Columnists from ImpactWrestling.com

Linda's Thoughts - A Much Improved Raw

Linda Robin — 8/27/2008

I’m a day late with my column, but I want to talk about Raw, John Cena’s injury, and Mike Adamle. I have to say that Monday’s Raw was quite an improvement from last week’s show. At least this week’s show made more sense, unlike last week when things were just thrown together. There was one match, that kind of pissed me off and I’ll start with that match. Other than that one segment everything else was good. Wow that’s nice to say for a change. So let me start with the negative, and then on to the rest of the show, Cena and Mr. No Personality Adamle.

Just when I thought that Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes were getting ready to start up with Cryme Tyme. WWE pushed the clock back to a few weeks ago, and had these two guys face Jerry Lawler and Hacksaw Duggan ONCE AGAIN. Why? I kind of thought that we got the message a few months ago that this young tag team was anti “OLD” and at the time it worked fine. But why get that going again? It’s obvious that Cryme Tyme will be feuding with them, well the feud has started already, so I guess because there really is no tag team division on Raw this was all the creative team could come up with. I had absolutely no interest in watching this match, but there was a highlight for me during this segment and that was Cryme Tyme finally getting some mic work and antagonizing DiBiase and Rhodes. I thought Shad and JGT did a cool job on the mic and they made this segment passable. Oh and add the debut of Primo Colon vs. Charlie Haas as another negative. But I didn’t really dislike this; only because, I thought Haas had Carlito down perfectly and since I’m a Haas fan it is always nice to see him on Raw. But, the Wilkes-Barre fans didn’t seem to care about Primo or Haas so this was more or less a bomb.

So there were just two segments that did nothing for the show, but everything else came off very entertaining. I want to give major props to JBL for upping his game in his match against World Champion CM Punk. This was a 5 star opening match. I don’t remember JBL ever coming off so well in a match, and this one really showcased Punk in such a favorable way. I absolutely loved this match and it really did set the tone for a good show. The next match was Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix. This was another match that came off well. I remember two years ago when ECW debuted Kelly couldn’t keep a beat when she was stripping. Even when she danced with Expose, I wouldn’t exactly say she moved well, but man has she improved in the ring. I would much rather see her wrestle than Maria. I never disliked Beth Phoenix, but I was not a fan of hers, however since the Santino/Phoenix pairing I think its fair to say that now I am a Glamarella fan. I couldn’t get over the nose injury that Beth got from one of Kelly’s move and when Santino’s help caused Phoenix a loss, I loved the ending when Beth took Santino out. Oh we know who wears the pants in that relationship.

The hottest segment on the show was again with Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho. But this time the segment belonged to HBK. This was his baby, and last week Jericho had the spotlight on him. I loved the way Michaels played this out. You could just see the anger and emotion coming out of him because of the “fractured jaw” his wife Rebecca received from Jericho. I thought Michaels actions along with his words just made this feud even better and I look forward to the Michaels/Jericho unsanctioned match at Unforgiven. This was a fantastic segment. As I have been saying Jericho and Michaels have made Raw so much better because of the way this angle is going. It’s the best thing on Raw and it has been for quite a while.

Now I liked the Santino vs. Kofi Kingston match, but I have to be honest with you, I am sick of seeing Kingston losing each week. I really feel this guy could be a fan favorite, he’s kind of there now, but having him lose isn’t going to do much for his character. Again the ending was funny because you had Phoenix interfering, which gave Santino the win, and then after the match she kissed Santino and then he grabbed her and kissed her. I don’t know how long this storyline will continue to be fun to watch, but so far it’s working and I can’t wait to see more with this lovely couple. And then we go the main event with Batista vs. Kane. This was a good match, and what I liked about it was that they both seemed so focus, which made this match come off with so much importance. I liked how Kane kept going after Batista’s leg, and when the match ended Batista gave it right back to Kane, by hitting Kane’s leg with chair shot after chair shot. This was a great way to end a decent show.

