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That pretty much reflects how I feel about the show. Great predications as always!

I really hope Rey keeps his mask. Yeah Jericho is a good IC champ but I like Rey with the mask more. I know he's been unmasked before so this isn't a new idea.

I don't know if Big Show will get involved. He doesn't like the Miz at all. True Miz helped him get a win over Cena but that doesn't mean Show owes him anything.

I'm gonna make some quick short predictions for a change. Just feel like it so here we go. Thanks for the template D-Lucks :)

1. The Great Khali vs. Dolph Ziggler (No DQ Match)
Since Dolph's won the last couple of matches (all be it via shenanigans), I expect him to go over tonight. He can make use of weapons and what not and move on to another fued.

2. Women's Champion Melina vs Michelle McCool w/ Alicia Fox
Haven't really followed this storyline, but I'll go with McCool. They've been talking about the first women's/diva's champion so I'd assume they'll have Michelle win and claim that feat.

3. Unified Tag Team Champions Carlito and Primo vs Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase
I expected Priceless to win this one. They've been built as (fairly) strong these past few weeks and It'd be a good way to cement Legacy as a top faction in the WWE. Plus The Colon's have held the titles for a while now, having defended them very few times and are becoming kinda stale in my opinion.

4. John Cena vs The Miz
John Cena will probably win tonight, because, you know, he's John Cena. However, Cena seems like someone who understands the business to me and I think he'll make Miz look credible while still beating him. At the end of the day it all depends on creative here. Miz dosen't have to win to remain an upper mid-carder/futured maineventer? Just look like he could beat Cena.

5. Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio (Mask vs Title)
Since Jericho got the title just last month I really expect him to retain tonight, although by DQ. That way he keeps the strap, Mysterio keeps the mask and the long fued that we know Jericho requested carries on. Personally I reckon they'll keep this going till SummerSlam and end it with a speciality match. Cue the return of The Undertaker!

6. ECW Champion Tommy Dreamer vs Jack Swagger vs Christian vs Finlay vs Mark Henry (Scramble Match)
I haven't caught much of ECW lately which is unfortunate, so I'm really not sure which way this could go. From what I've seen, four of the five guys have a shot, and even Mark Henry can't be written out completley. I'd like to see a heel win it, and then fued with Bourne, but that could be a few months of yet. So, I'll say Dreamer retains tonight and maybe again at NoC. Probably drops it at SummerSlam.

7. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy
Ah, Smackdowns building of matches is excellent, and this is no exception. I reckon Punk will retain tonight, since it's still unknown whether Jeff will re-sign with the company. If he does, I think he'll win it at SummerSlam, if not, Punk will retain for a while longer and continue to be built up as a heel. As for the finish of this match, I think it'll end in a similar way as they've been building Punk. Not a full blown heel attack, not a clean finish. Maybe Hardy gets the three count while the refs down and Punk gets a cheap win via roll up or a GTS following Jeff being distracted. Regardless of the finish, this is a possible match of the night.

8. WWE Champion Randy Orton vs Triple H (3 Stages of Hell Match)
I don't think this match will be anywhere near as bad as people are making out. There LMS match on Raw was streaks ahead of there Wrestlemania match a few months ago and I expect them to pull out something pretty decent tonight. The result? If Orton dosen't retain it'll be a travesty. A fall each and then Orton and the rest of Legacy can beat down Trips and throw him on a stretcher. Show ends with the three of them with all the gold. If Trips win tonight, it will be one of the most pointless reigns in history. Orton won the title back what, two weeks ago? In a match that HHH was in? Since this stale fued's unlikely to end until SS, Orton should keep the belt tonight.

Given that I'm running 15 minutes behind, and don't know any outcomes yet, I think I'll make my predictions now... using D-Lucks' template.

At 6/28/09 07:22 AM, TheD-LucksEdition wrote: 1. The Great Khali vs. Dolph Ziggler (No DQ Match)

Ziggler really has to win. Faces are meant to win to blow a feud off, but when you're as talented and over as Khali, you really don't need to rub that beating a nobody gives you.

2. Women's Champion Melina vs Michelle McCool w/ Alicia Fox

I don't have alot to say about the SD! women's division. McTaker annoys me (it may just be her accent, or that she sucks on the mic), but her and Gail Kim would be cool, so I'll go for that.

3. Unified Tag Team Champions Carlito and Primo vs Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase

Talking about things I don't care about...
The henchmen should go over, mostly because I like Danny's idea about the heels celebrating with all their gold at the end of the night.

