I was wondering if they were going to act as if Triple H and Taker never fought as well. I'm betting they're not even going to play Takers usual video package couting his victims.

The more I listen to the HHH promo, the less I am convinced he was trying to bury the whole roster, (I've seen it about 8 times now) I think he was more talking about the belts... sorry championships. As he mentioned he is a 13 time world champion and as he said in previous interviews he doesn't want to take Ric flairs Legacy from him. The only thing he hasn't done is 1) win the hardcore championship (which doesn't exist any more) and 2) beat undertakers streak. I don't think he meant that the guys in the locker room couldn't beat him. But that there is only one thing left for him to do and that is to beat the streak, when talking about Taker, same situation, Taker has also won everything there is, the only thing left for Taker is keeping alive the streak..

I think it was worded very badly but I don't think it was as intended to bury as we assumed. .

Geez...... both of kane's chair shots to show and gabriel looked amazing. They were super loud and they looked hard too.
I laughed when Booker called Kane the "Superman" of the WWE. That is the worst analogy ever. Since when does Superman light people on fire and have mental problems?

As much as I love Christian and think he's hugely underrated and underutilized, at this point on the "Road to WrestleMania" Christian is just not ready for a World Title match and adding him to the Edge-Del Rio match this late in the build-up will just water down the match ... unfortunately instead of elevating Christian, it will make the World Title seem "mid-card".
My vote: Keep Christian out of this one, and focus on his story after WrestleMania.

I thought the promos throughout the show building up taker and trips where giving thier match the 'big match' feel

I think Christian being involved would make for a great story with it being, Edge - the established 11 time world champion at the top of his game, Del Rio - the fast rising new comer on the cusp of glory and Christian - the journeyman who has never quite reached the top of the mountain

Kane absolutely killed Grabiel haha

Kevin, Did you like the Undertaker's New Theme?

For those of you who don't know it was
" There ain't no grave" by Johnny Cash

RESPONSE FROM KE: I did.

For some reason, I have this feeling that the "awesome" person Cole is referring to might actually be Awesome Kong. Maybe that's the reason why they're still trying to determine how they're going to introduce her, since it's going to be her WWE debut. But it's just a guess.

I don't know if Ricardo actually is that tone deaf or not, but I always thought that Nikolai had a very nice tenor. I liked his not-quite-finished version of "Some Enchanted Evening" from - uh, whatever that WWF album was called.

The guest referee for the Cole-Lawler's showdown is going to be Stone Cold imho, as he is scheduled to appear on RAW this monday.

I know it's too much to hope for, but how fun would it be if the special referee is Awesome Kong? She could be a blast!

It would be nice to see a triple threat match at WM between Edge, Alberto and Christian. :)
Stone Cold is coming back on Raw tomorrow night, so I think he will be the referee. :D

Hey Kevin:

With only four weeks to go until WrestleMania, the WWE has only announced two inductees for this year's Hall of Fame class, when they usually have gone with 6-8 per year of late. Are they reducing the number of inductees to make it more special, or will they go with announcing two or more per week the rest of the way in?
Also, I've heard nothing about a MITB match this year, or anything about the Divas' match this year yet. If they're going to get most of the superstars on the card, they need to start putting some group matches together in a big hurry, instead of just a half-dozen one-on-one grudge matches. Any ideas on this?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I read that there will be no MITB this year since it has its own PPV now. I believe there will still be about 8 inductees. Bob Armstrong was announced on wwe.com. Also Abullah The Butcher has been confirmed. I know the person who will be announced on Monday's episode but I have been sworn to secrecy.

Awesome Kong would be a stretch since Cole kept referring to the ref as "he." He teased that "he" would be the Miz but that's not happening. So, what multi time world champion doesn't have a scheduled match at WM27? How about the Rock? Rock could help Cole defeat Lawler, establish a heel turn and then make sure Miz beats Cena. Of course, he would then disappear from the WWE again.

This is shaping up to be one of the least intriguing Wrestlemania cards in some time.