Now with John Cena out for about three months we now have Rey Mysterio taking his place in the Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven. I am a little surprised because as one of my readers pointed out to me, it was Jericho who beat Punk last week why not give that opening to him? But of course we know that Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels will be a big money maker for Unforgiven so there was no way Y2J was going to get in there. With Mysterio now in that match, I think it’s going to turn out fine and let’s face it Rey gives 110 percent all the time. Now as far as Cena goes, if you haven’t gone to WWE.com go there there’s a lot of news stories up about him. Things turned out very well for Cena, which is great news, and he will be back according to WWE in three months, right in time for the Survivor Series. So along with John Cena, Vince McMahon must have breathed a sigh of relief that his top guy won’t miss too much time.

Finally I want to say, let’s get rid of Mike Adamle as the GM. He is brining nothing to his role and frankly I don’t get his character at all. When he comes out and talks I take it that his days are numbered and that they are just waiting to replace him. As I said he’s adding nothing at all to Raw and I just don’t get why Vince hired him in the first place. I know William Regal is in the doghouse because of his suspension, but I would like to see him back as the GM. At least he made the shows a hell of a lot more interesting to watch. Okay I will leave you with the two rumors, one about a WWE star, and the other is about someone going to TNA from WWE. One of the main sites posted that Mr. Kennedy will be having shoulder surgery on Friday, and will miss at least 6 months. This poor guy cannot catch a break, and I hope he can make a nice comeback once he’s cleared to wrestle. And the last rumor is that Mick Foley is going to TNA. Well if he is good for him. That’s about all I can say on that subject. I will return over the weekend with my Smackdown and ECW thoughts. I’ll give you a hint; I will have nothing but NICE things to say about one of the shows. Gee I wonder which one that could be? The website forum TheWrestlingAsylum.com has recently just re-opened after some severe technical difficulties. If you've ever wanted to join an online community and be part of a wrestling forum, now's the time to jump in. TWA is an acclaimed wrestling forum that has some of the best wrestling discussions out there in addition to many interactive features such as our matches of the week, wrestling pool, et cetera. Currently, TWA is holding an interactive feature where members will vote on their favorite wrestlers of all time and in the end, TWA will count down the top 100. People who participate in this contest will receive a free DVD-R of some famous matches of the top 10 or 20 wrestlers on the list. In addition to all of this, TWA also has a very active Off Topic section of the site for random discussion, movies, music, graphics, and of course, TWA has an ever-growing multimedia section on all wrestling and all other media as well. TheWrestlingAsylum.com is just waiting for you to make its mark on it, so why not join up today.

Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com

AS I SEE IT 8/25: The ECW Arena heats up

BobMagee — 8/25/2008

AS I SEE IT Bob Magee Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets PWBTS.com

After a quiet late summer interlude, the ECW (New Alhambra) Arena heats up as the site for two consecutive wrestling doubleheader weekends on September 13 and September 20.

First, CZW returns to the ECW Arena for the annual Chris Ca$h Memorial doubleheader. The Chri$ Ca$h Memorial Show opens events up at 2:00 pm. Admission is free for the afternoon show with a donation to the Ca$h Memorial Fund.

Then, the evening show, entitled "Down With The $ickness 4 Ever" takes place with a 8:00 pm belltime at the ECW Arena.

Featured matches for the evening show that have been announced thus far are:

BLKOUT (Joker, Ruckus and Sabian) meets the B-Boy led Team Ca$h (B-Boy and "friends of Cash")

Then, The H8 Club returns at the evening show as Nick Gage and Nate Hatred to highlight the evening's DOWN WITH THE SICKNE$$ event. After years apart, you can be sure the most dominant force in CZW history - the H8 Club - will have something very violent in store for Notorious Inc.

Also scheduled to appear: Danny Havoc, DJ Hyde, Brain Damage, Pinkie Sanchez, Chuck Taylor, and many more!

Then September 20 features another doubleheader, as Velocity Pro Wrestling begins the events by returning to the ECW Arena with an afternoon show (2:00 pm belltime). The promotion is offering a special $10 general admission ticket for this Velocity Pro event when you show/purchase a Ring of Honor ticket for that evening's show.

The feature match is The Best Around vs. The Briscoe Brothers Debuting that afternoon at the ECW Arena is Pro Wrestling NOAHs's Bobby Fish and International Wrestling Cartel/Pittsburgh's Ray Rowe.