4. John Cena vs The Miz

For some reason, I quite like Cena in the ring. Mostly when he doesn't win though. I want the Miz to win, but equally, that doesn't seem likely here. Here's hoping Miz doesn't get squashed.

5. Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio (Mask vs Title; if Rey loses he must unmask)

Not alot to say here. Should be a great match, and I bet they'll work hard in the match to convince us that Misterio will lose the mask. But he won't.

6. ECW Champion Tommy Dreamer vs Jack Swagger vs Christian vs Finlay vs Mark Henry (Scramble Match)

I'm currently about 10 minutes into this match, and I'm none the wiser about who will win. I'm predicting either Swagger regaining the strap, or Dreamer stealing a pinfall with seconds left.

7. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy

This should be good. I'm predicting a CM Punk victory, but the real interesting part of this match is how Punk gets the win. I could see an Edge interference for the win, personally.

8. WWE Champion Randy Orton vs Triple H (3 Stages of Hell Match)

Meh, I hope for lots of Plunder and then Orton retaining (it pains me to hope for that) to give us a nice evil visual to close out the show.
I have no idea how they'll end this feud though. It seriously is a massive blood feud, and I can't see anything short of a loser leaves town match, followed by keeping them apart for a few years, to end this thing.

At 6/28/09 03:36 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 6/28/09 02:07 AM, Assi9 wrote: What was his gimmick before? Can't be any more obnoxious.

Well he was part of the Spirit Squad at one point.

.....ok, maybe he WAS more obnoxious.....

But I meant that whole thing where he just seemed to be in endless meaningless RAW segments introducing himself instead of being out there wrestling.

Actually, that's still pretty much his gimmick - just with little need to go around introducing anymore.

At 6/28/09 07:22 AM, TheD-LucksEdition wrote: 2. Women's Champion Melina vs Michelle McCool w/ Alicia Fox

What's with the 'McTaker' reference? (Assuming it's geared towards the Faithbreaker, it doesn't look THAT much like a Tombstone......)

At 6/28/09 08:54 PM, Assi9 wrote: What's with the 'McTaker' reference? (Assuming it's geared towards the Faithbreaker, it doesn't look THAT much like a Tombstone......)

Lets just say that Taker should probably get "Michelle" tattooed onto his neck.

At 6/28/09 09:02 PM, HeartbreakHoldout wrote: Lets just say that Taker should probably get "Michelle" tattooed onto his neck.

Cause that worked so well last time.

Also does anyone other then me wonder if she came up with using The Styles Clash all by herself when she saw AJ do it? Or do you think somebody in WWE suggested it to her as a way to kind of fuck with AJ after he did pointedly turn down a developmental deal a few years back?

haven't watched all of the bash yet but i have a few things to write

ok I'm glad that Ziggler won his match against Khali, and by the return and interference by Kane it seems like this feud is history. On one hand I'm glad to see Ziggler getting out of this feud with the most victories (even though barely any of them were clean) and hopefully going on to better things, meanwhile, though i am glad to see Kane back, he's once again placed in a lackluster feud.. i mean do you remember the Kane/Khali match they had at wrestlemania (i can't even remember which one it was) a couple of years back?.... exactly you don't.. I feel for the guy, he can never seem to catch a break these days..

The Tag Team Title match... i had it all played out in my head, Legacy wins, Orton wins and now they all have gold around the waists.. but wait, here comes Teddy Long to announce that a new tag team has joined the match... Edge comes out with an intense look, and actually received a nice pop too.. now i'll be honest with you.. the mark side of me was really hoping for Christian to be coming out next ("WE WANT CHRIS-TIAN!" chants were heard during the match).. but then out comes Jericho!.. still.. YES!! The look on Jericho's face was priceless, he looked at Long as if he was saying "hah.. i knew you'd crack".. and the best part is.. THEY WON! even though it looks like the end for the Jericho/Mysterio feud, i could not be happier with this outcome.

Ok is it just me or does it seem that The Miz got nothing out of his match with Cena? He was literally a human punching bag for about 8 mins.. and about 2 minutes where he actually had the upper hand. To be honest, I was kind of impressed with Cena, he actually showed off a bit "old school wrestling" moves at the beginning of the match.. even cole and lawler picked up on that too. But of course he used the old Cena routine at the end to win the match.. am I upset that Miz jobbed hard to Cena?.. no.. not really lol.. Morrison all the way.

