they gave it to dreamer who doesnt do half for wwe what finlay does, I agree the music has to go

I found it funny when Mark Henry clapped his hands twice to signify a power move was coming up that the crowd started clapping for him. I bet Vince was happy he has trained his young audience so well.

Also, why do we have to put the letter Z in the box below the comment field?

Little guys like Bourne need to suffer clean pins every now and then- it makes their characters more believable. Rey lost clean to Kane and Mike Knox on free TV in the last year, but was able to summon the strength to win on PPV. He looked strong at the end of the program, and the booking emphasized how he gets by on guts and intelligence. Rey has enough in common with Bourne that there will be some overlapping elements in the way each one is booked, so i don't mind him losing to a monster heel with no real future.

Kev , truthfully now , did you have to look up the spelling of "shillelagh" ?

I didn't think all that much of Smith until this match, other than almost tearing Christian's arm off with that botched Rock bottom on the apron, I thought he looked pretty good. We'll see how well he does when he doesn't have someone as good as Christian to lead him through a match.
I like The Hart Dynasty, all those distractions going on which lead to there victory is a soild way to to get them some heat.
I thought the Swagger/Dreamer match was better than the Christian/Dreamer match on RAW the night before. I think Swagger's power is the difference. He can handel a load like Dreamer and make it look easy.
Give Tommy his due though, the power slam he took from the apron to the floor was brutal! The fact that he's still taking bumps like that at this stage of his career is impressive.
Agreed on Finlay's music. I've been waiting for "My name is Finlay...and I love to fight!" for quiet awhile now.
Bye the by, I'd like to see either and Extreme Rules or a Belfast Brawl between Dreamer and Finaly at some point. To grizzled vetarans beating the hell out of each other would be awsome.

I love your blog Kevin, but you get way too offended when former TNAers job a few times. It's not like Christian is being booked to look weak. They've done a fine job with him, and there's nothing wrong with him taking a few losses, especially with interference.

It's the same with Kim. She's talented, but McCool has been great lately, there's no harm in Kim taking the backseat until a McCool-Melina feud is through. A face-heel feud is what the WWE wants more anyway.

"Mark Henry clapped his hands twice to signify a power move was coming up..."

What's funnier is that if you pay attention around the release dates for new WWE video games, you'll notice that the television matches' choreography begins to strictly mirror what you can do in the video game—particular guys using specific combos, sudden resurgence of moves that aren't often used (like bouncing a guy up and down on the ring rope), pulling particular weapons like trash cans and kendo sticks from under the ring, etc.

I thought it was my imagination at first (or confirmation bias), but I've noticed over a couple cycles now and it's pretty consistent. Watch when SVR 2010 is released and you'll notice it too.

I thought for a minute I was going to Vacation Bible School. Josh Matthews talking about "The Good Book" and Finlay who is now hailing from Caanan with this "Eye for an Eye" bit. It would have sold better if there was a trickle of blood over one of these guys who were set straight by Finlay but alas.....we are in the WWE PG era.
I think Christian is going to get several more reminders that he has left the land of plenty as far as headlining shows when he was stuck in ECW which now is no more than a step up from OVW given that the WWE-ECW website only lists a handful of superstars on the roster.
I always thought Mark Henry was underrated. He can talk when given the chance. The problem is he is billed as another big, but slow, strong guy that can't go the distance.
Maybe Helms can do a Transformer gimmick....or maybe not.

See you later Kevin

I can't believe you like the outcome of hart/Christian for someone who has been wrestling since 14 DH is very sloppy I think they just need to make him either Tysons bodyguard and regulate him to tag matches with him on a another note can't wait to see their tag match tonight on superstars. I don't like the fact the Christian is getting pinned clean by Smith and Dreamer i look at it like this would they do that to Rey Misterio or Chris Jericho? I hope that their not turning Finley heel i hope that they are just turning finley into Finley a serious person who will fight anyone and doesn't need any friends and please change him back to his old music. finally i think the Dreamer/Swagger match was really good especially for Tommy he lookked really good and had a little pep in his step and was really glad that swagger did not win with his finisher i miss before the Hulkamnia days win Top wrestlers very rarely won with their finishers against like competition.

