you mentioned kelly kelly and tiffany as the only female babyfaces, but what about Eve? it seems like she's being pushed now as the company's top face Diva...

RESPONSE FROM KE: Eve is on Raw; I'm talking about the Smackdown roster.

um... ziggler?

My father suffered the exact same injury as Beth Phoenix did when he was a bit younger and more spry, and he wasn't in as great of shape as Phoenix is, he was not back to the same physical level as before the injury after six months. That, compiled with the fact that Phoenix is a professional wrestler and frequently uses her knees for strenuous tasks, doesn't bode well for her. Her loss is a huge hit for the women's division, especially with the recent loss of Micky James. I wish her a speedy recovery because the women's division is really going to miss her and she is easily my favorite women's wrestler around today.

Kev, what do you think of the Smackdown roster post-draft? Is the depth strong enough in the long term when it comes to the roster? What's next for the likes of Christian, or MVP? Love the column.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I think the roster is deep enough. Without the big stars such as Cena, Orton, Edge, Jericho, HHH, etc., other guys will get a chance at the top

There's a nickname for that injury (ACL/MCL/Medial Meniscus) in sports medicine - it's called the terrible triad. Basically those 3 tissues are the only thing holding the medial aspect of the knee together, if 1 or 2 of them tear, the third can assist in keeping the knee stable during recovery. If all 3 tear (which is unfortunately common among athletes) then recovery is more difficult because there's no internal integrity left to the joint.

I wish Beth Phoenix all the best in her recovery, but depending on the severity of the actual tears, 6 months might be on the optimistic side.

I'm with you Kevin, I thought Swagger's promo was very entertaining. And honestly I didn't really think it went too long - it took the first 5 minutes or so before the heat really started in the audience. I think it was good for him to have lots of time to gloat and take is time.

And I really hoped Big Show was gonna take a great big bite of a "Swaggie" (which is one of the most hilarious things I've ever heard).

Couple words on Swagger:

What makes Swagger so fun to hate is not just that he's cocky and arrogant, but that he's cocky and arrogant about such irrelevant things. When McIntyre says no one can match his "potential and aggression" I kind of roll my eyes and say "sure, whatever". When Swagger says "I won a ballroom championship and had a sandwich named after me" I just crack up laughing. My personal favorite line was a previous week when he said he attended "the most prestigious university in the country, the university of Oklahoma". The absurdity of his brags make him fun to listen to and laugh at, and the longer you listen to him, the more you want to smack that cocky smile off his face!

I guess what I'm getting at is he's fun enough to listen to that I can sit through a 20 minute promo without getting bored, and the whole time he's building heat by being really funny and really irritating at the same time.

But Swagger also has the large stature and phenomenal physicality that allows him to be more than just a comedic heel - he can stand toe to toe with the big dogs and look legitimate (provided they continue to book him properly).

Do you think this fued between CM Punk and Rey Mysterio has gone for too long, Kev? I seriously hope over the limit finishes the fued and CM Punk or Rey can win some gold.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I don't think it's been too long. However, if it doesn't end at OTL, then it may be going too long.

Smackdown is going through babyface Divas faster than Vince Russo scripts heel-face turns. Of course, saying that Kelly Kelly and Tiffany are the only babyfaces they have left is like saying the only two cars you own are a Corvette and a Ferrari.

The McIntyre angle was too predictable, and once again he's only getting heat for non-wrestling stuff. Until I see him consistently win matches it's hard to take him seriously as a champion. Swagger has the same problem right now- he's just getting heat for being annoying, not for taking it to anyone in a match. When every other sentence begins with "My Daddy...", well, all he's getting is 'you're lame, go away' heat, same as McIntyre.

I just...didn't understand that segment with the divas. I mean, the rematch clause was from McCool, and it was a Handicap match, so why Layla has the championship? If that's the case, it's just a Triple Threat match, not a Handicap. And McCool celebrating with Layla? The hell?

Okay, Layla deserves the title, but c'mon, some common sense here.

It was going long the Swagger segment, but he's starting to grow on me. When he did those push-ups (God did we missed 'em) I was simply rolling on the floor laughing. (not literally, actually)

And may I suggest using TwitterFeed for future blog posts? It simply tweets new RSS feeds, meaning you don't need to manually post a link to new blogs. You can even write a prefix or suffix on it.

My problem with the Swagger/Big Show segment—apart from its length—is the PG-rating thing. We have already got a heel portraying abstinence from drugs and alcohol as a bad thing, and now a babyface is vandalizing property with no provocation. I'm not saying WWE should be the Disney Channel, but if they are going to encourage children to be antisocial and destructive, then can we at least have the blood back?

"It's called "The Swaggie" and it's delicious. It tastes like freedom". Had me actually laughing out loud.

I agree with Jeremy: while Swagger's facial expressions upon seeing his dancing trophy demolished were great, it would have been even funnier if Show had destroyed everything and then eaten that fabulous sammich!

What was up with cutting to commercial just minutes into his promo, though? What sense did that make?

Loved the Miami Vice suit on McIntyre, and I think he plays the smarmy bugger quite well.

The "Dudebusters"?? Seriously? HBK/Diesel as "Two Dudes with Attitudes" is bad enough, and that was about 15 years ago...

Poor Beth, and she had to drop the title in her hometown, no less.

My wife does not watch wrestling but happened to catch Punk on Smackdown and commented that he looked like Charles Manson. That tells me Punk's character can really register with people. Nice job Punk!