Miz has really come on, but have no interest in seeing him join The Cena Job Squad.

Edge-Del Rio isn't all that interesting with Edge as a babyface.

Rey Mysterio is about 8 years past the point when I liked watching him, his act just got old.

Orton-CM Punk with nothing on the line does nothing for me.

Triple H-Taker, no because we all know the result. At least last year with HBK's career on the line there was a CHANCE that he'd prevail since he was too valuable to just let walk away.

Michael Cole-Lawler sadly is the most interesting just because of the mystery ref part, but I'm sure that will end up being stupid.

I think it would have been better to keep the #1 contender for Miz's belt on the line until Elimination Chamber and had Punk, Orton, Morrison, and Cena in the mix with Orton going on to face Miz. Then have Cena settling his feud with Punk/Nexus for good at Wrestlemania and setting up The Rock-Cena confrontation at WM minus the "wrestlemania host" title which immediately implies The Rock will not be getting physical at all.

Couple of quick predictions for WM based on this show:

-Cole's going to announce Monday that the special guest referee will be the Raw GM, whose identity will be revealed at WM. There it will turn out to be Cole himself, leading to a beatdown of Lawler by Swagger, and Cole counting his own pin. He'll then become a full-time character as the GM, sparing us from having to listen to him on commentary any more.

-If there is a MITB match, Christian will finally win, setting up the possibility he could cash in that night against Edge or Del Rio. He doesn't, but is further entangled in the ME scene, with both E&C chasing a victorious Alberto Del Rio.

"I laughed when Booker called Kane the "Superman" of the WWE. That is the worst analogy ever. Since when does Superman light people on fire and have mental problems?"

When he is Bizzaro Superman?

Kevin, this is a company that doesn't care if you remember something hat happened from 2 weeks ago in a story line that just flat out ended and the guys involved in a feud are now acting like buddies in the ring, so do you think they care if fans remember something from 10 years ago?

As for Christian, I think he is doing this more for himself than Edge. I see Christian interfering in Edge's match and either Edge retains the belt and then that starts a Del Rio/Christian feud (but I don't really see why that would happen, Del Rio I think has enough push already), or Del Rio wins because Christian turns on Edge and then Edge and Christian have a feud for a bit, Edge goes back after the belt or that opens the door for somebody else.

Micheal Coles' match....why are we even talking about it? Who cares who is special guest ref is? Lawler's winning this one. How bad would it look if "the King" who came within an eyelash of beating the Champ loses to Cole?

"I laughed when Booker called Kane the "Superman" of the WWE. That is the worst analogy ever. Since when does Superman light people on fire and have mental problems?"

Superman 3 when Richard Pryor gave him some blow.

Kane hit Gabriel with a chair because when BigShow was trying to get up, Show pushed Gabriel with one hand into Kane. I missed what happened at first myself and had to rewind it. ( love my DVR)

Ricardo Rodriguez. needs to be put in a cage suspended high above the ring, with Christian holding the key.

I think Cole's manager will be Jimmy Hart... who will ultimate cost Cole the match so Lawler gets his revenge. I read somewhere online that Hart has severed ways with TNA and will be at Wrestlemania.

The best s to turn Christian heel against Edge somehow at WM.

I thought this was a very good episode of Smackdown. Its a shame that so much of the show is devoted to Raw Recaps. I liked the Edge/McIntyre match and the tag team title match. I also was impressed with Cody Rhodes' promo. I would have never thoght he would be the breakout star of Legacy a year ago.

One last question: When Michael Cole got into the ring after the Swagger match, did anyone else think that he was going to put an anklelock on JTG?

now wwe has not big names accept choosen. So i dont have alot of acceptation from wm. I think awessom kong will be the refree in king nd cole match.

