This was a very good Raw. The WWE really knows how to keep us all on our toes and keep us guessing as to how Wrestlemania will end up. I'm still hoping for a Triple H/Michaels match. I like how they are teasing with a possible Michaels heel turn... he hasn't been one since '98.

The show was full of some good matches. The segments with Shatner were all gold, especially the "William Shatner Sings" cd spot... I'd definitely buy one! Heck, they made that one Jillian Hall ep...

I was so waiting for Vince McMahon to tell Bret Hart "you look like a fool with your pants on the ground" - I think Shawn Michaels would be a great tag partner for Bret and would set up another beautiful sweet chin music shot to Bret -- and the other thing that came to mind is Batista is a monster - Kev what's the story with how Batista was discovered - was he a bouncer in DC and found by Bischoff for WCW? When Batista squashed Vader that one time at Cyber Sunday it was then I realized he has to be the most powerful wrestler in the WWE

RESPONSE FROM KE: Batista was actually turned away by WCW. Batista has aid that he tried out at the Power Plant and the trainer (Dewayne "Sarge" Bruce") worked him to the point of exhaustion and told him he should quit because he'd never make it in the business. Batista contacted WWE, and they told him to train at The Wild Samoans' school. He did, and was then signed to a WWE developmental deal.

As it relates to the Bret/Vince drama, I don't think it'll be a tag team match. I'm guessing that it will be like WrestleMania 23 in that Vince and Bret will pick two representatives to compete on their respective behalves. Batista most likely would represent the much-maligned chairman, while Cena or Michaels (as you said) would represent The Hitman.

Speaking of HBK, I'm intrigued on where his character is going. I actually thought of a couple of scenarios that could happen: HBK goes to Smackdown, challenges Edge for the shot at 'Mania, and beats him to get the Deadman. OR HBK distracts Taker during the chamber match at Elimination Chamber and screws Taker out of the World title, reigniting the rivalry between the two legends.

As far as the guest host goes, I'm actually kind of intrigued. First of all, the driver is Carl Edwards, who is said to be a WWE fan and has worked with John Cena with the Gillette promotions. Besides, Cena celebrated with Carl at WM25 after winning the World Heavyweight Championship.

Whatever happens, this is truly shaping out to be one of the better roads to WrestleMania on paper in recent memory.

Best "wrestling" episode they have had in more than a year - also, really enjoyed the skits much more than I have in some time and LOVED the Bret/vince part.

If WWE can continue these type of shows, there will be little doubt which show I will watch on Monday nights starting in March.

And I might even buy a PPV!

Kev with this so called picture-gate - how bout putting a pic of Kelly Kelly right next to yours...will give you street cred - what happened to the beard?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Grew the beard for a contest.Didn't win. Shaved it.

What does WWE see in Sheamus? He gets absolutely no reaction from the crowd. How could WWE put the Title on a guy whose only been around for six or seven months? He needs more time to develop as a character and a personality, especially in the eyes of the fans. The only wrestler who skyrockted to the top as quickly as Sheamus has was Brock Lesnar. Brock won the belt six months after debuting in the company defeating the Rock at SummerSlam 2002. There was no point in giving Brock the belt that fast and there was no point in giving Sheamus the belt that fast. I guess in WWE's mind anything is better than pushing Cena at this point. Still, there are other superstars who are worthy of wearing that belt. Chris Jericho is a name that comes to the immediate mind. He's stuck in la la land, otherwise known as midcard territory. Why not give Jericho the belt? He's better than the majority of the wrestlers on the show and can carry a broomstick to a great match. Jericho should head to TNA. WWE has never used him to the best of his abilities.

drew mcintyre and sheamus should switch roles. with mcintrye the wwe champion and sheamus the IC champ.