Others scheduled to appear include: Sterling James Keenan, Adam Flash and Stephanie, Shiima Xion and Super Hentai.

Tickets are available at http://www.vpwrestling.com.

Then, that evening, Ring Of Honor returns to Philadelphia, PA on Saturday, September 20 at the ECW Arena, located at the corner of Swanson and Ritner in south Philadelphia, PA (their usual venue, the Northeast National Guard Armory is being used for delopyment related activities), with a 8:00 pm belltime.

Tickets

Tickets are available at ROHwrestling.com, or by calling (215) 781-2500. Tickets available are currently 4th row and general admission.

Matches

Matches announced:

Kensuke Sasaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima will be in action...

Steel Cage Warfare

The Briscoes and Austin Aries vs. The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black and Delirious) vs. The Necro Butcher and ?

Also scheduled to appear: ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness; FIP World Heavyweight Champion Erick Stevens; NWA World Heavyweight Champion Brent Albright; Bryan Danielson; Austin Aries; Jerry Lynn; Sweet & Sour Inc. of Chris Hero, Go Shiozaki, Adam Pearce, Sara Del Rey, Shane Hagadorn, Eddie Edwards, Bobby Dempsey with Larry Sweeney; Roderick Strong; Claudio Castagnoli; Kevin Steen and El Generico; plus Daizee Haze

Directions

Directions from I-95 north (New York/New England/Central New Jersey) - Take 95 South to Exit 19 (Front Street exit) - Make left at light (Front Street) - Go to next light (Oregon Avenue) make right - Go under 95 underpass and make first left (Swanson Street) - Follow Swanson St. 3 blocks to Ritner St. - Make left at Ritner & New Alhambra is on the corner

Directions from I-95 south (Delaware/Maryland)

- Take I-95 North to Exit 20 (Washington Avenue) - Make right at light (Columbus Boulevard) (Staples is on the right side) - Stay on Columbus to fourthh light which is Snyder Avenue and make right (Bank of America is on corner) - Go to second stop sign (Swanson Street) and make left (Boston Market on corner) - Take Swanson Street south 3 blocks to Ritner Street - New Alhambra is on the corner of Ritner and Swanson

Directions via I-76 east (Schuykill Expressway)

- Take last exit (before Walt Whitman Bridge) exit to Packer Avenue - At light make left (Holiday Inn across the street) - Take Packer Avenue to end and at light (Front Street) make left - Go to second light (Oregon Avenue) and make right - Go under I-95 underpass and make first left (Swanson Street) - Follow Swanson Street 3 blocks to Ritner Street - Make left at Ritner Street - New Alhambra is on the corner

For those of you who haven't been to the Arena...

Given that there may be new fans coming down to the Arena (especially on September 20 given the Japanese talent), here's some Arena hints:

Parking: The ECW Arena has a fenced-in parking lot behind the facility. You can park there free of charge. Depending on the anticipated ccrowd the other parking lot across Ritner Street may also be opened as well. Both lots are secured. There is other street parking in front of the Arena and the Forman Mills discount store.

Food: The Arena has a concession stand open during the shows with basic food and drink items, including meatball or pulled pork sandwiches, pretzels, soda, water, beer, and muffins. Other restaurants within a short walk for pre-show and post-show meals include the Oregon Diner, Tony Luke's cheesesteak stand (and the Tony Luke's Beef and Beer sports bar across the street) within two blocks, as well as McDonald's, KFC, and Dunkin Donuts located about 5 blocks away from the Arena on Oregon Avenue.

Slightly farther away on 330 West Oregon Avenue is the Empire Buffet with many Chinese, seafood (and some American) items [my personal favorite for pre-ECW Arena dinner]. There are neighborhood bars, including Nickel's Tavern (a favorite for some wrestling fans), inbetween the Empire Buffet and the Arena.

2 blocks NORTH of the Arena on Snyder Avenue are several restaurants, including John's Roast Pork (reported as the best pork sandwich in Philadelphia), a Boston Market, and City Pizza.

Until next time....

If you have comments or questions, or if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, I can be reached by e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com.

If you'd like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), banner ads are available for $400 for one year. These ads would appear on each newspage appearing on the newsboard. Cube ads are available for $200 for one year, which would be placed on the main newsboard page. For advertising requests, I can also be reached by e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com.

