best line of the night was after carlito and hardy traded punches, striker said it looked more like the source awards!!! thats priceless

What an...erratic show.

Dennis Miller was ridiculously awful, especially during the opener. None of the jokes were funny or good. Not even close.

Of course, everyone's going to be interested to see if and when something does happen with the interest in seeing Bret Hart guest host. If anyone can turn it into something interesting, it's Vince. And, if The Hart Dynasty finds their way to RAW, watch out...

I admit it, I laughed when whoever it was made the Kool-Aid comment as Mark Henry came out in his red singlet.

Most of the matches were ridiculously short so they could spend more time on the awards.

And, a DX Snuggie/Slanket? Come on.

Trainwreck is not a strong enough word for Dennis Miller.

He embarrassed himself. Absolutely embarrassed himself. Worst performance in Raw history. Might be the worst monologue I've ever heard in my life. This comedy/conservative hack completely ruined the Slammy Awards and any hope of this three-hour RAW being a success. I hope McMahon learns from this and only has professional entertaining personalities like Bob Barker and Shaq and Seth Green on the show as guest hosts. Miller's bombing not only hurt the show, the crowd was dead throughout. He's worse than Hornswoggle and Big Dick Johnson combined.

A terrible show that followed a mediocre PPV. And we get that ignorant neanderthal Johnny Damon next week? Let's hope TNA gets good soon (doubtful) because WWE is flat out awful.

I thought Dennis Miller was hilarious and one of the best hosts by far. "Getting comedy notes from Vince McMahon." "Wouldn't have wasted time with a monologue if I knew all I had to say was 'suck it' to get an applause!" He clearly went off script often and added a much needed element of unpredictability that is these days lacking from Raw. You can't criticize the WWE writers for childish, unfunny "comedy," and then similarly complain about an attempt at more sophisticated and intelligent humor.

Wow, so much to say...but is it worth it? I don't think so. So I'll try to be brief. Miller was easily the worst guest host I've seen (though I did miss the ZZ Top episode), there wasn't a single match worth watching, the crowd ws dead all night, the Slammys were terrible and the announcing wasn't any better. I actually spent most of the night watching a blowout involving teams from the NFC West.

What about Cryme Tytme, Christian, Hurricane,Finley,Shelton Benjamin,R-Truth and Primo(I think)dressing up in DX gear to walk Jericho out? That was just dumb. Christian isn't established enough that he has to be part of the "DX army"? Am I the only one who is tired of DX?

Batista was imitating Kanye West at the MTV VMAs when he interrupted Taylor Swift and said Beyonce deserved video of the year.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I know. There were like two or three Kanye jokes. That's old news.

a bret hart hosted raw on jan 4th will make tna's live show go down as well as tiger wood's marriage

Kevin, the Lane Bryant remark was directed at Vickie Guerrero, not Mickie James.

Striker said James bought her outfit at TJ Max and I think Cole responded with the Lane Bryant line about Vickie.

Other random thoughts on last night's RAW:

1. Miller stunk bigtime. He's been irrelevant since 1999.

2. It's not a good sign that the new champ got a whopping 4 minutes of airtime following his huge win the night before.

3. Why were there three guys in the broadcast booth again?

4. I'm surprised they didn't set up any feuds going into the next PPV. It seemed all the feuds died out Sunday night and new ones should have been started, but last night was three hours of - well, nothing of note.

5. Does Bret Hart have anything to hawk or sell - that's the only way I see him coming back as guest host.

RESPONSE FROM KE: You may be right about the Lane Bryant line being directed toward Vickie. I thought I heard "Mickie" not "Vickie" but I could be wrong.

I was very disappointed with this episode. It was just boring. The only highlight was watching Layla try over and over again to get in the ring before the Divas' match only to have Michelle McCool basically pick her up and throw her in. High quality unintentional comedy.

Kev,

I watched about 15 minutes of Raw last night and couldn't take it anymore so I turned it off. Dennis Miller (i agree with you) has never been funny and is a terrible fit for hosting a 3 hour Raw Segment. When is the WWE going to stop having these terrible picks for Guest Host show up. If your going to do a Guest Host format, get some people that make it exciting to watch, ie, The Rock or Stone Cold. I even enjoyed Jesse Ventura because he was a former wrestler. I said it last week and I'll say it again...Verne Troyer? Dennis Miller? Seth Green? Al Sharpton? Come on WWE, are you serious?

Sheamus beats Cena who gets the better of Orton all the time, which just seems retarded because at the same time it's made to be a big deal for Kofi just to be able to hold his own against The Viper.
And just to think I will be watching next week makes me sad. What else am I gonna do watch iMPACT please....

One more thing Orton DDTing Stephanie and sealing it with kiss not shocking enough for the PG era where we can't see blood. whattt??

I rarely ever watch Raw anymore, but for some reason I decided to this week. I have to say, I cannot remember watching a worse wrestling show in my entire life. The experience only furthered to cement my feeling that Smackdown is the true number one show.

hey kevin,

i think that striker joked that james' dress was from TJ Maxx, not Lane Bryant. I think he was just trying to imply that she isn't as "high fashion" as some of the other divas, not that she is fat. then again, maybe i'm just being a wishful thinker...

has wwe really forgotten so quickly what they have in punk? i understand the logic of Cena going over after TLC, but i wanted to cry when Punk tapped out after a short squash. he gave another great promo last night, but it seems like the fans are taking notice of his perceived "demotion" because he wasn't getting as much heat as he was earlier in the year...

also, is it just me, or was the punk vs. hardy match at summerslam better than all of the nominated match of the year candidates besides taker vs. hbk?

Judging by your comments on Miller you were going to dislike his appearance no matter what he did.

You complain that Miller's political humor "was inappropriate for the setting." But by that reasoning I suppose the videotaped messages from Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton last year were also inappropriate for the setting.

I suspect the only thing you found inappropriate about Miller is that his point of view doesn't comport with your own. Ridiculing global warming? Oh, the humanity.

I'll grant you that Miller's brand of humor isn't going to taste great for everyone. He wasn't the best RAW guest host but I don't think he was the worst either. Miller did flub Triple H's nickname and The Game responded appropriately. But other than that faux pas he did what I would expect of him.

The last thing I would want to see at WM 26 is Undertaker-Michaels. The only reason to book that match is to have Taker end the streak. Sorry, but the streak should go to 20 and Taker should retire undefeated. I would much prefer Undertaker-Cena.

I did get a kick out of DX Snuggle though.

Did you notice how Layla had trouble entering the ring? She needed help from Michelle McCool. Well, at least she wasn't dressed up as the Gobbledy Gooker.

So what's a nice Jewish girl like Kelly Kelly doing on RAW. Actually her father is Jewish (Judaism is a maternal religion). But I saw an interview she did online and she said she observes both Jewish and Christmas holidays. In fact, she used the term "Christmaskah." She is a Hebrew Hottie indeed.

Johnny Damon's appearance on RAW next week should be interesting. He appeared at a TNA pay per view shortly before signing with the Yankees in 2006. I suspect that Red Sox Nation hopes Kane comes out and does to Damon what he did to Pete Rose at Wrestlemania 14.

RESPONSE FROM KE: You're wrong about me not liking Miller strictly because of his politics. I didn't like him because he wasn't funny on top of doing partisan political humor that had no business on a wrestling show. If Al Franken was the host and did all anti-Republican humor, that would have been wrong, too.

The videptaped messages from the candidates is not a good comparison. Both parties were represented and they were cutting wrestling-style promos. Nothing wrong with that at all and it was a huge coup for WWE.

WHAT A TRAIN WRECK OF A SHOW!!!

WOW! It was unbelievably bad.