I think this was a solid RAW as well. I like the way Shawn Michaels turns into "serious Shawn" when its WM season. It sets the tone for making WM the main focus for the year. I think DX will be put on the back burner if they don't have a serious feud with another tag-team. A good Straight Edge Society vs DX for the tag titles at WM would be ideal for making the tag division credible but I really think that is stretching. I hope for a Hart -Michaels partnership for WM as well. It would be a classic moment. I just don't really care to see a HBK vs Batista rivalry as its been done before. Most likely it will be Cena vs Batista with Hart and Vince in the corners. I think Cena -Taker would be a good show but I'm not sure how WWE would feel about two of their biggest babyfaces going against each other so I don't see it happening.
At least Shaemus is in the Elimination Chamber so there is a good chance he wont be champ going into WM. I'm not a hater but I'm not seeing him drawing alot of PPV buys for headlining WM. I see HHH getting the WWE title in the chamber.

Edge's win at RR throws another wrinkle in the plan too because he did not pick the title he would be going for which goes along well with the Ultimate Opprotunist as he will pick the weakest champion going into WM after the next PPV.
I like not knowing whats coming next so I'll be watching next week.

"Big Show was not moving well during his match against Kingston (no jokes please about him never moving well)"

_________________________________

Oh well. It would be tough to come up with something original, anyway.

Apparently after Raw went off the air Cena made the save for Brett. We have not had much of a Vince vs. Cena feud.
I think Carl will do a fine job next Monday. Carl is known for being charasmatic and his back flips. I am hoping for a backflip off the turnbuckle.

FINALLY, the Natural has come back to Ring Posts.

Becoming more and more clear why Sheamus was chosen to carry the strap. He's so disliked that he can turn even one of the greatest heels into a face. Great promo with Edge yesterday. Edge was fantastic and Sheamus more than held his own. He actually looked pretty menacing. Although Edge's line about "an evil ronald mcdonald" was priceless.

WM maybe becoming more clear. Safe predictions at this point.

Trips wins belt at Elimination Chamber
Jericho wins belt at Elimination Chamber

Wrestlemania card:
Trips v. Shawn for WWE championship
Jericho v. Edge for World Heavyweight
Cena (with Bret in corner) vs. Batista (w/ Mcmahon in corner)
'Taker v. Punk
Orton v. Dibiase

Also I was watching old Heenan and Monsoon youtube clips today. What a team. Commentary for the Rumble and Raw was atrocious. They need JBL back. Also, since Lawler is starting to talk heel-ish these days. Might as well turn him completely.

Best way to turn a well-liked Lawler heel you ask? Have him attack Bret Hart out of nowhere. Him and Bret had quite a beef back in the 90's. Also, Bret made a sarcastic shoutout to Lawler during his first Raw appearance. It's perfect.

Is it wrong that I see championship material in all of the competitors of the Elimination Chamber qualifying matches (Even Rhodes and Henry) but still see nothing from the current champ?

As bad as Kyle Busch and Joey Logano were during their turn as RAW guest hosts I would be disclined to paint all NASCAR drivers with the same brush.

Carl Edwards is very comfortable in front of the camera having appeared in several commercials (i.e. AFLAC, Claritin, Subway, etc).

Edwards has also made several appearances at Fenway Park during Red Sox games (Red Sox majority owner John Henry co-owns Roush Fenway Racing.) He usually joins Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo in the broadcast booth for an inning and is very good talking off the cuff.

I, too, enjoyed Shatner's spoken word CD segment. I'm surprised he didn't do Orton's theme. I can hear Shatner saying as only Shatner can:

I hear voices in my head
The talk to me
They understand
They talk to me

BTW, Shatner's praftfall was by design.

Since Michael Cole didn't do it after the spoken word CD segment ... vintage Shatner!

Hart was obviously moving very gingerly during that final segment. Batista was being extra cautious with him as well. Not sure just how much he can actually work a match, though.

It could be like that scenario down in TNA where Pacman Jones didn't really do anything in the tag team match.

Carl Edwards won't be a bad guest GM.. the difference between him and Kyle Busch and Joey Logano is that Carl actually has a personality, and won't seem so awkward...I'm predicting a good job by "Cousin Carl"

Bret's promo was too long winded and boring. It made Vince's digs look justified.

Bret's theme was fine but he is terrible at delivering points forcefully with an economy of words. Vince on the other hand is a master at that.