Linda's Thoughts - ECW/Smackdown

Linda Robin — 8/24/2008

I thought ECW and Smackdown were much better shows then the live Raw that I attended. And it took only one EXCELLENT match to make ECW more enjoyable than Raw and I can’t wait to talk about that main event. As far as Smackdown goes, the show wasn’t as excellent as it’s been, BUT it was still a very good show, and I’m being selfish here, but I feel so gypped that Raw was the worst of the week. So let me get right to ECW’s main event and then on to a decent Smackdown minus their top star.

I said that ECW was a better show than Raw and that’s because they gave us the main event, which should have been the match that we paid for at Summer Slam. I got a kick out of the ad that we would get a rematch from Summer Slam with Mark Henry defending his title against Matt Hardy. How could they even consider that 20-second atrocity last Sunday a match? And more importantly why didn’t they give us Tuesday’s phenomenal match at the pay per view? I wish I had the answers to those questions, but what it all of this boils down too is that Hardy and Henry put on a 5 star match. And for all the crap that I have given Henry in the past he proved to me and I think to the majority of his critics that he’s more than capable of performing in the ring. This one floored me, not in a million years did I ever dream that Henry was good enough to work like that. And then you have the outstanding Matt Hardy as his opponent and ECW ended on a hell of a positive note. Now I really enjoyed The Miz, John Morrison, and Chavo Guerrero (with Bam Neely) vs. Evan Bourne, Super Crazy, and Tommy Dreamer, and I liked the segment with Finlay and Mike Knox, but nothing topped the HOT main event, and that match really put ECW over Tuesday night.

Now Smackdown for the most part delivered, however with Edge out you definitely could feel something was lacking on the show. I did not like the opening with Vickie and her crew. I thought Vickie was very boring and her character took a minor hit, because whoever came up with this segment took all the nastiness out of her and just had her read an apology to Undertaker. I found this to be such a weak way to open the show. Yesterday I read that this was not what the live crowd on Tuesday saw. Originally her promo was done in the ring and she was getting major heat while she was talking. Now that I would have rather have seen, I guess creative wanted us to believe that Vickie was no longer a heel and because of what Edge did to her she was now a face. I still didn’t like the opener but thankfully as the show went on there were some pretty good things that happened. The first match was Maria defeating Natalya. And the match itself came off well, but the Maria win got to me, because I am starting to think that Natalya is not going to get much of a push. I felt this woman should have had no problem in taking Maria out and winning. So the way that Natalya is being used is not putting a smile on my face as of now.

I also wasn’t crazy about the Big Show backstage segment with Vickie. I didn’t get how it was an “over sight” that he wasn’t in the next match, the Championship Scramble qualifying mach. That explanation from Vickie was another “over sight” by that wild creative staff. This just didn’t make any sense to me. And Big Show seemed to take her answer very well, in fact too well. But Big Show made his feelings known during the battle royal to qualify for the Championship Scramble match with The Brian Kendrick vs. Curt Hawkins vs. Zach Ryder vs. Scotty Goldman, vs. Funaki vs. Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Vladimir Kozlov vs. Super Crazy vs. Armando Estrada vs. Ryan Braddock (if it wasn’t for my friend Max, I would never have guessed it was Braddock in there). I got a kick watching Big Show sitting and smiling while this was going on, and then all of a sudden Big Show came in, and started eliminating the participants. But when he eliminated Kendrick Ezekiel caught him and waited for Show to go, and then got Kendrick back in the ring and the shocker of all shockers, THE Brian Kendrick won and now will be a part of the title match at Unforgiven.