Kev, with your Abraham Washington remark you deserve comment of the week! lol funny

Batista's outfit...it's a downtown DC thing. You would have to live there to understand.

Punk deserves wayyyyy better. I'm starting to become a Cena hater. His promos are soooo campy and hard to listen to,

Miller as an entertainer is annoying, and I won't disagree with you there. However, I think its brilliant Miller told Sharpton to suck it.

Because that's what I'm telling you and anybody that has problem with taking on authority that kills our troops and our jobs. Considering we are losing more jobs than just about ever and taking more casualities than ever in Afghanistan, I hope every incumbent politician sucks it. And if you want to carry their water, you can suck it too. Al Sharpton was a liberal pedaling his BS education tour, and you didn't shoot on him.

If Miller is innappropriate because he's a conservative, then I think you need to take a look at your own bias, jabroni.

BTW, GLOBAL WARMING now referred to as CLIMATE CHANGE (since the earth's been cooling for ten years) IS THE BIGGEST WORK EVER!!!! And, if you got a problem with that then I got two words for you!!!

Didn't see it , but at the mere mention of Dennis Miller's name , I'm glad I didn't . I can't stand his condescending manner . No big loss .

I was begging for Abraham Washington to come out and save the show.

And thus marks the saddest moment for the history of professional wrestling, er... sports entertainment.

Cue the Tony Atlast laughter and the Vintage Michael Cole ass-kissing because this show sucked.

I personally can't stand Big Dick Johnson.

The character isn't funny whatsoever. The laughs that he does generate from the audience are cheap ones. People with an actual sense of humor would not find it funny.

Sad thing is that the character is going to stick around.

McMahon thinks that it's funny. Plus, the guy that portrays the character is a writer.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Yes, he is a writer. He is not an entertainer.

Kev, Kev, Kev...where to begin? First of all, both Michael Moore & the concept of "man-made" global warming should be made fun of every chance we get. One's a joke & the other is a hoax. You get righteously indignant when he makes jokes about Obama & Pelosi but I get the feeling you're ok with the nasty treatment Bush & Palin have gotten over the years...let me know if I'm wrong. When it comes to Dennis Miller, I admit to being a huge mark. I've loved the guy since SNL. What I can readily admit to though, is that he is a niche comedian. IMO, he's never had a broad appeal & was never going to be a fit for something like MNF or RAW. The HBO specials & his own radio show is where he needs to be. But I give him credit for trying. Look, I knew you were in trouble with me a couple of posts back when you said you watched Bill Maher. Now that's annoying for you. But hey, I still love this blog...best thing on the net. You keep writing & I'll keep reading. We'll just agree to disagree when it comes to some of this stuff.

Vince gave us an early Christmas present: Koslov vs Khali. They were mirroring the "Superstar of the Year" match with a "Worst thing to ever set foot in a WWE" match. The funny thing about that one is that no one wins.

A bitter guy wearing pink whining about being screwed. Nah, it’s too easy. …
--------------------------------------------------------
A guy who has taken birth so many times(read born again) that nobody knows his real date of birth. Aah...that's easy as well. Btw, I was wondering which date of birth did he really used for his passport and stuff.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Taken birth? You lost me.

Finally, Gerwitz must have watched the Impact episode and thought, "Damn, I can do Russo better than Russo can." And that's how we got this abomination. All that was missing was a man winning the women's title and a "dignity on a pole match" between McMahon and the audience.

Horrible show. Dennis Miller isn't funny. Give him 2 minutes to editorialize on Hannity's or O'Reilly's shows, and that's it. And yeah, I'd feel the same way if somebody like Michael Moore was asked to guest host. This is my 2 hours to escape and have some mindless fun evey week -- give me a guest host who is both fun and entertaining.

I turned off the show after about 20 minutes. I couldn't stomach it any longer. Thank goodness fort YouTube and some old wrestling clips!

I thought I was going to be the only one who thought Dennis Milburn was god awful last night. I am so glad I'm wrong.

Also I thought Batista was suppost to be doing a Kanye West by interrupting Maria.

T minus 4 years till Sheamus announces he will be trying out for the NFL with no prior experience.

wow kev, i didn't know you were a winey liberal.....that's a shame.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I think a lot of you are missing the point.

I thought it was funny (and lllogical) that the wrestlers that came to remove Jericho from the arena were from ecw and smakckdown... If Jericho can't be on Raw because he's a smackdown superstar, shouldn't R-Truth, Finley and co. remove themselves as well? Maybe there weren't enough Raw stars that despise Jericho?

I wasn't a fan of Miller before and this is not gonna change anything, but I did smile when he said about Cena and Obama that one went thru a table and the other one has yet to bring anything to it.

RESPONSE FROM KE: That's a great point about the Smackdown and ECW stars remvoving him fron Raw. I didn't even think of how ilogical it was.

“The WWE Universe is all I’ve got,” John Cena proclaimed.

I thought he got married?...

Carlito attacked Matt and stole the award. He thanked Jesus, the Academy and Puerto Rico.

It was nice of him to thank his old tag team partner

Michael Cole - Oh My!!!

RESPONSE FROM KE: Cena got married in real life, not in the story line.

Miller's politics are irrelevant. What matters is, he sucked. I suppose they got a comedian because it was an awards show, and they thought he could carry it better than an ex-wrestler or actor. But the show came to a screeching halt every time he appeared on stage, looking for all the world like he'd rather be ANYWHERE else.

As for the booking... did somebody let Vince Russo back in the building? Pointless gimmicks, the elevation of established stars, the burying of most of the young talent. If not for the size of the arena, I almost thought I was watching Impact. It's really sad that the high point of the in-ring action was DX's self-DQ, but it was.

Sheamus never got in the ring and had about as much camera time as Abraham Washington. Is he really the WWE Champion?

Well, I seem to have hit a RAW nerve.

Dennis Miller has been doing political humor for a quarter century. What exactly were you expecting?

It's all well and good for you to say you would have condemned Al Franken for anti-Republican humor. Yet I read not a peep out of you when Jesse Ventura called Dick Cheney a coward during the Breakthrough Battle Royale a mere three weeks ago.

RESPONSE FROM KE: He also does topical humor in addition to politics, like the octomom and Kanye "jokes" he made.
As an earlier commenter said, Miller's political beliefs are irrelevant. I just don't think it was the proper setting, and it was made worse because he was so partisan.
As for Jesse's line, I have a lot less of a problem with one ad-lib during a match than I do with a whole monologue ripping on one party. So you're right, you didn't hear a peep out of me. Just like you don't hear a peep from me when Matt Striker makes his almost weekly right-wing remarks.

Kev, stick with writing about wrestling and leave the politics out of it. We all know where you stand there and though you may not realize it your writing on it, even in short burst, sucks to read. My views, from what you've written on this blog are different from mine but I still read this blog. I want to see wrestling stuff here not your political views and yes, even though Miller did this stuff on RAW you still had to put your views in instead of just saying you didn't like anything he did. FYI, I don't like Miller either.
Also, Miller didn't just get free run on what he wanted to do so maybe you should say you don't like Vince's political views either since he approved what went on his show and Linda's views either seeing as how she's running as a conservative republican.

FYI, the "taken birth" remark was an obvious slap at 'Born Again' Christians.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't want to talk politics here either, but unfortunately Miller made it part of the conversation. And if I'm going to just say I did not like what he did, shouldn't I give examples of what I thought was inappropriate.

This show was beyond terrible. I believe WWE is ashamed of actual wrestling. I hate to tell them but they are horrible at entertainment also. I had this show on DVR and it still seemed about 3 hours too long. This was the worst wrestling show from any company that I have seen and I have been watching since 1972. I hope TNA destroys WWE on Jan. 4th. I know that is what I will be watching. We ALL need to do that. Ratings are the only thing that will get Vince's attention.