A few random offerings:

1) In relation to the announcers, I have definetly missed something...has Jim Ross retired or on leave? I can't imagine a WWE Pay Per View without him at the broadcasting helm....anyone help with an answer?

2) The original ultimate opportunist was Shawn Michaels. Plot this scenario....Undertaker and Sheamus go into WM 26 with their titles intact...Edge wants no part of what he figures will become a Triple Threat match with Sheamus and The Game. So he chooses Undertaker. Meanwhile, Shawn qualifies for Money in the Bank and wins it on the first match of the card. 'Taker defeats Edge and Shawn immediately cashes in the case at WM 26 against 'Taker and beats him. Thus, Taker's streak of WM wins remains technically intact...but Shawn becomes the first to defeat the Undertaker at a Wrestlemania.

3) Sheamus is what the old time promoters used to call a "transitional champion" which is one the belt is put on when other storylines prevent more well-known stars from holding the title. Look for Sheamus to lose the belt to the Game at WM 26 and then go to Smackdown or ECW in the draft. Also, don't be surprised to see Drew McIntyre drafted to Raw and a rivalry set up between he snd the young star reminds of about 20 years ago...Hunter Hearst Helmsly.., today better known as Triple H.

4) "Representatives"of Bret and Vince...that one is not going to sell. The whole deal is to get Bret one more shot in the ring to sell tickets at WM. So the Tag Team approach makes sense...what doesn't is that it's Batista in the mix. Jericho or Show would have been more believable.

5) IF Shawn is doing a heel turn, then him taking the title off 'Taker in the manner described above serves three purposes:
1) Moves Shawn to Smackdown so he doesn't run afoul of Triple H.
2) Sets up a great program between the Michaels, the original ultimate opportunist and Edge, the most prolific ultimate opportunist,
3) Allows WWE to give 'Taker six months or so off before bringing him back on RAW for a program against Triple H. Michaels would replace him as the "draw card" on Smackdown.

Lastly, I thought that Big Show's punch did look inadvertent and that Show did look somewhat sluggish during the match. Is Big Show having some health problems? Hopefully he's not falling prey to the same health woes that WWE's original giant, Andre, did during the latte years of his storied career. Does Eck or anyone have any inside scoop on this?
v
AND....Carl should be an ok host....he's got personality. But if WWE and NASCAR want to draw each other's fan bases to the other then Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch needs to be guest hosts of RAW. Maybe we could see a tag team match:
Randy Orton and Kyle Busch versus John Cena and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Come to think of it...how would that be for a Wrestlemania match?

"I’m still not sure whether his fall entering the ring was a pratfall or if he just tripped coming through the ropes. ..."

It was a pratfall...look at it again, and obviously had enough distance to do it.

And by the way, is it me or was the crowd not really that into Edge being a babyface?

I wonder what Bret Hart's sell-out price was for getting spit on by McMahon?
I read Hart's book "HitMan" awhile back and maybe I have forgotten the specifics of his story about the circumstances surrounding his brother Owen's death. I seem to recall him saying that the expert stunt guy nixed the idea because the harness was not suitable, so Vince fired the guy and brought in another "expert" who said the harness was safe. Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but if not, it sure strikes me odd that Bret Hart is accepting money to get spit on by Vince.

"How could WWE put the Title on a guy whose only been around for six or seven months? He needs more time to develop as a character and a personality, especially in the eyes of the fans. The only wrestler who skyrockted to the top as quickly as Sheamus has was Brock Lesnar. Brock won the belt six months after debuting in the company defeating the Rock at SummerSlam 2002. "

______________________________

Actually Hulk Hogan beat the Iron Sheik for the title one month after debuting in the WWF. But, it's not fair to compare Hogan to Lesnar. Hogan had a brief stint with WWF before a stint in Japan and then with the AWA before returning to the WWF.
Similarly, it's also not fair to compare Sheamus to Lesnar. He was with an Irish promotion for 4 years before coming to the WWE (with Drew McIntyre by the way). Look, he's not an obvious choice for champion, but it's not like he's some sort of rookie either.