Things started improving for me with another very strong R. Truth Vignette. As I said before I just hope he doesn’t dance and do his raps. I love the very serious and down to earth side of him and next week when he makes his debut I want to see THIS R. Truth. The next Championship Scramble qualifying match with MVP vs. Festus came off very well. I was very impressed with Festus going against Taker a few months ago, and last week Festus vs. Kozlov was the best Kozlov match so far. So I wasn’t surprised at all that Festus and MVP put on such a good match. I keep waiting to see if they are going to break Jesse and Festus up and give this guy, Festus a solo career. I feel he has shown that he’s a solid wrestler and as I said along with MVP this was a very strong match. Then right after this one we got another very GOOD qualifying match with The Gold Standard, Shelton Benjamin vs. Finlay. This match had a lot going for it. These guys were given a lot of time and that really pleased me. You talk about a hard worked match, Finlay and Benjamin worked this as it they were in a pay per view. Again let Benjamin’s push continue because each week he is just looking better and better. And putting Benjamin against Finlay is a bonus, because I remember when an unknown Bobby Lashley was feuding with Finlay, Finlay MADE Lashley. That feud really put Lashley on the map. You can’t go wrong working with Hornswoggle’s dad and now I see big things happening for Mike Knox. Knox should kiss Vince’s feet, see you thought I was going to say ass for putting him in a program with Finlay. By the way Shelton won and just lot MPV and The Brian Kendrick he will now be in that title match at Unforgiven.

And the final qualifying match was Jeff Hardy vs. The Great Khali. This one had Triple H coming down and sitting with Tazz and JR. Hardy fought hard to get Khali and although Triple H was rather subdued on the mic he still added something while this was going on. I have to say that Hardy and Khali made it fun to watch and I was thrilled with the ending. After Ranjin Singh distracted the ref so Khali could put the old head vice on Hardy, Triple H got up hit Singh with a chair and just as Hunter was about to hit Singh again, Khali got in the way and took the chair shot letting Jeff Hardy hit the Whisper in the Wind and get the victory. I loved the look on Triple H’s face when Hardy won. It was a look of amazement and he knew that he kind of helped Hardy get that win. Triple H then got on the mic and did a nice job putting over the Championship Scramble match and he talked how the odds were against him because anyone could get pinned and he could lose. And then out came Kenny Dykstra and he started to whine to Triple H how nobody takes him seriously and Hunter reciprocated by hitting a pedigree on him. This segment all played out well and it led to the main event.

And finally we get Vickie and La Familia in the ring and they call out Taker to apologize for all the bad things that they did to him. Taker made his way out and there was Vickie pleading for forgiveness, she was even able to get out of her wheelchair and get down on her knees begging for Taker to forgive her. Guess what? Taker wasn’t in an accepting mood and in a deep dramatic response he came up with “Look at me woman.” He then said he didn’t come out for apologies, he came for her soul. Oh very creepy, well not really, but still good. When he mentioned her soul La Familia circled Undertaker and started to attack him, but Taker was able to clean house and then he made the throat slash gesture to Vickie and the show was over.

It wasn’t a bad segment, but again I missed Edge not being there. However I still liked the show and I liked the build up for the Championship Scramble match. I’m just not sure we need two at Unforgiven. Now before I go I wanted to mention the rumor although I believe it’s true that WWE is getting Gail Kim back. I liked Kim the first time I saw her in the WWE, but obviously Vince didn’t because he killed her character immediately by giving her the women’s title the first time that she debuted. That seemed to turn the fans off right away. Plus Kim’s character was never given any depth or really anything. She was just there and when the fans didn’t take to her they turned her heel and again the fans weren’t interested. I just hope that Vince realizes that since she’s been with TNA this woman now has a nice sized fan base and I really hope that she’s given a major push and treated like a super star and not a mid carder. I’m looking forward to having her back with WWE. Okay I will return Tuesday with my thoughts on Raw and remember Raw will be on the SCI-Fi network at it’s regular time. The website forum TheWrestlingAsylum.com has recently just re-opened after some severe technical difficulties. If you've ever wanted to join an online community and be part of a wrestling forum, now's the time to jump in. TWA is an acclaimed wrestling forum that has some of the best wrestling discussions out there in addition to many interactive features such as our matches of the week, wrestling pool, et cetera. Currently, TWA is holding an interactive feature where members will vote on their favorite wrestlers of all time and in the end, TWA will count down the top 100. People who participate in this contest will receive a free DVD-R of some famous matches of the top 10 or 20 wrestlers on the list. In addition to all of this, TWA also has a very active Off Topic section of the site for random discussion, movies, music, graphics, and of course, TWA has an ever-growing multimedia section on all wrestling and all other media as well. TheWrestlingAsylum.com is just waiting for you to make its mark on it, so why not join up today.

Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com

Linda's Thoughts - My Live Raw Experience

Linda Robin — 8/19/2008

I got an email last week from a reader and he told me that one of the sites that I post for has a forum and in this forum many are DEMANDING that I get fired. The reason? Because they say all I do is complain about Raw. They have had it with me. Well after reading this, if they read this, I’m afraid they are going to demand my head. Well here it goes. I was there live last night with my son Jason. I have gone to every Raw that comes here for over 9 years at the All State arena. I have seen the greatest shows and some that were fair, but last night’s show was one of the worst that I have ever attended. Listen I had the greatest seats, and I could not wait to go, but after the show my son said he can’t see going to another one, and I guess I will think twice before I decide to go in January when Raw returns.

For the most part Raw has always been major when it comes to Chicago, but last night the first hour felt like we were watching a house show. With the exception of Chris Jericho hitting a homerun with that outstanding promo, the first hour was just a disaster. You know many of us complain if there’s too much mic work, but in that first hour again with the exception of Jericho, all we got was one crap match after another. Let’s see Batista the man that beat John Cena the night before at Summer Slam came out, does no mic work, and has a squash match against Paul Burchill. This was ridiculous. You would think they would have had Batista speak and not take out a guy like Burchill so damn fast. Oh and then we get his half ass introduction to Primo Colon, you know the brother of a guy who is probably on his way out, Carlito. So Adamle gives us a two second introduction and then abruptly leaves Primo to go and talk to Cena. Now I will be quite honest with you I couldn’t hear one thing that Adamle said to Cena, and I had no idea what Cena and Batista had to say to each other because it was noisy in the arena. But I did read the results and it sounded like Dave and Cena came off well.

I did like the women’s match with Mickie and Kelly Kelly vs. Katie Lea and Jillian. Again I missed what Jillian had to say and I could not hear her “sing” because the PA system has always been bad there, but the match worked for me and at least it was one bright spot after so much garbage. Okay so we then get JBL the guy that lost to CM Punk in another squash against Jamie Noble. Now as many of you know JBL can get to me but this was one time when I was hoping that he would cut a promo bashing Punk and anything else he wanted too. But all we got was poor Jamie Noble getting the hell beaten out of him. As I said the longer this went on the more the house show feeling kept hitting me. Yeah things are not going well at all, I am thinking is this really Raw? There doesn’t seem to be any progression with the feuds except with Jericho and Michaels, and all we seem to be getting are matches that really have no reason to be made. It was like Vince and his wonderful creative staff said, “Well we were just too tired to write anything, because we stayed up late after Summer Slam. So let’s just put Raw on tonight and make meaningless matches and hopefully our fans won’t notice.”

I have to give it to the crowd and not just because I was there but they were into the show no matter how lame things were, this was one hot crowd and this hot crowd that is so anti John Cena most of the time seemed to have changed since the last time I was at Raw. Sure there were anti Cena chants, hell I took part in them, but the majority of the fans really seemed to be behind him. And now I want all you Cena fans to sit down before you keep reading. Are you sitting? Okay.

As I said the first hour was a dud, but it was the match with John Cena vs. Ted DiBiase, and Cody Rhodes that turned the show around for me. I thought this was a super match, and no matter how many on the net are bitching about Cena beating these two I have to say his victory didn’t bother me at all. I’m reading a lot of complaints that Cena single handily killed this tag team. That he no sold and came back like a super hero. Well I’ve said that for a long time that Cena is SuperCena, because he always seems to come back and come back unhurt. But last night I thought he did an excellent job and sold just fine. Okay sure he came back and got the victory, but come on, did you guys think he was going to lose? I sure didn’t and Cena isn’t the only one to come out on top when it comes to handicap matches. We have seen Cena and HBK tdo that, Triple H has had many victories and so have many other top guys. I had ABSOLUTELY had no problem with the out come of the match and not only did I think Cena did a good job, but Rhodes and DiBiase also came off well, with DiBiase even looking better than Rhodes. This was the match that I needed and I think a lot of us needed because it was downhill before this one.