Happy someone else noticed ecw and SD stars kicking Jericho out. Was more lazy booking.

BTW is it just me or would adding Striker full time to the commentary booth as a 3 man team considerably improve at least one part of raw.

I have to agree with everything said about Dennis Miller. I remember writing this last week on here, but I didn't really know who he was because I'm from across the pond. What with Mark Cuban last week and that baseball guy set to host next week, I'm not really too enthusiastic about the guest host format at the moment. But yeah, Miller just wasn't funny at all. I could've written better stuff. I thought the Slammys as a whole were pretty entertaining though and I guess all the right people won, although Maryse definitely should have won Diva of the Year even though she was injured for most of it. She's just too damn hot.

And, correct me of I'm wrong, but wasn't Batista's interrupting of Maria when she was accepting her award meant to be WWE's take on what Kanye West did to Taylor Swift at the MTV awards a few months ago? I mean it wasn't directly obvious but he was pretty much saying the same things and acting like West was. That's why I thought he had the pink shirt on too. Just a thought.

I never thought I would actually say this, but I hope Cena wins the WWE Title back soon. Putting it on a guy as inexperienced as Sheamus is kind of an insult to the title itself. I thought winning a world title in WWE or any pro-wrestling company was a sign of respect from your employers after years of hard work and perfecting your craft. How times have changed. I understand that Vince might want fresh faces in the main event, which is a good thing, but I was totally shocked that Sheamus was even booked to wrestle Cena for the title, let alone win it. I could make a long list of performers who deserve the spot much more than he does. And I'm quarter Irish! I guess it pays to be Hunter's gym buddy...

As good as it was at Wrestlemania 25, I don't want to see HBK wrestle Taker next year at the event. I agree that it should be Hunter/HBK and Cena/Taker. If this does turn out to be Taker's last 'mania then it would make perfect sense for him to wrestle Cena because the two have never really faced each other on such a big show. And Taker's faced pretty much every top guy in the company at 'mania except for Cena.

One last thing - as sick as it sounds, I thought Cole's reaction to winning his Slammy was hilarious. Call me crazy..

"You complain that Miller's political humor "was inappropriate for the setting." But by that reasoning I suppose the videotaped messages from Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton last year were also inappropriate for the setting."

Kevin might not dislike Miller because he brought politics into the show, Aaron, but I do.

I remember that you were upset when Al Sharpton guest-hosted. You thought that he was inappropriate for the setting even though he didn't attack any Republicans, because your politics are the opposite of his.

Well, unlike you, I could have tolerated this guy whose politics are the opposite of my own, Dennis Miller, if he had stayed away from political attacks like Sharpton stayed away from them. But he didn't.

"BTW, GLOBAL WARMING now referred to as CLIMATE CHANGE (since the earth's been cooling for ten years) IS THE BIGGEST WORK EVER!!!!"

I guess your boy Dubya was in on it, then. His administration admitted it was happening during the last few years he was in office.

This may be a sign that my sense of humor needs a tune-up, but there were two things most people thought were unfunny which I had to chuckle at. And they both happened in the same segment. The first was Big Dick putting on those glasses and speaking as though he were some kind of cultured thespian. The second was Cole's reaction when he received the "OH MY GOD!" award. (Which is what it should still be called.) No, not the stuff he said behind the podium, but the way he acted so happy. It was like "WOOHOO! They're honoring me for getting so drunk I vomited! Finally, I'm getting the recognition I deserve!" :D

Why are we talking about politics again?

Well, we're not, really. We're talking about Dennis Miller talking about politics.

And now people are talking about you talking about Dennis Miller talking about politics.

My head is starting to hurt.

So the left doesn't get favorable coverage from MSM and figures in the entertainment industry(SNL I'm looking at you.) enough that you're crying about Miller making fun of the messiah and Pelosi? Goodness you Leftists really have thin skin.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I'm just not getting through, am I?

OK my turn to chime in... i know im in the minority but ive always enjoyed dennis miller, and i think some was good, some was bad, I liked his interactions with Jericho and Vince..He seemed at times to enjoy himself..
carlito was great thanking jesus and puerto rico.
Matt strikers comment about the source awards was the line of the night,
i thought DX was clever with the intentional DQ
the divas match was a waste .
cena/punk wasnt long enough.
good main event. wasnt a bad show, but wasnt the worse,
i still say Jeremy Piven was the worse, barker the best, this is somewhere in the middle

Did I miss the part where you gave your personal political beliefs in this post? Cuz a lot of the comments are regarding your views. Not to mention there was very little mention of politics in this post anyways! You wrote about the GUEST HOST and what he talked about during his monologue. Seems relevant and important to mention in my book.

I missed Raw, and I'm glad I did. I feel like the focus was on other things instead the most important, and ludicrous, thing going on in WWE.

Sheamus is the WWE Champion.

i'm gonna try to keep this as clean as possible cause i dunno what your rules are on content.....but have we all been living in the twilight zone for the last month? a guy who has had three squash matches with nobodies, and a battle royal win is the new champion? and the next night on raw he doesnt step foot in the ring? he cuts a lame promo and then comes out after the former champions wins to stand there and hold the belt at the top of the stage? forget for a moment there is no reason at all that man should have the title, he should of either had a match or gotten involved in the cena match. and uh what happend to cena's rematch? no mention of it was made yesterday at all, and didnt cena say in a promo a week ago he'd take his rematch at tlc if he somehow lost anyway?

bob barker does a tapped acceptance speach but jeff hardy doesnt so we can watch his lame brother get beat up again? i mean i figure jeff isnt legally allowed to travel out of the state so he couldnt be at raw but they could of sent a camera crew to his place.

i enjoy millers comedy, tend not to agree with most of his politics but i still usually find him funny....but god did he [stink] as guest host. it just didnt feel right the whole night....things just never got in a groove and i blame him.

eck has brought it up before but i just want to give more props to evan bourne and the fact that everytime he takes a big bump it looks like he just died for real. the positions he lands in and the force in which he appears to land is incredible.

micheal cole is the worst hire in wwe history.

I've always enjoyed reading the comments you get, Kevin, as most of your readers are well-informed and make good input. It's sad that that thoughtfulness doesn't seem to extend beyond the mat for a few of them, and sadder still that they find it necessary to insult you and other readers for not agreeing with them.

Kev, this might be the most surreal comments section of any of your posts.

For the last time, this is not about anyone's political views, but rather the idea of keeping monologues related to viewpoints out of wrestling. In reality, it's the WWE who should know better in addition to the hosts themselves.

I have to agree that the show was bad; I caught part of it and a lot didn't make sense.

"Miller’s presence on the Slammy Awards Monday night was a bigger buzz-kill than CM Punk at dollar beer night."
Good one, Kev. I sure hope Punk isn't being buried, because he's so over since his heel turn.

Just so you know Kev, I consider myself a libertarian and I do get what you are trying to say. It just happens that during Obama and Bush presidencies, partisanism is at its apex and as a result people will make ad hominem attacks solely for the purpose of inflating their opinion of their own views. YEAH I SAID THIS! I SHOWED THEM SO I MUST BE RIGHT!!!

The political spectrum of the U.S. has degraded into a bunch of catchphrases put forth by BOTH the Pelosi's of the world AND the Karl Rove's. The electorate is completely and totally uneducated and the parties are doing nothing but continuing that trend.

In closing, you aren't being terribly biased and your point is a fair one. That crap belongs on Hannity and not on Raw. And even though I am a more conservative person than most, it was still crap and it wasn't the least bit entertaining. You aren't wrong, your audience just happens to be a bunch of drones... Oh, wait, that's America.