Interestingly, Bret Hart is the one that steered him to the Monster Factory for his initial training when he showed an interest in wrestling, I wonder if he'll get involved in the Hart-McMahon storyline.

Batista vs Bret Hart in a who bagged more Divas match with special guest referee Melina.

And remember kiddies, Sunny screwed Bret WAY before Vince did.

I understand wanting to get physical with Hart in the ring, but it pains me to see large guys like Batista rough housing with him. In fact, I get really nervous about it knowing what has happened to him in the past - stroke, etc. etc. Maybe I'm being to much of a "girl" about this...

Last night's RAW was actually an improvement to some RAWs of recent weeks. I thought the matches were sold, with a few exceptions (fast forwarded through the DiBiase and Mark Henry match).

I also want to say that the acting between Triple H and Michaels has improved. Their promo shots weren't eye rolling to me, but the same can't be said for McMahon.

It's interesting how The Miz and The Big Show are chummy now and are the new version of Jerishow.

I suppose in that case this team could be referred to as Show Miz.

I went to the show last night and after Raw went off the air Cena came out to make the save. He then had a match vs. Sheamus and Batista came out and interfered and absolutely destroyed him, including bashing him in the head with the steel steps and giving him the batista bomb on the steps, so it's safe to say it will be Cena teaming up with Hart.
By the way, somehow Cena was able to get up from all of that and FU Sheamus

Just in your first response, you wrote "Batista has aid ..." , I think you meant "Batista has said ...", just a typo.
By the way, the previous photo was way better, the Eminem hair is so 90s'...

Wrestling is a very basic sport. Solid matches and good storylines and you can't go to far wrong. So it was good to see Raw stick to these principals for a change and produce an excellant show. Please keep it up and make me look forward to watching Raw once again.

HBK costing Taker the title in the Elimination Chamberis a given. They are investing way to much time in his dispare over not getting his chance so what else would a desperate man do but cheat. It supports his pseudo heel turn but the streak will stay intact at WM and both will be off on vacation until September.

Don't you think they've teased the HBK/Undertaker match so much that the fans will be p----- off if it Doesn't happen? Every week, every show they bring it up so for it to not happen will be a massive letdown.

And no one has brought up the idea of a triple threat match at Wrestlemania. Vince seems to be a big fan of that so I can see Sheamus holding on to the belt if he ends up in a triple threat with two much bigger stars.

"There was a chant for John Cena to make the save during the attack on Hart, and Cena would make sense since he was the one who talked McMahon into bringing Hart back for Monday’s show."--apparently after Raw went off the air, Cena DID make the save for Hart.

I am expecting Michaels to sneak into the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match. He is part of the Unified Tag Champs and can appear on either show. He might even pull out the victory and have Taker challenge him for the belt at WM.

I really am curious as to what the WWE is thinking with Sheamus winning the Title. Did they think magically putting the belt around him would give him credit? When they put the belt around CM Punk out of nowhere, they at least gave a reasonable story behind it with the Money in the Bank cash in. It really seems as though the WWE is falling into WCW territory with the titles meaning nothing.

Don’t diss the NASCAR guys. I’m willing to bet Carl Edwards will do a backflip off the top rope. No joke. He has the potential to be the best guest host.

Natural,
You're 100% correct. I'd like to see heal and face announcers again. It really brings something extra to the telecast.

I too thought about The King and Hart. They had long heated feuds in the 1990s. Anyone remember Issac Yankem DDS? It was a little weird hearing Jerry as a face talking about Hart. I thougt Jerry was a great heal as an announcer ack in the day. He was so annoying that you just had to dislike him. I would like to see him turn.

Heenan,"Matt Hardy is nothing but a ham 'n egger."
Monsoon, "Will you stop?"
I really enjoyed that pairing.

this was probably the best raw in a long time if they stay at this pace TNA is done that being said their is no way Bret will be in a match at mania if you see or pay attention because of the stroke he is not being hit in the head and those punches betwenn him and batista looked so week i was just laughing.

Did I hear Bret Hart say that his father wore a lace jockstrap?

I'd like to see DX put the titles on the line to I don't care who, lose them because of Michaels' current state of mind, & Triple H disbands DX out of anger, further driving a wedge between them. What do you think?