Of course Undertaker's bit.. uh Michelle McCool wins the Womens title making her the first Diva to be a Divas Champ and a Womens Champ.. the lesson is, it pays to be connected with the powerful guys... Hey ladies, Cena might be avaliable soon! (hint hint)

also a little fact

With winning the WWE Tag Team titles (the smackdown branded titles), Chris Jericho has become the only ultimate grand slam champion, winning every single title in the catagory (WWE Title, WH Title, WWE Tag Team Titles, World Tag Team titles, IC Title, European Title & Hardcore Title)

also Jeff Hardy also only has to win the WWE Tag Team titles to also be an Ultimate Gland Slam Champion

At 6/29/09 06:38 AM, Random-Her03 wrote: With winning the WWE Tag Team titles (the smackdown branded titles), Chris Jericho has become the only ultimate grand slam champion, winning every single title in the catagory (WWE Title, WH Title, WWE Tag Team Titles, World Tag Team titles, IC Title, European Title & Hardcore Title)

United states championship doesnt count anymore?
It's still active isnt it?

At 6/29/09 07:31 AM, Shaun wrote:

At 6/29/09 06:38 AM, Random-Her03 wrote: With winning the WWE Tag Team titles (the smackdown branded titles), Chris Jericho has become the only ultimate grand slam champion, winning every single title in the catagory (WWE Title, WH Title, WWE Tag Team Titles, World Tag Team titles, IC Title, European Title & Hardcore Title)

United states championship doesnt count anymore?
It's still active isnt it?

i dunno why but the US Title, ECW Title, Light Heavyweight Title and Cruiserweight title aren't involved with the grand slam catagory

I was ironically about to ask when Kane's coming back, but that's now been answered for me. :P Well, at least Khali has a bigger opponent to feud with...

I'd rather see a feud with Show or Henry, though. Y'know, somebody REALLY big that Khali has yet feuded with - not to mention someone who can actually give him a push..

At 6/29/09 03:20 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 6/28/09 09:02 PM, HeartbreakHoldout wrote: Lets just say that Taker should probably get "Michelle" tattooed onto his neck.

Cause that worked so well last time.

Also does anyone other then me wonder if she came up with using The Styles Clash all by herself when she saw AJ do it? Or do you think somebody in WWE suggested it to her as a way to kind of fuck with AJ after he did pointedly turn down a developmental deal a few years back?

I've apparently missed a hell of a lot more than I thought......

At 6/29/09 06:17 AM, Random-Her03 wrote: The Tag Team Title match... i had it all played out in my head, Legacy wins, Orton wins and now they all have gold around the waists.. but wait, here comes Teddy Long to announce that a new tag team has joined the match... Edge comes out with an intense look, and actually received a nice pop too.. now i'll be honest with you.. the mark side of me was really hoping for Christian to be coming out next ("WE WANT CHRIS-TIAN!" chants were heard during the match).. but then out comes Jericho!.. still.. YES!! The look on Jericho's face was priceless, he looked at Long as if he was saying "hah.. i knew you'd crack".. and the best part is.. THEY WON! even though it looks like the end for the Jericho/Mysterio feud, i could not be happier with this outcome.

Ahhh, an Edge/Christian reunion would definitely take me back, as that's the era I actually started watching wrestling. But Edge/Jericho works, I guess. Anything to freshen up the Tag Division - Team 3D has an excellent point with that.

Ok is it just me or does it seem that The Miz got nothing out of his match with Cena? He was literally a human punching bag for about 8 mins.. and about 2 minutes where he actually had the upper hand. To be honest, I was kind of impressed with Cena, he actually showed off a bit "old school wrestling" moves at the beginning of the match.. even cole and lawler picked up on that too. But of course he used the old Cena routine at the end to win the match.. am I upset that Miz jobbed hard to Cena?.. no.. not really lol.. Morrison all the way.

I was actually hoping Miz would be built up slightly.....oh well, I find him horribly irritating anyway.

At 6/29/09 06:38 AM, Random-Her03 wrote: also a little fact

With winning the WWE Tag Team titles (the smackdown branded titles), Chris Jericho has become the only ultimate grand slam champion, winning every single title in the catagory (WWE Title, WH Title, WWE Tag Team Titles, World Tag Team titles, IC Title, European Title & Hardcore Title)

I'll be damned; good for him. I'll expect to see someone mention that this week.

also Jeff Hardy also only has to win the WWE Tag Team titles to also be an Ultimate Gland Slam Champion

Most likely without Matt now, unless they decide to reverse the whole thing.....which would be a waste IMO.

At 6/29/09 07:47 AM, Random-Her03 wrote: i dunno why but the US Title, ECW Title, Light Heavyweight Title and Cruiserweight title aren't involved with the grand slam catagory

Because WWE didn't invent them with the exception of the LH title. I know Jericho had the Cruiserweight title in WCW a few times though I can't recall if he ever held the U.S. title.