"Am I the only one who is tired of DX?"

_________________________________

I was tired of DX before being tired of DX was cool.

Kev you should stick to just writing about wrestling because so many of these guys with their agendas are going to come on here and bash you no matter how politcally correct you try to be in your responses. I've probably stated this a million times before but I am a huge Punk mark. Regardless of that, I do believe that they really are missing the mark (no pun intended) with him. Why do they continue to bury him further and further? I personally believe that him and Cena had equally great years in their own rights and to basically have Punk job quicker than it took me to hit the mute button during Miller's monologue is pointless. I was also dissapointed with the crowd because they were completely dead even VKM mentioned it and I don't think he was trying to draw heat when he said it, I think he meant it. And poor Sheamus, I don't think he should be champ either but when Bob Barker gets just as much face time as you and your the new WWE champ your in trouble. Lastly I was thinking the same thing about Christian, is he really not high up enough that he is essentially a henchman for DX? I mean C'mon the guy has the longest title run currently in the WWE. That's enough for my mini-rant but hopefully Miller Marks will stop infiltrating your site just like those Opie and Anthony dorks.

Hey Kev I hate Democrats and Republicans equally so I didnt find any problems with your post :) ( even though when I read your posts I didnt think twice about it becoming a political forum)
Dennis Miller was awful whether he was republican democrat buddhist muslim Arab or cross dresser. Awful is Awful in any form of skin.

I felt like they really missed the boat on Dennis Miller. The opening was just brutal. I think McMahon was shooting on the crowd when he ripped on them later on too. My guess is they figured if Miller just spewed off a la Jericho, he'd get booed for it or they'd all dislike Obama in Texas and cheer him. Instead they did nothing at all. I just wish the interaction with Jericho was done better. Ever since he was announcedas host, I wanted to see like dueling rants from them both. I'm more frustrated that the potential was missed I guess.

Anyway, I was like mad when HBK made his challenge. Because if they do another match, I don't see HBK losing again. So I hope you're right about he and HHH.

I thought of the Swagger "no loss guarantee", then the one from Miz and now see why both were dropped when Cena made his. I think I cared more when it was Swagger saying it. Usually I can just accept that Cena needs to be the top face because no one else can, but it's getting tired. Make him a tweener or something. Johnny Goodboy has run it's course. Plus, why didn't he invoke his rematch last night if he cared so much about the title or whatever?

My other thought last night was "what if Carlito actually cared about the business?" I'm not saying he'd headline Wrestlemania, but he's got more character on the mic than anyone else getting shoved down our throats.

There's only one way this political non-sense can play out. January 4th, your Raw Guest Host is... GLENN BECK! He opens the show by stripping Sheamus of the belt for being an illegal immigrant. He then hands the title to HBK for being born-again.
The next day, Kevin comments that he likes the move, the HBK mark that he is. This leads to all the left-leaning readers of this blog to angrily demand an apology from him for being a right-wing nut. The ensuing flame-war gets the attention of the national media. Kevin embarks on a press tour, which ends horribly during a satellite radio interview, when some comic that Kevin has never heard of, smashes him in the head with a signed Ozzy Osbourne guitar.

JBL, I fully agree with you, Striker should be left on Raw, he is a great heal to King and also a great counter to Cole's nonsensical ramblings and over enthusiastic nature. Last night, it was great when they showed all 3 announcers sitting there and King and Cole were talking, Striker was just shaking his head and visually apologizing for what was being said. Now that Jericho supposedly wont be on Raw, Miz and the possibility of Striker on Raw are the only reasons to watch since they don't show Swagger anymore.

see what happens when they let you book the guest hosts of RAW, Kevin?

Shame on you!

; )

WWE Champion Sheamus really got under my skin during his acceptance speech last night by calling himself better than Curt Hennig because he won the WWE championship. That comment left me very bitter until the commercial break, and then I realized the genius of that comment, so now I am fully ready to give the guy a chance as an undeserving heel champion. I don't think WWE has had one of those before (at least, not as part of the character).

So let's see if I have this straight. Political humor and commentary have no place in the WWE Universe. But ad libs are OK.

Given that Cheney is a frequent target of Ventura I hardly think it was an ad lib on his part.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Just because Cheney is a target of Ventura's doesn't mean that he planned all along to bring him up during his commentary.You really think that was planned ahead of time?

So now that Cena has vowed to win every match until he wins the title, it basically makes his matches even more boring because now there is no doubt that he is going to win. The only direction I can see this going is if he goes into wrestlemania against the Undertaker for the title. So both Cena's and Undertaker's undefeated streak is on the line.

Shaq should have won host of the year.

I also found it funny that the majority of people kicking Y2J off of Raw were from Smackdown. If they hate jericho, why were they in a hurry to get him off Raw and back to Smackdown.

My four year old had the quote of the week this week. While Regal was in the ring with Zeek and Valdamir in reference to Regal she said
"Daddy look at the pretty queen."

Two weeks ago, didn't Cena say if he lost to Sheamus, he'd take his rematch immediately? So what is this nonsense about not losing a match until he wins his title back? Why wasn't his next match a title match? Considering Jeri-Show got an immediate rematch with DX it looks even more foolish for Cena to not get one.

Add in the fact that Sheamus becomes one of the biggest surprise champions ever and they barely mention it during the show.

Add in the fact that in a Superstar of the Year match CM Punk is forced to tap out in 30 seconds.

Add in the fact that just about no match went longer than a couple of minutes.

Add in the fact that 90% of the audience had no idea what Dennis Miller was saying (I have to admit that I still find him funny).

Add all of that up and you have one of the worst booked shows since the NWO tried to take over Nitro and spent 3 hours drilling a new set.

When I saw the many comments over the Slammys, I was tempted not to comment. But...here's my two cents.

I was disappointed to see the Cena-Punk match end so soon. Punk looked weak, and he's not. He could have put up a bigger fight against Cena.

What was with the ECW and Smackdown roster becoming minions of DX? I totally didn't get it. That was a really poor use of good talent.

I, too, was disappointed in Miller, but I didn't think he was a good choice from the beginning. Whoa...rough crowd, though..."booing Bob Barker?!?" Is that one of the signs of the apocalypse?

I did not watch all of the slammy awards last night and the thing that really disgusted me is when the fans booed Bob Barker when he was annouced as the winner of geust host of the year. that was totally disrespectful of them, they cheered him when he hosted Raw, then all of a sudden they boo him, what no good jerks the fans were for that. Bob Barker did a lot for The Price is right and he is a wonderful man.

Kev, it's cool man. You are still the rockingest(is that a word? it is now!) Pro-Wrestling writer on the web. Bar none.

I really really really really really really hope that on next week's Raw, we get a skit where Jericho tries to get into the arena and has to pretend that a door is locked when it isn't.

Are you guys really liberals and conservatives or are these just your gimmicks?

Also please explain which of you are the heels and which are the faces?

"RESPONSE FROM KE: I'm just not getting through, am I?"
Kev, not missing the point, you don't want politics on your wrestling shows, I would agree.

The thing is, with this post in particular, is you started the whole political thing here, "Miller, a conservative" and in general whenever you mention anything even slightly political you show how hard you lean to the left. It takes away from your enjoyable writing.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Let's take our personal political leanings out of the equation. What if Al Franken had hosted the show and done all anti-Republican jokes? Would you have been as upset if I wrote: Franken, a liberal, took shots at George Bush, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. He also told Newt Gingrich to "suck it" and ridiculed the Christian right.