How about a triple threat of Taker, HBK and HHH? Shawn and taker couldnt possibly top last year and might be a letdown in comparison, plus HHH v Sheamus doesnt set the world on fire. A triple threat would give a new twist to Taker and Shawn (not that it needs it). Shawn will continue on p------ off HHH (possibly losing DX the tag titles) pushing HHH to breaking point. It might take a little bit of work logically intertwining HHH and Taker but not much. WWE always seem to go with one 3 title match at Mania - heres hoping.

Personally, I hate the "representatives" idea for Bret Vs Vince. What I wanna see is a "I Screwed Bret" match where Bret puts the sharpshooter on Vince and Vince screams in agony over the mic "I SCREWED BRET"

I really enjoyed Raw this week. The highlight of the show was definitely the confrontation between McMahon and Hart at the end. Having Batista get involved was a surprise. Big Dave's beat down on Hart will surely get him more heel heat, which is a good thing. I think they're trying to build a tag team match at Wrestlemania now, and I agree that this is the right call, as both McMahon and Hart are getting on a bit. It should be Batista/McMahon vs Hart/Cena. I think Cena would play into the story well, as he's the one that confronted McMahon last week about the whole situation.

I think the line up for the Elimination Chamber Match is quite good, although I would like to have seen Swagger get a spot, but then I realised he had no chance when I saw he was wrestling Triple H in a qualifier. I'm pleased Kofi Kingston beat the Big Show, even if it was in a strange way. That finish didn't really suit Show's character at all.

It sort of annoyed me that the announcers said that Edge has to chose between facing the WWE or World Champion at 'mania. Isn't the ECW Title meant to be one of the belts the winner of the Rumble can go for? I know no one will probably ever do that. Although seeing Edge vs Christian on the biggest show of the year would be pretty special. Think I'd rather see that than Edge/Sheamus or Edge/Taker round 2.

I'm interested to see where the Legacy storyline is going. It would be good if the faction split up over the next few weeks, then we could see Rhodes vs Dibiase at 'mania in a grudge match.

WWE is seriously running out of people to do this guest-host thing. I mean, another NASCAR guy? In the words of The Miz, reeeaaally? What a let down. At least I've heard of this guy because he was in the crowd at Wrestlemania last year and Cena went and celebrated with him when he won the World Title. But that still doesn't get me excited about it. Hopefully this guy'll do a better job than those two other no-name NASCAR people from a while ago.

I attended this event, and Cena did make the save, after the show ended of course. Which then led to the "SO AWESOME" bout between Cena & Sheamus... I must admit, that one is done. After Hart got up and thanked the fans and Cena and left. Then the dark match started. And Batista ran in and got to Cena and it ended in DQ

Not sure how it played out on tv, but Cena was WAY over in Nashville.

Speaking of Nashville, What if Double J had came back and did the stroke on Bret Hart? oooooh, too soon?

So yeah, live it was a good show, the HBK/Orton had us all excited, as the other matches (save Dibiase, Henry) were pretty lop-sided and expected.

Oh and did anyone cringe when Batista was giving shots to Bret? Some would say he's every bit as stiff and wild as Goldberg was. Last guy I would want to hit me in the head. Maybe it wasn't as close on TV, but from my view it looked pretty tight.

In response to a heel Lawler, i personally think he should be and the best way would for him to side with the Straight Edge Society, who may be appearing on both shows. Lawler has never smoked or even tasted alcohol in his life :(

"Batista was actually turned away by WCW. Batista has aid that he tried out at the Power Plant and the trainer (Dewayne "Sarge" Bruce") worked him to the point of exhaustion and told him he should quit because he'd never make it in the business".
That sarge guy is a jerk. I think he actually resented the young guys he trained because, unlike him, some of them might actually have careers.
They made all recruits work til they vomited. You need to see what they did to British documentary maker, Louis Theroux.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHb7HDSSi_A&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=9A373C01476BCA9F