The Miz really needed to shine last night and WWE didn't let him. Great job guys. Way to make new top players.

Well, seems Mr. Cena has gone from completely dominating the main-eventers to completely dominating the mid-carders now. Before too long there'll be no one left for him to walk all over, forcing WWE to terminate everyone and bring in fresh rosters for Cena to eliminate.

Exaggerated, of course, but seriously - why? Does Cena really need that big of a push that they'd have him walk all over a guy like Miz? Come on ... not only have I stopped watching RAW, but before too long I'm gonna have to stop watching RAW matches on PPVs as well. Really aside from the tag team match, there was nothing RAW was involved with to be found here that wouldn't be seen on a televised broadcast. Women's title match with disappointing outcome? Check. Cena dominates yet another opponent? Check. Legacy interfering in an Orton match? Check.

Aside from RAW's part, I guess it wasn't too bad of a showing overall - if nothing else it gave us some good spots to look forward to on the respective shows. I'm looking forward to seeing some good Edgicho tag matches as frankly I'm interested to see how they'll come together in the ring. Speaking of Jericho, thank God Rey vs Jericho was on that card... I can never watch those two go at it too many times, and that was probably the big saving grace of this show.

I won't even bother furthering the little rant about Cena, as I'm sure you all share my same opinions on him. Seeing Punk win in complete heel fashion makes me look forward to this Friday (or at least this Tuesday when the spoilers pop up ;) - speaking of which, any news on Hardy's contract situation? It'd be a shame to see him go (again... -_-), but eh, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Also, it seems the beginning stages of the demise of Legacy have been put into play with Ted's little "snap" on Orton, and not a moment too soon if you ask me. I'm so sick of their shit it's unreal, and this was ultimately the reason I stopped watching RAW altogether. That and the lackluster creativity in the storylines, the same recycled Cena-Trips-Orton garbage every week, and the 90 minutes of soap opera coupled with the 30 minutes of wrestling. Boo to RAW. Maybe now things'll start to pick up, though I'm not betting on it.

Anybody else have any input on the turkey of a PPV that was put on last night?

Shit, sorry, late predictions, my comp is fucked up.
Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (New Intercontinental Champion)
WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Triple H (Three Stages of Hell Match)
Michelle McCool vs. Melina (New Women's Champion)
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy
John Cena vs. The Miz
ECW Championship Scramble Match- Tommy Dreamer
The Great Khali vs. Dolph Ziggler

At 6/29/09 05:51 PM, MudkipsPiano wrote: Shit, sorry, late predictions, my comp is fucked up.
Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (New Intercontinental Champion)
WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Triple H (Three Stages of Hell Match)
Michelle McCool vs. Melina (New Women's Champion)
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy
John Cena vs. The Miz
ECW Championship Scramble Match- Tommy Dreamer
The Great Khali vs. Dolph Ziggler

So predict all the winners except Khali the day after the PPV? Yeeeah....

Anyway, WWE TV could be very interesting (and scary) with some of the things I'm hearing this week.

At 6/29/09 08:54 PM, aviewaskewed wrote: Anyway, WWE TV could be very interesting (and scary) with some of the things I'm hearing this week.

I dunno, it could be good for some people. Just not so good for others...

There's so many people stagnating on Raw. I really hope they do something interesting tonight.

from what i read just now apparently WWE is thinking of shaking the roster up a bit, kind of like a 2nd Draft Lottery

i really hope this can bring Christian to SD!, now that he's lost the title i feel his time on ECW is through.

i guess i was a bit late on the news.. here's the trade results..

Moving to the Raw roster:
Gail Kim
Alicia Fox
Jack Swagger
Evan Bourne
Mark Henry

Moving to the SmackDown roster:
Matt Hardy
Finlay
The Hart Dynasty - David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd & Natalya

Moving to the ECW roster:
Shelton Benjamin
Goldust
William Regal
Brie & Nikki Bella

im glad the Hart Dynasty is on SD! but still.. no Christian to SD! goddamn it!
and it sucks that Shelton's back on ECW.. i never liked him there..

I like the trade, it seems to make smackdown an even better show.
I like the harts and putting them up a show is all good.
Guess they will probably feud with crime time then then maybe get a shot at the tag titles after that.