My problem was two-fold. It wasn't just that the political humor was out of place, it's that it was so partisan. I don't think either side should be attacking the other on a wrestling show.

The best part of Miller, was with Jericho. Notice the plug he got for The Dennis Miller Show behing the scene. When he went into his rant, Jericho definitly sold the fact, he had no clue what Miller was ranting about.And I'll take Kevins side....Millers humor, was not right, for a RAW production. Not to mention calling RAWS the man..."THE SHOW"

I know there's a tendency to book DX as "smart" but what they did to JeriShow was not smart but rather insulting to my intelligence instead. It was also rather disrespectful of history and tradition. Winning a title shot by disqualification usually means getting another title shot, often enough in a no-dq bout. Think about it: why don't all the cowardly heel champions just hit the referee every single time if it means depriving their opponents of a further rematch?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Because they're not as smart as DX!

Miller's introductory jokes were hilarious, albeit inappropriate for a typical wrestling crowd, particularly the mute dolts in attendance at Corpus Christi. One of notably bad crowds in recent memory.

Whichever idiot booked Punk to tap out in less than 2 minutes should be fired.

I despise feel-good shows like these where all the faces basically squash the heels. Jericho being driven out, Punk tapping, the divas' match lasting a whole minute, Taker beating up Orton after the match, Carlito laid out, the Roundtable being destroyed...

Some of these comments demonstrate why you don't mix wrestling and politics.

I was laughing out loud during the opening segment because of how terrible he bombed, there's something funny about a guy acting that arrogant failing that miserably.

It's funny how HHH is supposed to be one of the best, if not the best, in the company, yet none of his matches were even nominated for match of the year.

Why was Sheamus(the biggest news in WWE right now) barely on the show at all last night? I don't get what they're doing with this guy.

Cole either turned heel last night, or is a complete idiot, I have a feeling it's the latter.

Already 70 comments, but I still want to add mine, basically to say exactly what you did. The show was horrible, easily the worst I have ever seen. Miller is a nightmare come true, I don't even want to think about this neocon nonsense. Jericho thrown out from the building by Smackdown and ECW wrestlers when all the point was that he, as a Smackdown guy, had nothing to do on Raw, was the illustration of all that madness. If WWE needed so bad to get rid of its best performer (to make some room to Big Dick Johnson and all the other awful stuff), why not get the job done by the guys from Raw? At least we could have seen Swagger. And what a horrible treament of Sheamus as well!
And of course, like tim grzecki said, why did Cena promise, before TLC, that he would invoke his rematch clause immediately if he lost, and then not only did he not do it after his loss at the PPV, but he also forgot to do it during the show?
Last thing, why on Earth is the "Superstar of the year" award decided in a one-night mini-tournament? That's a "Superstar of the night" slammy, at best. Not to mention Maria diva of the year! Oh my, I could go for ages...

Just wanted to comment on the Diva of the Year segment. Those professional women wrestlers looked like a group waiting on the street corner for their next trick. I do not know who costumed them but with the exception of a dazzling Gail Kim that person should be fired. As to the award itself and the need to "vote' up until 10 PM and then award it to Maria what a laugh. Maria does not have that many fans or friends period. I cannot wait for another economic downturn in this country so that WWE management has to eliminate more of their stars cause I got a few women to recommend on that growing list.

What was up with that terrible women's match? I used to think those awful 4 on 4 matches for 2 minutes were horrible, after seeing the 6 on 6 for 1 minute I was praying for one of the 4 on 4 matches. I turned RAW off right after that match.. I could never turn it off while Mickie is on though, no matter how awful the segment is, Mickie being there makes it at least a little better!

With all of the HBK/HHH history, what would a HBK/HHH match or storyline really have left - even for WrestleMania? Same with HBK/Undertaker. Last year, HBK stood up to Taker, it was a great match, and they had the match of the year.....but what more could they do to make it must-see? Either match would seem stale to me since they've all been there, done that.

RESPOSNE FROM KE: The spin on HHH-HBK could simply be that they have never faced each other in a one-on-one match on the biggest stage. HHH could say that his career won't be complete until he beats Mr. WrestleMania at WrestleMania. I could see it happening without either of them turning, although there would be tension and the tease of one of them going heel.

Kev got to admit i squeezed in 5 hole minutes of raw this week of course it was the Dick Johnson segment what happened to family friendly that was 1 of the 1 times i was upset to havwe a HDTV. as far as you saying about Miller taking hits at the demacrats thats Vinces MO so thats no real surprise and was probavbly part of their script not Millers thats probably 1 of the main reasons he was selected as host he's hardcore republican like Vince and his staff.

Wow. Can of worms open here...

Kev, completely understand your view, no-one minds the odd crack to liven things up but giving the opening monologue over to a lengthy partisan spiel is a bit silly.

Also, if WWE want to attract a wider audience, is a chap from Fox News the right guy for the job?

Not for nothing, but here in the UK, Fox News is a bit of a joke and certainly wouldnt help the WWE attract any new fans and probably turn a load more off. Like me. I havent watched Raw in weeks, and I shall not this week, next week........

Top quality blog, keep up the good work.

And I cant resist pointing out that climate change is not a hoax. And that a national health service is a wonderful thing that helps many people in the UK.

Sorry, had to slip that bit in. Couldn't help it.

" Michaels has amassed all these WrestleMania moments, but Triple H has yet to have his, so what better way for him to get it than by facing “Mr. WrestleMania” in a singles match. …"
-- Call me subjective but Tripple H's Wrestlemania moment in my mind is his last ride courtesy of the undertaker. The finest last ride ever done by Taker at WM. All thanks to the superior bump taking abilities ( self professed in his workout book ) of Hunter the McMahon Family Avenger. I can personally live without another 7 minute WM squash match delivered by the King of Kings.

Kev, let's just say I wasn't surprised that Ventura mentioned Cheney. That precise line might not have been planned but like any good wrestler Ventura was looking for an opening to pounce on his favorite target.

Ventura rants on Cheney every opportunity he gets whether he's on Larry King or any other forum. Ventura can resist talking about Cheney about as much as Michael Phelps can resist jumping into a pool.

Not much of a family show with a guy in a thong!
Vince really thinks he can throw anything at us and we'll love it. If I had a chance to talk to him, I would shake him and yell in his face "You're destroying your own empire!" He may be getting more fair-weather fans at the expense of real wrestling fans, which will bite him in the butt because w/out the real fans, what's he going to do when the nonchalant fan base goes away?

Also I understand why the Punk marks are complaining but they shouldn't. I'm a Shelton and Beth Phoenix mark and I have every right to complain. Punk got mic time second only to Cena and had a match (a god awful quick match, but a match nonetheless). Beth just stood in the ring in an evening gown. Shelton was DX hack.

Also how many people in Eck's universe thought that evening gown match was going to be a Bra n Panties match? How many were hoping it would be?

"I don't think either side should be attacking the other on a wrestling show. "

Now that's a funny thought!

I suppose the thought behind Punk tapping out to Cena in the SS of the year deal was that Punk accomplished a lot this year just to be one of the four contenders, but Cena is still top dog when he wants to be. I don't have a problem with that and I am a Punk fan and could care less about Cena.

I seem to be in the minority here - I actually thought Dennis Miller did a pretty good job. What killed it for me was the ZERO reaction from the live crowd, which is what prompted Mr. McMahon to ask them if they passed away before they came to the show. I think the real problem is that Dennis Miller's comedy, regardless of political leanings, just isn't for most wrestling fans. I can't claim that I understand even half of what he's talking about, but I still find it pretty funny when one does make sense. By far his best segment was backstage with Jericho, my guess is that he does a lot of that on his radio show, so he's good at it. When he called HHH "The Show" I knew HHH would come back with something, and his "Thank you Dennis Milburn" line was perfect. Sort of a giveaway that HBK was going to win match of the year since he wasn't out there with HHH.