I was really looking forward to seeing Shawn Michaels, but of course he wasn’t there live. However I loved his Summer Slam backstage interview with his wife, Rebecca standing right there with him and showing off that fat lip she received from Chris Jericho the night before. Speaking of the night before I have to tell you I loved Summer Slam and Undertaker and Edge did just what I thought they would do, they ROCKED IT. My hat goes off to Taker for really bumping his ass off at his age, and Edge was fantastic as well. Triple H and Khali came off so much better than I expected. It might not have been the match of the night but it was entertaining and H made Khali look fairly decent in the ring. My favorite non-wrestling segment was HBK/Rebecca and Jericho. My God what a fantastic segment this was, and all three were just excellent, they did just what needed to be done to make this very hot feud even hotter. So back to last night’s HBK interview. I again couldn’t hear it all but the little that I did hear and just watching Shawn and his wife was enough for me to know that this is without a doubt the best angle on Raw.

Santino and Beth Phoenix were next up, and Marella got the place going. You guys didn’t get to hear Santino take credit for his IC victory, but the funniest part was when he said something about it’s nice to be in St. Louis. The guy had everyone laughing and booing. His match against D’Lo was just too quick for me, and I was surprised that the crowd didn’t pop loud for hometown guy, Brown; I expected some loud chants for him. All in all this was okay but again it just was another match that was over way too soon. By the way Kofi Kingston got a very nice reaction when he came out. Kane’s promo was funnier than it should have been. As soon as we saw him on the screen we could see something was on his tooth. I told my son he has broccoli caught in there and that was it I couldn’t stop laughing. I guess he beat Rey Mysterio up because he doesn’t like him. I don’t know the food on the tooth was all I could concentrate on. I did like Batista coming out and going after Kane that was something, but I need to see more with Kane and clean teeth to see if I’m buying into the Rey angle.
The main event was awesome, Finally OUR hometown boy, Punk had a 5 star match against Jericho. This was excellent and of course the crowd couldn’t get enough of it. I’m not so sure I get or even liked Punk losing in front of the hometown, okay I didn’t like it but all in all he looked excellent against Jericho and along with Jericho’s opening promo, HBK’s interview, and Cena’s match, thankfully we did have a few highlights. Now after Raw ended, JBL came out and this time cut a short but sweet promo, bashing the Cubs, and Punk. This is what JBL should have done earlier in the show. But he didn’t and it worked just as well for all of us. Punk vs. JBL for the title then got started and it went on I would say for almost 10 minutes with Punk winning and everyone going crazy. We stayed for a few more minutes and watched Punk run around the ring then get on his knees and interact with the fans. We left but then today I read that CM had a few words to say and I sure wish we would have stayed. You can go to some of the sites to read what he had to say. I’ll tell you it’s really special when you have a World Champion from your area, it just makes him seem like a true super star.

So it wasn’t the best night but as I said there were some highlights and we did get two dark matches before Raw. One was with poor underutilized Charlie Haas losing to I think his name is Morishima. And then we saw William Regal losing to a local guy. Regal got a lot of heat and he played off the crowd well. As I said earlier, I think we were a very hot crowd and I recorded the show on my DVR, but it didn’t record so I have no idea how we came off on TV. But that crowd had me going and as much as I’m bitching here, it’s always nice to spend time with my son so I guess last night wasn’t a total loss. By the way I’m not so sure how I feel about that Championship Scramble Match at Unforgiven. I really don’t see why JBL and Kane are in there, yet it could be interesting so I guess I have to keep an open mind about this for now.

I will hopefully return over the weekend with my Smackdown thoughts and I’m very anxious to watch ECW tonight. Oh wow a rematch wåith Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy. I certainly wouldn’t call that thing they had at Summer Slam a match, but hey that’s me. The website forum TheWrestlingAsylum.com has recently just re-opened after some severe technical difficulties. If you've ever wanted to join an online community and be part of a wrestling forum, now's the time to jump in. TWA is an acclaimed wrestling forum that has some of the best wrestling discussions out there in addition to many interactive features such as our matches of the week, wrestling pool, et cetera. Currently, TWA is holding an interactive feature where members will vote on their favorite wrestlers of all time and in the end, TWA will count down the top 100. People who participate in this contest will receive a free DVD-R of some famous matches of the top 10 or 20 wrestlers on the list. In addition to all of this, TWA also has a very active Off Topic section of the site for random discussion, movies, music, graphics, and of course, TWA has an ever-growing multimedia section on all wrestling and all other media as well. TheWrestlingAsylum.com is just waiting for you to make its mark on it, so why not join up today?

Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com

AS I SEE IT 8/18: WWE's version of collateral damage

BobMagee — 8/18/2008

AS I SEE IT Bob Magee Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets PWBTS.com

When the CEO of the company makes a statement to stockholders like: "...Our total operating expenses, on an adjusted basis, grew 27%, exceeding the percentage growth in revenue. Although the rise in expenses broadly supports our top-line growth, the disproportionate growth in expenses is unacceptable. Therefore, we are implementing stronger cost control measures, reassessing our spending and the priority of our investments to drive increases in earnings and margins", you know you probably need to get your resume in order, and start networking in a hurry.

This is just as true when the CEO happens to be Linda McMahon.

It's even worse if a stockholder complains on a conference call that "the company is spending money like a drunken sailor" to back her up.

Guess what usually happens next in corporate America?

It did here, too.

Thus, WWE started a bloodletting over the last few weeks that presumably "controlled expenses", with firings (or being "future endeavored", among some circles) of the following WWE performers over the last 2 weeks:

* Braden Walker (better known as former TNA Tag Champion Chris Harris), may have made a bad choice in leaving TNA, to put it mildly. Former partner James Storm is now paired in the "Beer Money" tag team with Robert Roode. One vote for re-pairing Storm and Harris as quickly as possible.

* Big Daddy V may need to lose weight as quickly as possible for health reasons before worrying about where he's going next. Even with that, he was pushed fairly recently, and the termination was a surprise to many.

* Shannon Moore - dropped from WWE after challenging (with Jimmy Wang Yang) Miz and Morrison for the Tag Team Titles back in May

* Nick Patrick has been out of commission for some time, having suffered a back injury

* Domino - he was a co-Tag Team Champion for four months defeating Paul London and Brian Kendrick

* James Maritato (aka Little Guido or Nunzio) - Sadly, he was used as prelim fodder in recent years, when he was used at all with WWECW

* James Curtis (aka Kasey James) - had a brief run on Smackdown with Idol Stevens and Michelle McCool, and as prelim talent in recent months on WWECW

* Rory and Robbie McAllister- The tag team was probably doomed on Wrestlemania weekend when both WWE and TNA were in Orlando; and TNA, in an irresponsible move, showed "Robbie" under his birth name (Derek Graham-Couch) in the crowd on the live broadcast from Orlando. It also cost him his $5,000 Wrestlemania paycheck due to what TNA did. Previous to that, Rory injured his shoulder earlier in the year, which didn't help matters fpr the tag team, either.

* Cherry (aka Kara Slice in New Jersey indies) - was brought in as eye candy for Deuce and Domino. When Maryse was brought in, she was unceremoniously dropped after her unannounced departure from managing the Deuce and Domino tag team, which obviously didn't last very long either.

* Colin Delaney and Stevie Richards - neither one wasted anytime as Delaney was on the final UWA Hardcore Wrestling up in Ontario the very evening his firing was announced, and Richards appeared on Velocity Pro Wrestling's Philadelphia show within 24 hours of the announcement.

* Referee Wes Adams - he seems to have taken the fall for a blown finish in last Tuesday's ECW TV as Mike Mizanin was supposed to break up a pinfall and forgot, leaving Adams to count a pinfall that wasn't part of the script. WWE policy was and is that if a wrestler didn't kick out of a finish, that the referee working the match has to count the pinfall as if it were a legit match. Even so, it appears that Adams took the fall for a pushed tag team "being made to look bad".

I have to wonder about the ethics of firing people while injured in wrestling. Every time it happens, one more wrestler figures out that they have to manage pain (these days with alcohol, instead of as many pain pills as the past) and not report an injury.

Until next time....

If you have comments or questions, or if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, I can be reached by e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com. If you'd like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), banner ads are available for $400 for one year. These ads would appear on each newspage appearing on the newsboard.

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