You cannot seriously want to see Mr. Wrestlemania wasted in a tag team mach with two old men and a God aweful wrestler in Batista. Cena/Hart vs McMachon/Batista makes much more sense, given how the last few weeks have played out (for the record I would hate this scenario for two reasons: First, the whole point of this storyline is based on the history between Bret/Vince so I think the WWE would be fools to include two people who weren't even around in 1997. Second, Cena only has 6 moves (Attitude Adjutment, STFU, Side power bomb, 5 Knuckle Shuffle, missed leg drop off top rope, flying shoulder block) and Batista only has 3 (spear, spinebuster, Batista Bomb), so I worry who would carry the match before Bret comes in and puts Vince in the Sharpshoter for the win).

As far as Michaels/Taker II, I am with you on that one and have no interest in seeing it. I think a match with HHH makes much more sense for Michaels given that a DX break up is inevitable. Plus putting HHH agiant HBK gives HHH the chance to burn the house down, something he's yet to really do at WM.

As for Taker, Cena makes the most sense as an opponent, providing he's not teaming with Hart . Actually, it even makes sense if Cena were to beat Taker. Part of the reason the streak has grown so long is because in the last decade there really hasn't been a star big enough to beat Taker on "his stage" (not even Mr. Wrestlemania himself). Cena is the biggest superstar to emerge since the Austin/Rock eras and beating Taker at WM would cement his position, not only as this era's biggest star, but also one of the biggest in WWE history (I just puked some when I typed that).

. He seemed a little more comfortable on the mic than he did during his appearance a month ago, and he also looked and sounded more like his old self (I think the wet hair had something to do with the familiar look). That was the exact same thing I said to my younger brotherb as we were watching it Kevin great minds think alike

Kevin, you didn't mention the Tag Team Triple Threat Match for the Utnited titles booked for next week. What do you think of that? Can't see Show Miz winning, athough Show being out of the WWE title picture could be an indication... But I guess that Straightedge Society will get the belts, because HBK will cost the match, furthering his despair and maybe his heel turn... Too bad that the fact that he still is the UTTC Champion wasn't even considered as an argument by Triple H, when he tried to tell him that all was not lost. The whole "we'll go to Mania to face each other" thing made the tag team titles seem irrelevant, in my opinion.

But what amazed me is that both Punk/Gallows and Miz/Show seemed very happy with the idea brought by Shatner. Why would they? Don't they understand that they have less chances to win the titles in a Three Way than in a regular match? These are two heel teams, so they're not supposed to just be happy that they get a match and accept it with sportmanship. They should try to maximalize their chances, shouldn't they? This goes especially for Punk/Gallows, since they won a shot at the UTTC and never had the chance to have a match against DX. Or did I miss something?

As I watched Bret I wondered HOW MUCH MONEY did Vince offer him. There is always a price tag when it comes to Vince. Vince, the man who has had some direct affects on the Hart Family over the years. Bret looked like a shell of what he use to be. I felt bad for the guy. You can see the years of wrestling but especially the stroke he had has taken a toll on Bret. If Bret does wrestle at Wrestlemania. I agree him and Shawn as a tag team would be good in a sense. But to tell the truth " I am very tired of hearing " Bret got screwed " 12 years of this. Its old and tired and I am sad to say just like Bret looked in the ring. WOOOO

Because of his injury history it doesn't look like there is much they can do with Bret, wrestling wise. Nor should they try to push the envelope, considering the circumstances.

I don't find this whole contruct nearly as interesting as it looked like it could be.

Neither Vince or Bret really seem to be into it, especially Bret. Agreed that his second segment with Vince was a little better.

AT is right, Cena and Batista don't fit in this angle. They only confuse the issue. The two guys who could potentially help it move forward would be Shawn and HHH, who were part of the original controversy.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I agree that Shawn/Bret vs. Vince/Triple H would be the most compelling tag match, but apparently Triple H wants no part of the angle.

Apparently Triple H's motivation is to get the WWE Title and re-assume the role of Top Dog on the sport's flagship broadcast, Monday Night Raw. He seems to like being a "face" rather than a "heel" and he truly has taken the role of fan hero which was formerly held by icons such as Hogan, Austin, Rock, Michaels, Hart and (non-WWE) Sting. To mar his status now by casting him in a heel role against Shawn and Bret would do nothing to cement what he is looking at now ....his Hall of Fame legend status.