Going to commercial during Swagger's promo establishes that he has so much to brag about it won't fit in one segment. Chris Jericho's incredible promo on Dean Malenko's 1004 holds went into a break and was an all-time classic

I don't really think the Punk/Mysterio program has gone on too long. It was barely established in time for Wrestlemania and that was only a month and a half ago. It's nice to see a program have the time to run its course instead of rushing through the storyline

Man, I loved that Swagger segment. To paraphrase Michael Cole, it reminded me of vintage Jericho, like the Man of a Thousand Holds night. I love that they break to commercial during his promos, and I love how genuinely proud and goofy he is about his accomplishments.

Even though Beth will be out for the better part of the year, she should still get Diva of the year and PWI's woman of the year. She is by far the best female wrester in mainstream American wrestling. Hope she makes a full recovery.

Kevin, what I don't understand is that since Beth is so badly hurt that she needs to undergo surgery and will miss six months, why did she have this match - a match where she actually wrestled two opponents and even managed to lift them both on her shoulders, like Cena did with the Big Show and Edge at Mania 25? Wasn'it it a huge risk to make her injury even worse?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I'm not surprised that she went ahead and did the match. Injured champions often insist on dropping the title in the ring even though they are risking further injury. I am surprised that she did the move with both women on her shoulders. That was crazy to do that on a badly injured knee.

Hate to admit, I missed the "Swaggie" comment - because I hit FF on my dvr...cripes, that was long-winded. I think I wouldn't have minded it so much, if we then still didn't have to wait for Show's response, which we all knew was coming. To devote practically 1/4 of the show to that, while an entertaining concept, went on a little too long. Also, I'm just not buying Show in this role. The guy has never carried a show as a top babyface, so why would it work now? Especially considering how Christian was still made to look good in his loss to Kofi (who, seriously - can he get a new gimmick now, please?!?!) I think 'The Instant Classic' deserves his chance to prove he can carry a show like he did in TNA.

Any other Stern fans catch Punk's "get the poison out" reference?? Hilarious.

I think if MVP ever wants the push so many feel he deserves, JTG are not the three letters that can help him get there. I'll give you a hint....it starts with a T....and ends with a NA.

Big Show should have eaten the sandwich!!!

I'm fine with Rey/Punk continuing -- this is a great way for two performers who could be in title runs but aren't to have strong presence and booking, and it rubs off on Luke Gallows and (eventually? does she wrestle?) Serena.

As much as I'd love to complain about the things I don't like with WWE right now, I have to admit I really, really like what they are doing with the IC title. This whole angle with McIntyre/Kofi/Hardy/Long has really elevated its importance in my eyes. Kofi cared when he won it. Drew is p***ed of having it stripped from him. Heck, Christian even cared that he didn't win it. It's being treated like it actually has value, which will probably show in the crowd reaction to the IC title match at the PPV. Well, they'll care if it gets some decent time anyway. Ok, now I'm thinking too much :)

this would be the opportune time to have awesome kong dominate the women's division, perhaps unifying the titles, until beth makes a triumphant return.

wishful thinking i suppose.

I read that there are potential plans to make either Kingston or MVP to turn heel and that whichever guy does will get a bigger push. After Friday, it's hard to tell who that guy could be, but I'm going to go with MVP. Now how they'll pull it off is still a mystery.

at the time i posted this, this was not pointed out yet. didnt the person that attacked mysterio perform cody rhodes' finisher? im not quite sure either because i had smackdown on in the background while doing other things. but im pretty sure that it was "crossrhodes"

big show segment didnt work for me. he looked like a bully when he's supposed to be the babyface.

I noticed the same thing regarding Cody Rhodes' finisher...I hope it is him.

Lol I wasnt really paying attention and I thought Punk said "what doesnt kill you cant kill anybody else" which I thought was a cool but didnt really fit his character. I wish they would put a title on Punk...

Swagger was hilarious. I liked the segment quite a bit. I found it unbelievable though that he didn't at least try to enter the ring and stop Show from destroying everything. If that stuff really meant that much to him, he would have risked getting his ass kicked to save it. You could even hear a fan behind him saying "C'mon, that's your life's work! Stop him!"

This was a decent episode and it had a few surprises in it which made it fun to watch. The first of these surprises came when McIntyre came out at the end of the Kingston/Christian match. I thought for sure that he would at least stay "fired" for a few more weeks, then take his revenge on whoever won the match then. I did like this angle, and it sets up an intriguing program between Kingston and McIntyre. It'll be interesting to see where Christian goes from here too.

The other surprise on this show came in the form of Layla winning the Women's title. I know Phoenix has been injured, so I kind of figured that she would probably drop the title to McCool in the handicap match. Fair play to WWE for going the other way with it. It's cool how Layla's also the first British-born Women's champion too. It's nice how WWE is putting titles on competitors from places other than the U.S.

I agree that Swagger's segment did go on for too long. It just got a bit boring towards the end of it. Even the part with Big Show destroying all his trophies dragged quite a bit.

It seems as if Punk and Mysterio can do no wrong on Smackdown week after week. I thought they put on a great match and I really don't want their program to end. I have a feeling that it will at the pay-per-view this Sunday, but the two of them have definitely provided the best thing to come out of the WWE all year so far. Hopefully the both of them will continue to do great things when their brilliant feud comes to an end.

The finisher of the masked man wasn't "Cross Rhodes". When doing his finisher, Cody Rhodes grabs his opponent from behind and then does some kind of spinning neckbreaker. On Smackdown, the masked man clearly grabbed Rey from up front and then did the move.
I think Kev is right with his guess, that the mystery man is Joey Mercury, because one of his signature moves, in his previous WWE stint, was a swinging neckbreaker similar to the finisher of the masked man.

Isn't Joey Mercury married to Beth Phoenix?
The lucky man!!!