Sheamus finally got some real heat, as opposed to go away heat (a phrase I'll gladly borrow from Kevin).

While Big Dick Johnson is lame, overused, and sophomoric, I still found it funny. Moreso when he started speaking like James Lipton from that Screen Actor's show.

Very surprised Maria won Diva of the Year (as it looked like she was as well). I expected Mickie, but wouldn't have been surprised if it went to McCool, Melina, or Maryse.

Christian's DX crotch chops were just awful. He looked like an arthritic geriatric who managed to take his hands off of his walker just long enough to get a couple chops in.

Is it sad that when Christian announced that his two partners had ironed out their differences, the first two I thought of were Kane and Mike Knox? Talk about an underutilized talent, Knox could be a great monster heel if they would give him a chance.

I know there's a tendency to book DX as "smart" but what they did to JeriShow was not smart but rather insulting to my intelligence instead. It was also rather disrespectful of history and tradition. Winning a title shot by disqualification usually means getting another title shot, often enough in a no-dq bout. Think about it: why don't all the cowardly heel champions just hit the referee every single time if it means depriving their opponents of a further rematch?

As loose as the logic is, the reason DX could get away with that tactic whereas others cannot is the brand split. Chris Jericho & Big Show won't be able to team together again (in theory) in order to be named #1-contenders. The WWE World Tag Team champions are allowed to appear on any show, which was how Chris Jericho came to RAW to select Big Show as his partner, but now that he is not champion, his rematch clause was the loophole to permit him to wrestle (coupled with the fact that all three brands are invited to the 3-hour RAW broadcasts). Jerishow has had a rematch, so it would be up to the match-makers recognize them as #1-contenders, and since the members are on separate brands, that won't happen.

If The Miz got himself disqualified against Mark Henry or MVP in the same manner, the matchmakers of RAW (whomever that's determined these days) would schedule a rematch, probably like you noted with a No-DQ stipulation, so there is no benefit. DX knew that Jerishow couldn't get a second rematch, so they were safe to pull that stunt.

OK, maybe I'm changing my tune a bit. I'm not so much upset about Sheamus holding the title as I am about the fact that he got a shot at all.

But am I mistaken that he got his shot in a battle royal (wouldn't surprise me at all if I am)? And aren't battle royals a time-worn respected gimmick for giving a shot to a left-fielder?

Works for me. Is Sheamus supposed to say, "No Thank You"?

Koska: "Cole either turned heel last night, or is a complete idiot, I have a feeling it's the latter."

I took it as an anti-Jim Ross comment at first, too, but the more I thought about it the more I think he was just playing up to the crowd in Laredo, TEXAS.

In Alabama, you can alienate half of your audience if you diss Alabama or Auburn in favor of the other, but everyone will cheer you if you rip on the Fighting Fulmers of Tennessee.

Likewise, I imagine the same dynamic would exist in Texas among Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

JMHO

The cardboard cutouts in Blazing Saddles had more personality than the audience in Corpus Christi.

Come on Kevin - you're upset because Miller took pot shots at Pelosi, Obama and Sharpton? What else do you expect him to do? That's what he does. You bring in a political comedian, he's going to give you political jokes. Now, I do agree that he was quite painful throughout the night. When he came out for his opening monologue I said to myself, "This is going to be a long night." And it was.

Go ahead and pick on him for being bad, but don't complain because he told the kind of jokes he's known for. You're better than that.

Personally, I didn't like Cena's cut. Maybe I prefer the smart-ass Cena. I felt like I was listening to Jericho say "It will never, EVER, happen again!" It just seemed to me that the speech was going to further distance those fans who already don't like Cena, but maybe that was part of the point.

I was surprised they mentioned Big Dick Johnson by name in this family friendly environment. The last few times DX has brought him on he's been referred to as BDJ. And once again, I'll take the other side of the table from you on this one. He's a fun character to see every now and then. I liked the bit with Washington and Atlas. That was well done (silly, but well done).

One final note - can we get a DVD release full of the DX WWEShop.com bits? More often than not, that ends up being the best part of the show. I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

Thanks Kev! Keep up the good bloggin'!

i totally agree jan 4th hitman seems like could play out, if not him, who? tna has put alot if not all there "eggs: in 1 basket. it really could be the start of something great or could mean the ultimate end. wcw, orginally made a lively hood out of "old" wwe superstars, but outside of the rock walking thru tna's curtain i just dnt see the fire power to combat. the only thing i liken to, is the smaller roster in tna, 1 show, etc., not as many names/belts/etc, to keep up with. on a final note Shamus? i never have been a big cena fan if at all, so any cena loss is a good one but Shamus? u gotta think cena wins the title back from him @ rumble?either way all around wrestling really in my mind needs that 1 guy, that hogan/savage or austin/rock, or heck even the orginal outsiders, wrestling in my opinion needs a guy, and trust me cena has been milked to the fullest, of course i said that bout hogan after title retaiment # >>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kevin, I don't know if you were aware of this, but Dennis Miller used to host a kids show in Pittsburgh wwwwaaaaayyyy back in the day (gulp! I used to watch him then.) I don't think I would be so mean to my kids today by making them watch him. Then again, I'm not Vince McMahon!

I can no longer watch Raw, because of Michael Cole. It's sad that it's come to this, but it has. The week before last broke me. Cole's inane repetition and parroting are simply too stupid to endure.

He uses the same cliches OVER and OVER and OVER (on different wrestlers), never has any interesting observations or insights, and is so mindless that I cannot endure it. "So exciting, the unique offense, we've really seen a new side of him, ever since blah blah blah."

Now, I am NOT right-wing, yet I have no difficulty enjoying Matt Striker's various jabs, including him literally calling Obama a communist!! Striker's remarks are FUNNY and are made in the context of being a brilliant ring announcer. Striker is on another level than the stiffs and doofuses around him.

Grisham has his moments, depending who he's paired with, but King/Cole is total agony. WWE needs to scrap Cole and send King to FCW to replace Dusty Rhodes behind the mic.

In the spirit of Sheamus, perhaps King/Cole can be replaced by the SMILEZ sign dude and that female ring announcer from ECW. It could only be an improvement...

In England, we have to take the anti-Dennis Miller (i.e. he's a communist (who said he will dance on Mrs. Thatcher's grave)), Jeremy Hardy. Hope he's not related to Matt and Jeff.
I'm much closer to Miller's views, but I did find him a bit dull and thought that strong political references were inappropriate for an awards show, or similar occasion. It's supposed to be fun, not a political character assassination session. Can't help but feel that having a political comedian was more of an effort to compliment Mrs. Mc's campaign rather than to compliment Raw or the Slammys.

Oh yes, one more thing.
People have suggested that Cole might be turning heel.
Don't know if anyone has noticed, but ever since Jesse Ventura reprised his heel announcer persona on Raw a few weeks back, Matt Striker has been making heel comments occasionally on Smackdown. Basically, like Jesse and Bobby The Brain used to do, he is praising heels for underhanded moves etc., then Todd Grisham sort of argues back, like McMahon and Gorilla would've done.
I wonder if they're testing the waters for a return to this type of announcing, and that Cole might genuinely turn heel.

Michael Cole is, like Todd Pettingill before him, the embodiment of Vince McMahon's personal insecurities going back to his days working as an announcer for his father.

He is a whipping boy, and always will be.

Dennis Miller's career was filled with failed talk shows, failed broadcasting stints, etc. He decided after 9/11 to market himself as a right wing comic, and it's gotten him some work at the price of his own intelligence and soul. Selling out to appeal to the lowest common demonitator conservatives is a big industry for many these days.