But if not for the history between Orton and the McMahons, the Legend Killer would have been the perfect one to cast with Vince against Hart and Cena. And even Chris Jericho with his "down with the legends" play last year would have been better to pair with McMahon than Batista. In fact, Jericho and Show could have teamed with McMahon against Bret and DX. THAT would have made a Wrestlemania match to remember.

At this point, it is no secret that this Wrestlemania is being built around the participants of that Montreal title match twelve years ago...Bret as a novelty and Shawn in what could be a prelude to Shawn's swan song year.

What's really sad is that WWE has wasted a great opportunity to send it's top Star of the present, Triple H into a match with it's top Star of tomorrow, Drew Mcintyre. And Cena...to be the Dale Jr. of WWE in terms of popularity, using him in a novelty match rather than have him Main Event the card is not maximizing his drawing potential..which begs the question....Are the guys who ran WCW into the ground making the storylines leading up to WM 26? Just askin! Think about it!

What amazed me is that both Punk/Gallows and Miz/Show seemed very happy with the idea brought by Shatner. Why would they? Don't they understand that they have less chances to win the titles in a Three Way than in a regular match? These are two heel teams, so they're not supposed to just be happy that they get a match and accept it with sportmanship. They should try to maximalize their chances, shouldn't they? This goes especially for Punk/Gallows, since they won a shot at the UTTC and never had the chance to have a match against DX. Or did I miss something?

Yea, Axl, you missed the last 3 years of WWE programming where DX are better than every other team.

In a triple threat match, CM Punk & Gallows and Big Show & Miz won't have to defeat either member of DX now. They can defeat a member of the opposing team to win the titles.

Michael Cole's whole "33% likelihood of winning" is greatly flawed because it assumes that all participants are equally likely to win, which as everyone knows, is never the case.

Kev, I figured it out.

Everyone expects VInce and Bret to have some kind of match at WM, but theyre both pretty broken down. Batista coming to assist Vince in attacking Bret gave me an idea. Batista eliminated Michaels in the RR, leaving HBK with no shot at the Undertaker. HBK also made ammends with Hart when Bret hosted Raw. What do you think about him teaming with Bret and facing Vince and Batista? I know it isn't the dramatic HHH/HBK match that seems likely to take place, but think about it. What is Michaels most famous WM moment? 60 min Iron Man match with Bret Hart. So if this is his last WM, wouldnt it be fitting to have him team with the man he made history with. thats what i would do, anyway.

If John Cena gets pushed any farther he'll leave Earth's gravitational field. So, I really hope for Michaels/Bret vs. McMahon/Batista at WM 26. Redoing Michaels vs. Undertaker would be boring unless Michaels managed to end the streak, and I can't imagine WWE letting that happen anytime in the future. Although, I kinda wish Batista wasn't there at all, seeing as so far I haven't been able to pick up any reason for him to be involved in the angle in the first place.

"I too thought about The King and Hart. They had long heated feuds in the 1990s. Anyone remember Issac Yankem DDS?" For that reference Goon, you are my hero. I miss the old Kane, with the mask and some actual muscle tone. But I'm such a ridiculous fan of Kane and the Undertaker that I tune in hopelessly every Friday hoping for another Brother's of Destruction angle.

I dont mind the Vince/Bret match being a tag match. it may also give us a chance to see Cena/Batista 2. But i think the partners will be Shawn and Batista. Batista's actions on smackdown seems toimply he is an ulterior motive. Maybe he has a deal with Mcmahon?

Straight Edge Society will probably win the tag titles, and Sheamus will probably retain. Also the ECW title wasnt mentioned as a possible challenge cuz it wont be there by wresltemania as the brand is being terminated.

Interesting, when Bret said the word 'ass'. They silenced the whole broadcast. How did they know when or if he was going to say that considering that Raw is a PG show. On the other hand it enhanced the promo reminding me of how edgy Raw used to be.