I'd be surprised if Chrisitan isn't working a major program against a big star heading into Wrestlemania. I have no problem with his current role if it leads to fresh main event fueds down the line on one of the major shows. He can stay as a face and fued against Jericho or Edge....or I would prefer a heel turn and reprise his fued against Cena or a fued against Michaels would be good as well. Hopefully my patience will pay off?

Where is Paul Burchill? Finlay/Burchill team would be good for the tag ranks.

We could probably name the talent buried by the WWE. Shelton is a major, and I'll add Mike Knox (he could be the wild man like Brody), Borne, Kim, Phoenix and the Colons are some. Then again everyone but the top stars are not being utilized properly.

One problem is no competition for WWE. A monopoly not only hurts consumers because we have no choice, but the company gets lazy, watered down. Vince has seriously lost his drive compared to late '90's. Plus he has too many hands in the pot.

Another, because of no competition around, is the roster for WWE is too big. There are too many people to spotlight.

And also the top guys are always the focus and little interaction with midcard. Cena taking the Miz is one exception, but WWE should be building up the younger guys by having them go against the Vets.

Finally, during the Attitude Era, when Vince's back was against the wall and WCW was going at him, he let the wrestlers be themselves. And, to an extent, they could say what they want. Now it seems that they are controlling every aspect of the wrestlers. Move set, promos, finishes seem to be controlled by the writers in every way.

Now judging by the wrestling blogs (the best of which is yours Kevin) I read nothing but upset fans on the verge of giving up on WWE altogether. And truthfully, if they keep burying Shelton Benjamin, I will be done with it too.

I hate to say i told you, Kev, well, actually i don't, but it was obvious to me from the start that Christian would again be buried by Vince.

I hope Christian went back to WWE for money, because if he went back with the promise/hope of his first genuine WWE singles push, he was incredibly naive and i imagine he'd be absolutely pissed right now.

Kev
As an Irishman I am very impressed with your spelling of shillelagh and Finley is a lot better heel than face.

Of all the silly gimmicks in wrestling history, The Hurricane may be the most successful. I don't think there's anything wrong with a silly gimmick as long as everybody likes it.

So was the whole Dreamer contract saga a total work to drum up the angle? I thought I had read (somewhere on the Internet, and that is never wrong) that his contract really was coming to an end, and he was looking to go to TNA.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I think it was all a work.

"I hope Christian went back to WWE for money, because if he went back with the promise/hope of his first genuine WWE singles push, he was incredibly naive and i imagine he'd be absolutely pissed right now."

Really? I thought he got a great push after the E&C tag team broke up. I loved his direction, music and pyro.

"Of all the silly gimmicks in wrestling history, The Hurricane may be the most successful."

Yeah. 'Cause the Undertaker is a damn serious gimmick.

Christian is such a good worker. He should gain a reputation for being someone that can help pull newer talent to a quality match, like Finlay

I still remember a handicap match Christian had against Robert Roode and Kurt Angle on Impact! where Christian had to pull out everything he had in his arsenal, and that match was an amazing performance and told a good story (as far as handicap matches go).

That guy deserves a top spot on any roster he joins.

--

As you said, wrestlers can't be buried by losing a match or two. I think everyone should lose cleanly every so often if only for the sake of unpredictability. (I agree with a previous poster, Shelton needs a serious push and even a WWE or World Heavyweight title win.)

Bourne pinning Henry cleanly would be a bit harder to believe, but the feud has been fun so far.

The Christian/Hart match started pretty good but it just seemed to me that Hart got gassed pretty quickly and then he got sloppy and kinda off cue.

It seems like Christian is slowly becoming a guy like Jericho, someone the company can depend on and use to elevate other guys without hurting his rep. And, I see a heel turn for him soon as well.

After their lackluster match on Raw, it was good to see Christian and Dreamer rebound with strong performances. I hope that Captain Charisma gets back into the ECW title picture soon although a feud with Finlay has the potential for some terrific matches.