I agree with Shaun completely, they've absolutely made SD! a better show, the trades from ECW to RAW are interesting, but sadly it just seems to me that they'll probably just be jobbed out and not focused upon like everyone else. ECW once again gets screwed over here but you know what? They're the developmental brand and that's just going to be their lot in life. Moving Swagger may or may not be a mistake and honestly, I think I would have sent him to SD! first where he would have been nurtured more by the better creative and wrestling climate. My fear is that sticking him on RAW might expose him as not ready or he'll be pigeonholed and devalued quickly.

I know I don't post here much and I really want to so I guess this will be a start. For my start here I guess I'll rant on this trade.

Moving to the Raw roster:

Gail Kim- Don't care about divas

Alicia Fox- Don't care about divas

Jack Swagger- Sorry ECW, you can't have this young talent. By the way he acted on raw I wouldn't be surprised at all if he becomes part of legacy.

Evan Bourne:- Sorry ECW, you can't have his young talent either, oh well he might get some title opportunity though.

Mark Henry- He wasn't really doing much on ECW so I don't really mind him leaving.

Moving to the SmackDown roster:

Matt Hardy- I honestly don't really care, he hasn't made me care since he broke his arm.

Finlay- My favorite wrestler moved off my favorite brand, thanks guys. Maybe he'll do a little more, or get some title, that would be nice. Maybe letting him hold the IC title could do him some good.

The Hart Dynasty - David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd & Nata- Hey,remember all that young talent that ECW had, neither do I.

Moving to the ECW roster:

Shelton Benjamin- Ok, ECW got a Mid-carder that I don't like, great. Maybe he'll do something that makes me like him more, but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

Goldust- I really don't understand this move. He had his thing with Hornswogle and he didn't get in the way. Now what is he going to do?

William Regal- Again, what will he do?

Brie & Nikki Bella- I don't care about divas.

This is mostly me being mad at how ECW lost everybody and I know for a long time ECW has been used to springboard young people into good contenders, but why? Why can they let them grow a little bit on ECW and then maybe bring a little more merit, and a title or two, to ECW . oh well I guess I'll be watching a lot more Smackdown on hulu.

Maybe Benjamin will finally get the ECW title and can further his gold standard gimmick. Swagger may be able to get added to Legacy due to his actions last night, but if anything else he has been cemented as a heel upon his Raw debut. The match with Henry was pretty cool though.

Sigh...Another Cena/HHH encounter. I called it the moment I saw the bracket. Look, I get that both HHH and Cena are the top stars and are going to be in the main event picture, but there is room for new talent in this area. No matter the outcome it will be a match we've seen before. We have seen HHH and Orton go at it many times as well as Orton vs. Cena. Would it have killed the WWE to have given MVP a try? Or let Miz beat Cena? HHH vs. Miz would have been a decent match if they are going ot go with HHH, and MVP vs. Cena would have been good too.

At least they let Miz dominate most of the match. They did do a good job there in displaying that Miz is capable of doing damage.

I like the idea of Edge and Jericho being able to appear on any show. You can't have too much of those guys.

I missed RAW last night; too tired & not arsed enough.

???????

Wasn't there ALREADY a draft we just had? Why the need for another one? Oh well, at least this can mean the Hardy Bros. feud can start back up - which worked excellently in their favor. There's still the possibilities for a Steel Cage & Street Fight that they haven't used yet.

Interesting to see The Hart Dynasty in action for the first REAL time - I don't count the match with The Colons because of Legacy cutting it short.

Finlay on RAW must be for a 'father-son reunion'.

At 6/30/09 10:53 AM, Assi9 wrote: Finlay on RAW must be for a 'father-son reunion'.

I realize I just fucked up on that - I mean on SD..........so never mind the reunion. Oops.

Still not quite awake yet. :P

Raw was pretty solid last night. Other than the HHH squashing MVP (which is to be expected), the other top guys did a good job of putting over some of the lesser talent. Cena, the tag champs and Orton to name a few.

Might as well share my opinions on this out of the blue, not really needed draft.

Moving to the Raw roster:
Gail Kim

Don't follow the divas too much, but I though she was getting a bit of a push of Smackdown.

Alicia Fox

Hasn't dont too much on Smackdown other than walk around with McTaker. I wish they'd put her in an angle with Edge, as all the signs suggested.

Jack Swagger

While plenty will object that he should have stayed on ECW for a while longer, I'd disagree. The WWE seems to really like Swagger, hopefully he can be built up into a top heel on the A show. The bit with Orton last night could also lead to some interesting ideas. Priceless getting worked up with Orton who favours Swagger.

Evan Bourne

Horrible move in my opinion. He'd have been much better off on ECW or Smackdown where he could get to shine. I think he'll be lost in the shuffle, especially with Kofi Kingston in the spot I'd put Bourne.