The wrestling crowd wasn't there to hear jokes about Nancy Pelosi, because the wrestling crowd in now mostly kids.

It was a quality trainwreck.

I think Limbaugh, Hannity and O'Reilly would fail in front of a live audience, as well (which is why they are smart enough to not put themselves in a position where they are ever challenged on some of their theories).

Vince McMahon lashing out at his audience was the highlight of the night.

"Whichever idiot booked Punk to tap out in less than 2 minutes should be fired."

****in' A.

"Also please explain which of you are the heels and which are the faces?"

I'm a tweener who will turn completely heel in a month or two.

"I really really really really really really hope that on next week's Raw, we get a skit where Jericho tries to get into the arena and has to pretend that a door is locked when it isn't."

That's exactly what I was reminded of too!

For those who weren't watching WCW (or didn't get the chance) back when Jericho was getting his push there, here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ1HXCd7NSo

I think it would have been funnier if they hadn't dragged it out for such a long time.

"Given that Cheney is a frequent target of Ventura I hardly think it was an ad lib on his part. "

Aaron, Vince McMahon has contributed to Rick Santorum's campaign and arranged for George W. Bush to receive a championship belt at the end of his presidency. That's pretty solid proof that his politics are very different from Jesse's.

You may recall that Ventura and McMahon were talking about heel tactics, with Ventura saying that they were smart, and McMahon saying that some might believe they were cowardly. Ventura responded by asking if Vince was calling him a coward, when he'd been a Navy SEAL, and that Cheney was a coward.

Now, considering that McMahon is one of the last people I would expect to take shots at members of the Bush administration (or help anybody else do so), I highly doubt that he would knowingly set up Ventura to say that. So it wasn't scripted ahead of time. Vince and Ventura were just saying whatever they could think of, Vince had no idea that Ventura would bring up Cheney, and Ventura didn't know that Vince would talk about heels being cowards so there was no way he could have planned ahead to use Cheney as an example of a real coward.

Bottom line: it had to be an ad lib.

wow. I actually thought Miller's dry jokes were quite funny. Overall, he had no energy but his one liners were fine with me. I guess that is the difference in peoples humour, because, as I mentioned before, I don't get the Eck humour that makes its way into blogs every once in a while.

The pink shirt Batista, i thought was a play on the Kanye West incident.

Kevin, how long do you think DX will have the belts? If they face each other at Mania will they do so out of respect for eachother or will HHH turn heel before then?

From whatever political affiliate he is, Dennis Miller is flat-out NOT funny on any stage.......he was a bad pick as guest host.

Kevin - thanks for replying about HHH/HBK.

Miller, a conservative, took shots at President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Michael Moore. He also told Al Sharpton to “suck it” and ridiculed the concept of global warming. The lone joke poking fun at Republicans was visual, as the heads of George Bush and Dick Cheney were superimposed on the bodies of DX. Of course that’s not a personal attack like the other stuff, but I guess that’s what Miller, a regular contributor on Fox News Channel, considers fair and balanced.

Linda McMahon is running for Senator as a Republican. What exactly did you expect?

My god Millar sucked. Is he Sarah Palin's personal assistant?. It was funny to see his right wing dribble bomb even in Texas. Worst wrestling show ever.

I'm hearing that Bret Hart has signed with the WWE for a on-screen role. your thoughts?

RESPONSE FROM KE: They're coming.

Miller was the funniest best guest host RAW has ever had...his jokes sailed over the crowd's heads mercilessly...very very funny, too bad the humorless average RAW viewer/audience member has no sense of humor...brutally funny, sarcastic parody of RAW at the same time, perhaps the viewers sensed he wss also laughing at them (he was) (and it was funny)...anyone, including this newspaper writer, who takes WWE seriously has a big problem...I enjoy RAW immensely and I can also take a joke, too bad this writer can't

RESPONSE FROM KE: I can take a joke. For example, I found this comment to be a riot.

The only time Kevin's comment count as high as Hart vs Michaels is Left vs Right wingers. The great social cleavages of America have been found!

"Miller, a conservative, took shots at President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Michael Moore. He also told Al Sharpton to “suck it” and ridiculed the concept of global warming. The lone joke poking fun at Republicans was visual, as the heads of George Bush and Dick Cheney were superimposed on the bodies of DX. Of course that’s not a personal attack like the other stuff, but I guess that’s what Miller, a regular contributor on Fox News Channel, considers fair and balanced."

Kev, I think the last sentence here is what pushed people into thinking you were making a political statement from the left. Perhaps it was your political feelings coming through or perhaps it was just the wrong words for what you were trying to convey.

Either way, I really enjoy your blog. This will go away soon!

I know its a little late but the TLC sign of the night had to go to the "My cat turned heel" sign. just awesome

Is the Magnificent Muraco affiliated with any wrestling org. as a promoter or manager?He was the best Intercontinental Champion ever.Many people always talk about the Snuka/Muraco cage match but the Muraco-Morales matches were great shows

I also believe Chris Dodd will not beat Linda in the Conn. Senate race.

I've always thought it was humorous that FNC is so conservative whereas the Fox Network is known - or at least, originally was - as pushing the envelope on the opposite side of conservatism.

Oh, and climate change is the biggest hoax - or, to be kind, misunderstanding - since the gasoline shortage.

Hey Kevin, kind of an unrelated question...
but why does the wwe cut to commercial during some matches? it always seems that they find some sort of filler to fill the couple of hours they're on, whether it's a video package of previous stuff, or something...but they use some match time for ads?? aren't people watching wrestling for, you know, wrestling? i realize this doesnt have much to do with the dennis miller trainwreck, but it's always perplexed me...

Rob Brown misses the point.

Anyone who is familiar with Jesse Ventura knows he has a Cheney fetish. He has publicly expressed a desire to waterboard him on more than one occasion. It thus cannot have come as a surprise to Vince McMahon or anyone else that Ventura would take a jab at Cheney at some point on the show even if Vince wasn't in on it. Vince is well aware of Ventura's views.

It is interesting that those who are shocked, shocked that Dennis Miller would make fun of Nancy Pelosi do not bat an eyelash when Ventura does the same with Cheney. Kevin Eck has made the point that politics has no place on RAW. If one is to take that statement to its logical conclusion then no politics means no politics whether its an entire routine or a one liner. Thus Kevin should have chided Ventura when he called Cheney a coward. The fact Kevin didn't take Ventura to task for it leads me to believe his criticisms of Miller are motivated by Miller's conservative politics despite his protestations to the contrary.

Let's also not forget that Kevin also criticized the substance of Miller's jokes. In noting Miller's sole joke about Bush and Cheney, Kevin quipped, "Of course that’s not a personal attack like the other stuff, but I guess that’s what Miller, a regular contributor on Fox News Channel, considers fair and balanced."

If Kevin's objections to Miller were based solely on the appropriateness of political humor rather than the point of view of Miller's brand of political humor then there's no reason for Kevin to make such an observation.

Should RAW have a future guest host who is known for expressing a liberal/left-wing point of view and that guest host does inject political humor or commentary into the proceedings I will be interested to see how Kevin responds.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't know what more I can say at this point. I've tried to make it as clear as I can that a liberal host making all conservative jokes wouldn't be appropriate on Raw either.

I know that a post will be coming, but I just saw that Bret Hart was signed to a three month contract with WWE from Jan. 1 into April. I figure Eck's head must have exploded at that news. I couldn't believe it when I saw the headline.