I also think it would be a good idea for Christian to be inserted into the Wrestlemania match between Edge and Albirto but I know it's not going to happen. I to was wondering if WWE was going to mention Taker already beating Hunter at mania I remember the match vividly plus it's on Undertaker's 15-0 dvd (which I own) so I don't see how they can hide that fact or ignore it. As for Kane tagging with Show and taking on the Core at mania in a handicap match I hear rumor that it will actually be Big Show and a surprise partner challenging the Tag team champs Slater&Gabriel at mania and the partner is scheduled to be Kevin Nash as his Disel Character. I know it doesn't make a whole lot off sense but I for one would much rather see that then Kane and Show in a handicap match.

Give Christian the money in the bank !!!!

Then let him make his jokes and play his games.

They can have him, bug the hell out of edge and everyone else , showing up at his matches with that brief case.

If there is no MITB match at WM27 and John Morrison gets put into another meaningless 2 minute match (or left off the card), I riot.

The return of legendary wrestling superstar The Undertaker this Friday night is really good. I don't think Triple H defeats The Undertaker at WrestleMania. I just remind all of you, Undertaker was already defeated Triple H at WrestleMania X-Seven. Similarly, he also defeated Shawn Michaels in last two WrestleManias. As per my knowledge, defeating Triple for Undertaker is really hard but he can do it. However, i wish Triple H all the best to give us a great man just like his friend Shawn Michaels.

Undertaker's new theme ruins the package. The music, for better or worse, is a big part of the best intro in wrestling. Changing it ruins the illusion.

I thought Edge bladed for a minute.

It seems obvious that Layla is turning face and will battle Michelle at WM.

Booker was actually OK. He sounded confident.

It'd be nice to see one of the Crocketts inducted into the Hall. How about Turner? That'd be interesting.

As for Edge and Del Rio, please do not make this a triple threat match WWE. Big time matches only require two participants. I can not recall a great triple threat match or fatal four way match. Sometimes less is more, and this is one of those times where that old saying rings true, at least to my ears it does.

As far as WWE acknowledging the Taker/HHH match from over 10 years ago, don't hold your breath. The WWE assumes their fan base has a 3 second attention span and will not let any past results get in the way of a good story, and the better story in this case is HHH never facing Taker at Mania rather than HHH losing to Taker at Mania 10 years ago.

Marko50-I think you're referrng to Nikolai's version of the Jay and the Americans hit 'Cara Mia' from 1985's "The Wrestling Album".

Who owns the rights to the name "Awesome Kong"? If it is the wrestler herself, then there is a small chance of her being the special guest referee. If not, then WWE will rebrand her with a new name (they might do that anyway, just to separate her new identity from the one she used in TNA).

RESPONSE FROM KE: I believe TNA owns Awesome Kong, while she owns Amazing Kong.

The most obvious scenario would be to add Christian to the match and make it a triple threat, but another possibility would be to have Christian in Edge’s corner to counter interference from Ricardo Rodriguez."

I definitely expect Christian to be involved in the WM match in Edge's corner. And as stated in an earlier comment, I also think he's going to turn against Edge and cost him the title. But first, he'll eliminate Rodriguez during the match to make the swerve an even bigger surprise.

The only issue is how to explain that Christian has sided with the man who put him out of action for so long. But I expect Christian to say it was a plot from the very beginning and he was never injured. Just a very elaborate set-up.

WrestleMania in Atlanta.... I wonder how many matches will have a Dusty finish?

Barrett goes from a rumored big money match against Undertaker to working a mixed tag team match against Big Show & Kane.

Bit of a step down, yeah?

I sorta agree with Bill. I can see Christian turning heel on Edge, either costing him the title or attacking him after the match. They already have a built-in storyline with the two. The times Del Rio attacked Edge, Christian makes the save. The times Del Rio attacks Christian (including tonight's Raw), no save from Edge.

They can definitely go with the "I always had your back, but you're too much of an R-Rated Superstar to watch mine" storyline.

I honestly wish Christian would of stayed with TNA he's always been one of my favorites plus TNA showcased his talents at high levels

I LOL'd when Teddy bailed out of the ring. That was a very nice touch.

Turning Christian heel would be a nice swerve. I think that would make for an intriguing matchup.

Overall, this was a decent episode of SmackDown.