Mark Henry

Was great to see a different side of him last night, that smile could rival Kofi's. I've never been a huge fan of Henry's, but I respect what he's done for himself these past couple of years. An upper-midcard fued/push for him would be good.

Moving to the SmackDown roster:
Matt Hardy

Maybe in preperation for a Jeff leaves WWE match? Regardless it's better for Matt to be on Smackdown. I think he'll get more exposure and a better chance to push himself into the championship picture.

Finlay

Eh, was never his biggest fan. Probably not a great move to be honest. On ECW I expected him to be involved in a championship match, whereas on Smackdown I think he'll be lucky to get into the IC title picture.

The Hart Dynasty - David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd & Natalya

Very good move and a chance to give them some serious exposure. They've been impressive on the C brand and I think they can do well on Smackdown. Only problem is I'm struggling to think who they can fued with other than some random face jobbers. Maybe R-Truth and someone?

Moving to the ECW roster:
Shelton Benjamin

Can't decide whether this a good or bad move for Shelton. On one hand, he's not exactly doing anything on Smackdown, on the other hand, ECW is an obvious step down but it might give him a chance to get people behind him (or against him, but that didn't sound right). A good reign with the title before a move back to one of the big shows.

Goldust

Not too bothered. Never really liked his wrestling or his gimmick. Suppose ECW might do him a bit of good. We shall see.

William Regal

Best place for him. He can help the new upandcomers which is more than he was doing on Raw. ECW is a lot more wrestle-based than Raw and that will suit Regal down to the ground.

Brie & Nikki Bella

Who exactly are they going to fued with on ECW? My only hope for them is the return of the Extreme Exposure before probably being wished well in there future endevours.

Overall the draft was probably a good thing overall. Some decent moves and some confusing moves. ECW got raped as usual but they'll do as they always do and build up some new stars. Smackdown got to keep just about everyone who's made them the best brand, and gained a couple more who'll do nothing but improve that. Raw took the best from ECW but I can't see too much happening with them except for Swagger. The rest will probably be buried in a couple of months at best.

SPOILER ALERT

I'll say it again... if you read past here, things will be ruined for you regarding next Monday Night RAW.

Is two enough? Okay then.

Well, according to this article, next week's RAW was taped due to it taking place overseas and all.

With this comes spoilers, obviously, and I just can't keep myself away from them. Now for those of you who don't mind reading them, you'll notice next Monday, RAW will announce a match on the Night of Champions card: Randy Orton vs Triple H vs John Cena for the WWE Championship, due to a no-contest matching ending between Cena and Trips.

I don't know why I felt the need to post this here, probably out of sheer aggravation for seeing the same match we've seen countless times, yet again. And the best part is, we get to pay to see it! Again!

RAW is kind of 50/50 for me right now. Yesterday's broadcast was pretty decent in my opinion, but it's crap like this that keeps me from being a 'real' fan of the show as I am with SmackDown! - hopefully the new talent will be enough to pull it out of its rut. Also (as mentioned in the spoilers up there), there'll be a match between Ted DiBiase and Randy Orton, and if this is an attempt to pile on the tension between the two (as we saw a "beginning of the end" of sorts at The Bash), you can bet I'll be tuning in in the future to catch where this is going. Legacy breaking up? Hell, that in itself would make RAW 50% more watchable.

Wasn't DiBiase supposed to turn face due to being in The Marine 2 or something along those lines?

We have new talent on ECW, Yoshi Tatsu from Japan, that was hilarious, racist stereotyping get's you kicked in the face, hahaha. Yea, I like how the trade went and also hello to this crew.

Since everybody else is doing it, thought I'd offer my thoughts and some potential paths you can take with the trades. Also a non-biased look at which show got the best of this deal. Let's hit it:

Moving to the Raw roster:
Gail Kim

Gail is a good pick up for the RAW Diva division as she's a great worker and like Mickie can be a cornerstone of this brand. However Gail has admitted that her passion isn't with WWE and she'd still be in TNA if not for personal circumstances where she needs the money. She said this pretty publicly so WWE really can't give her a push for awhile and frankly they shouldn't. If Kim isn't committed there's not a lot you can do with her because it just makes one think she's looking for a check and she'll be back in TNA at her earliest convenience. So by shooting her mouth off, she probably won't get a push, but she's a good hand that can help with the green champion they have right now, and someone Mickie James won't have to lead and carry.

Alicia Fox

I just don't see it, what is she gonna do? I haven't seen anything impressive from her and when the best Smackdown! can do with you is make you valet to another hot chick well...it just doesn't look like there's much to you is there? Just going to be another face for the diva tag bouts unless she works really hard and improves. This probably wasn't a move in Alicia's best interest.