Kev, To be honest as an Australian viewer (admittedly one who tries to at least keep up with American politics) I have to admit I was lost more then once through Miller's "Jokes" (Yes I know who Pelosi and Moore are and certainly I am aware of who Obama is) Considering the WWE is World Wrestling Entertainment, shouldn't have some consideration be given to those overseas who may have been left feeling on the outside with those "jokes" (BTW the ones I understood weren't funny)

I don't know about Trips and HBK at WM XXVI (don't get me wrong I won't object to seeing it, not at all) but I think that may have been honest praise, although combine that with the Video playing during the DX commercial (thank goodness for you tube, Australia missed it again) you may be onto something.

For all those who were complaining about it being smackdown and ECW stars who helped exit Jericho... they were all stars who in the past have feuded with Jericho at sometime, (some not in their current incarnation ... R-Truth) and as for the rematch, I think someone explained it best as how would Jericho and Show team up as they are on different shows.

obscure pop culture references?
Kev, they were only obscure to you.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I never said that I didn't get Miller's references (I'm talking in general, not specifically Monday's show), but his intent is trying and show how "smart " he is by making references that a lot of people would not get.

January 4th.
Dennis Miller v. Jim Norton in a "Rush Limbaugh on a pole but not THAT kind of pole because queerin' don't make the world work" Match with special guest referee Jim Helwig.
BOOK IT.

I just saw that you almost have 100 comments on this post. I've never seen that many before. So I'm just inching it closer to 100. Always enjoy reading the blog. Keep up the good work.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Taken birth? You lost me.
---------------------------------------------------

I was taking a pot-shot at your fav. "born again" Christian.
Btw, thanks Dave.

RESPONSE FROM KE: It was funnier when jim cornette did it.

Although there's nothing more to add that hasn't already been said about the catastrophe that was Monday's Raw I can't help but post something because I would love to see the comment total go over 100. Congrats to Kev for his always excellent (albeit occasionally polarizing) commentary and to the WWE for their continued foray into craptastic television for making so many entertaining rants possible!

To break up the hatred, we can all agree on one thing. This is funny:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/TNA

I'm a conservative. I like Dennis Miller and in the right setting and with the right jokes I've laughed out loud at him on numerous occasions.

However, he was horrible on Raw Monday night. As I said at the time, talk about not knowing your audience. Joke after joke at the beginning just bombed to the point it was painful.

If I were the foundation he was trying to help raise money for I would be afraid of it not making any $$$.

RESPONSE FROM KE: It was funnier when jim cornette did it.
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LOL Okay. To be fair, I wasn't competing with Jim Cornette.

oh boy, I've read a lot of conservative apologists make excuses for Dennis Miller and try to flame kev . . .

1) Dennis Miller just isn't funny. That has nothing to do with Party. His delivery of dry "wit" (if you can call it that) wasn't right for a Wrestling Audience that probably wasn't interested in Politics. In fact, many people watching wrestling are watching for an escape from Politics and Real life, to a universe where if you don't like your boss, you could Stone Cold Stunner them or give them an enema . . . but I digress

2) His jokes were predictably one sided. If you don't see the problem with that on a show that isn't supposed to be about politics, then you don't have a pulse.

3) We know what Vince's politics viewpoint is, so that makes Dennis Miller even more gross a selection

RAW shouldn't be the Vince McMahon show, but it is. And thats the problem. And Dennis Miller as host, or the terrible Hornswoggle spots, or Cena not selling anything, or commentators having vince in their ears are just symtoms of the disease.

Dennis Miller had no business being there except I'm sure Vince likes his slant.

I'm with you Kevin, there's no place in wrestling for politics. Unless we're talking about two (or more) politicians beating the snot out of each other - I'd pay to see that, at least if it was a shoot...

Regarding Dennis Miller, the worst thing a comedian can do is to take a side, because once they lose their objectivity, everyone knows who or what they're going to make fun of before they even tell their first joke. They become just another partisan hack talking smack.

Miller used to be funny back in the '90s because he'd give grief to both sides. Then 9-11 happened and ol' Denny dove to the right harder than Brooks Robinson on that Lee May line drive in the '70 World Series. He says he had an epithany after the attacks where he saw the light politically but, like Adam Annapolis, I tend to believe what he saw was a career opportunity...

Reading all this, sometimes I´m really glad that in Germany we only get 1 hour of RAW. (Kind of late with my comment I know but it took a lot of time to read all the comments.)

Dennis Miller: Awful

Cena's promo: Supremely predictable and awful. His schtick is old. First he comes off all solumn and with an almost sad and about to cry tinge to his voice about whatever he's talking about, usually how great the fans are. Then he ramps it up a bit talking about how hard he had to fight to get where he is, then he goes all over the top and screaming/preaching about how great he will be in the future and how nobody can ever beat him and he won't give up.

I find it funny that a guy from out of nowhere came up and challenged well established Kurt Angle at the time would shrug off Shaemus and tell him he didn't deserve it and basically said, "Who are you?" when the match was signed.

Umaga: (Eddie Fatu?) Didn't see any tribute to him at all about his passing. The only thing I saw was Chris Jericho wearing a black arm band, but no other wrestler did the same.

Khali: Worst wrestler ever. Kozlov might not have any "pop" but at least he looks the part and can be athletic in the ring. Khali can barely move.

I was mostly bored with all the matches. That DX match was just stupid. Nice cheap way to get Jeri-Show out of the picture than by just wrestling them and defeating them.

Undertaker being beaten by Orton: Did you forget the mention the loud "BS" chant from the audience. Clearly they didn't like it.

I thought WWE Monday Night Raw couldn't get any worse with the guest hosts from the previous weeks, but I was proven wrong after watching this past Monday's special 3-hour Raw/Slammy Awards with most likely the worst guest host to date in the totally unfunny and unentertaining Dennis Miller! I can honestly say that absolutely nothing he did was entertaining nor anything he said was funny! I mean, he made the unforgivable mistake of messing up his introduction of Triple H by calling him "The Show" instead of his real nickname "The Game" (maybe he got mixed up with The Big Show), but it was cool how Triple H made light of it in his response! However, possibly the only thing that I did enjoy him saying was the mentioning of Bret "The Hitman" Hart's name as a possible future guest host!

Hi Kevin. RAW was horrendous. It looks like I'm going back on strike. Dennis Miller's comedy is not for the RAW audience. It's not about being partisan. The fact of the matter is that his audience on this night was 12 year-olds. He could have left his political beliefs off the show. And could the forced snickering and laughing by Michael Cole and the other commentators been more annoying? The laughed at every word he said-and NONE of it was funny!!! I didn't get most of his jokes. He was awful.

I thought the first joke Miller said was funny and as I remember, so did the arena - about pyro, deafness and incontinency. Course, that wasn't political.

And the number of comments on this topic is nothing. See any reference to Jeff Hardy.

Hey Kev,

There's an article in the UK Sun at:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2777718/WWE-Diva-Mickie-James-defends-her-weight.html

Where they claim Striker's reference about Lane Bryant was at Mickie, not Vickie Guerrero. Vince's line probably didn't go down as well as he thought it would- but then I suppose we could say that about most of Vince's one liners!

Eh, I thought Miller was funny, but I guess it's all down to different tastes. ;) I do think his style was inappropriate for a live wrestling show, though... the comedy the wrestlers do is a lot more broad, obvious and laugh out loud sorts of things, whereas Miller is kind of the exact opposite.

I'm not really keen on the idea of another HHH-HBK match up... their ages-long feud when Shawn first came back has kind of worn me out for them permanently. And I'd really love to see Shawn feuding with someone who he hasn't faced yet.

Jon Cena is the new Tim Tebow! Is he going to cry, claim his virginity and start putting bible verses on his arm band?