Jack Swagger

Swagger is a blue chipper as JR likes to say. Lot's of potential, tons of upside. But RAW has a great track record of blowing it with young talents that seem like "can't miss" prospects. I think this depends on how much the office is behind the kid, I think this could really really hurt him. I think like CM Punk, the career path should have been ECW to SD! not ECW to RAW. The lisp is gonna hurt him on promos too, and promos are huge in WWE, but on RAW especially if you want to get up the ladder. I think this is ultimately not a good move for Swagger, but is a solid pickup for RAW.

Evan Bourne

Commit to him as the RAW answer to Mysterio and you will have something unique and beneficial to the show. But hey, RAW had Rey and as a RAW guy? He's great on Smackdown!. Vince doesn't know how to push a smaller flyer, and that's all I've ever known Evan Bourne to be in both WWE, and elsewhere on the indies. I just don't see this working out at all for Mr. Bourne.

Mark Henry

This may be the only one that might work out. Henry has finally figured out how to be a consistent beast and an effective mid-level monster character, and might even work as an emergency top guy. I think Henry earned the bumping up, and I think that with his size and his tenure, he's going to get a lot more of oppprtunity. Henry will probably do the best of the bunch I feel.

RAW got some great talents, but it's all in how you use them. I have to say that I thought CM Punk was a bust for RAW, and that's totally because of how RAW used him. This is true of a lot of the talent they drafted in the last couple years. There isn't a glass ceiling on RAW, there seems to be a titanium plated ceiling and there's just no getting through it.

Moving to the SmackDown roster:
Matt Hardy

The injury sucks, but this is a pretty big gift for Matt. He's the kind of worker SD! favors. He's also got lots of options in terms of what he can do, if Jeff stays he can pick up the feud with him, if not, the time off could have him return as a conquering babyface to feud with Edge/Jericho and the newly heel Punk (this scenario will work especially well if Jeff is leaving and Punk turns by putting Jeff out). Matt is really starting to come into his own and RAW seemed to have him on a slow boat to nowhere really. This move should help him out tremendously, and will strengthen SD!

Finlay

Good move for Finlay. He's done a good job working with the younger guys on ECW, and now he can go back to be a violent ass kicking heel on the show that favors wrestling. This is a great pick up for SD! and I can see Finlay being right in the revived IC title mix.

The Hart Dynasty - David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd & Natalya

Great move for them, this group has been Legacy done right. They are now on the home show of the tag champs, and where the pushed women's division is for Natalya to work in. They can be turned babyface anytime, or continue to be a heel gang beating up on people. Awesome pick up for fridays and good for the talent involved.

RAW might have gotten some future big names, and some current great talent, but I think SD! got a bit more star power here and again, because they have a good track record of using the talent they acquire in drafts and trades much more effectively. I think SD! got the best of the bargain here.

Moving to the ECW roster:
Shelton Benjamin

This could be quite good for Benjamin (tonight not withstanding) in that he enters a decimated ECW brand that will need top flight guys at or near the top. On SD! he didn't really have a storyline after the Morrison thing (where he was being used to help get over Morrison), so this might actually be a better fit for him then even the Friday brand was. He might be able to really break out and establish himself now and potentially return to one of the bigger shows finally established and in a role where he can't be ignored anymore. Hopefully tonight was a fluke, and not a sign of things to come.

Goldust

This could really be the last stop before releaseville for him. There's just nothing really left to do with this character in 09. The stuff on RAW didn't work, maybe being on the smaller show might help him out, but like I say, I just don't see what's left to do with this guy except jobbing him out to some of your newer guys and then dropping him when there's nothing else left to do with him.

William Regal

Strong hand, obviously he's there to replace Finlay leaving. Not going to be a top guy I don't think, but there's something there to be done with the Burchills I think as a sort of "British Invasion" so long as the point is to get Burchill over and not have Regal trying to cling to fame. A strong hand and a good teacher, but again, his best days are done. The pickup for ECW is good, but you gotta feel this is a demotion for Regal.

Brie & Nikki Bella

They're hot, they suck, whatever.

ECW got raped on this one, but they always will since they're a "finishing school" for developmental guys and this trade reflects that fact very well I think. The real winners here are the FCW guys that will be moved up to help fill out the roster.

At 7/1/09 12:56 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

Moving to the Raw roster:
Gail Kim

Gail is a good pick up for the RAW Diva division as she's a great worker and like Mickie can be a cornerstone of this brand. However Gail has admitted that her passion isn't with WWE and she'd still be in TNA if not for personal circumstances where she needs the money. She said this pretty publicly so WWE really can't give her a push for awhile and frankly they shouldn't. If Kim isn't committed there's not a lot you can do with her because it just makes one think she's looking for a check and she'll be back in TNA at her earliest convenience. So by shooting her mouth off, she probably won't get a push, but she's a good hand that can help with the green champion they have right now, and someone Mickie James won't have to lead and carry.

Wuh-oh........ >_< Oh well; she was doing better in TNA anyway. Going to WWE for the paycheck? Why bother?

Jack Swagger

The lisp is gonna hurt him on promos too, and promos are huge in WWE, but on RAW especially if you want to get up the ladder.

Haven't heard him talk enough to notice, but yeah, that'll suck.

Evan Bourne

Commit to him as the RAW answer to Mysterio and you will have something unique and beneficial to the show. But hey, RAW had Rey and as a RAW guy? He's great on Smackdown!. Vince doesn't know how to push a smaller flyer, and that's all I've ever known Evan Bourne to be in both WWE, and elsewhere on the indies. I just don't see this working out at all for Mr. Bourne.

I hope he does well enough & moves to SD eventually; he's an excellent worker in-ring & would also do well alongside Mysterio again in going after the Tag Titles.

Mark Henry

This may be the only one that might work out. Henry has finally figured out how to be a consistent beast and an effective mid-level monster character, and might even work as an emergency top guy. I think Henry earned the bumping up, and I think that with his size and his tenure, he's going to get a lot more of oppprtunity. Henry will probably do the best of the bunch I feel.

He can feud with Show now - here's hoping. He's defeated a good chunk of the WWE faces already, but there's still tons of heels he hasn't dealt with yet.

Moving to the SmackDown roster:
Matt Hardy

The injury sucks, but this is a pretty big gift for Matt. He's the kind of worker SD! favors. He's also got lots of options in terms of what he can do, if Jeff stays he can pick up the feud with him, if not, the time off could have him return as a conquering babyface to feud with Edge/Jericho and the newly heel Punk (this scenario will work especially well if Jeff is leaving and Punk turns by putting Jeff out). Matt is really starting to come into his own and RAW seemed to have him on a slow boat to nowhere really. This move should help him out tremendously, and will strengthen SD!

Again, I hope the Hardy Bros. feud reignites, as there's still quite a bit that can be done, unlike most of the other current feuds.

Finlay

Good move for Finlay. He's done a good job working with the younger guys on ECW, and now he can go back to be a violent ass kicking heel on the show that favors wrestling. This is a great pick up for SD! and I can see Finlay being right in the revived IC title mix.

It'll be good to see him again - considering I don't watch ECW anymore. Hopefully Horny will go back to 'his daddy' instead of Goldust.

The Hart Dynasty - David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd & Natalya

Great move for them, this group has been Legacy done right. They are now on the home show of the tag champs, and where the pushed women's division is for Natalya to work in. They can be turned babyface anytime, or continue to be a heel gang beating up on people. Awesome pick up for fridays and good for the talent involved.

I'm interested to see how good they are, as it sounds like they've made a decent name for themselves so far.

Moving to the ECW roster:
Goldust

This could really be the last stop before releaseville for him. There's just nothing really left to do with this character in 09. The stuff on RAW didn't work, maybe being on the smaller show might help him out, but like I say, I just don't see what's left to do with this guy except jobbing him out to some of your newer guys and then dropping him when there's nothing else left to do with him.

Why did he even go back to WWE anyway? It didn't seem like the Black Reign thing was doing TOO badly for him.

William Regal

Strong hand, obviously he's there to replace Finlay leaving. Not going to be a top guy I don't think, but there's something there to be done with the Burchills I think as a sort of "British Invasion" so long as the point is to get Burchill over and not have Regal trying to cling to fame. A strong hand and a good teacher, but again, his best days are done. The pickup for ECW is good, but you gotta feel this is a demotion for Regal.

Poor Regal.......that's all I can say at the moment.

My only concern is about Bourne. I think Vince and Co. would be very tempted to job him out since they always seem to favor the bigger guys. Then again they could use him as Raw's attention getter due to his high flying antics.

Regal and Benjamin add some new heels to go after the ECW title. Right now there are two faces in Dreamer and Christian fighting over the championship. Once their fued is over no matter who wins they will need heels to fued with.

Golddust is probably there for some comedy unless they actually give him a chance to be serious in the ring. If nothing else he'll be the veteran job guy for the younger talent to beat up on.