Have you ever Wondered?

I know that most of us sitting at home watching wrestling entertainment every week don't think about what the lives of these superstars are like when they are off camera. We all assume that they make tons of money and live in huge houses with chauffers and maids and all the finery that money can by. Well recently I became online friends with an independant wrestler who worked for the WWE for a bit and he had some enlightening things to say.

For instance, most of the superstars of the WWE and affiliated brands don't make that much money. It's not the tens of thousands of dollars that I pictured them making for all that they do for the industry at all. Some get more than others, obviously but it's not the lifestyles of the Rich and Famous paycheck that I was thinking they deserved.

I see the way that the superstars put their bodies on the line to entertain the millions of fans all around the world and it makes me wonder, how much does it cost them for insurance? It's got to be astronomical! Wrestlers like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin and others are no strangers to the emergency room or surgical teams in various cities of the U.S. I can't imagine that insurance costs are something the Vince McMahon is paying for all on his own, I'm sure that the wrestlers have to contribute something towards this. Next time you get a paycheck and you realize what goes out for insurance purposes, think about the men and women who acutally put their lives in danger just to entertain you!

It always amazes me to find out which superstars in the wrestling entertainment industry have children. Can you imagine what it would be like to grow up as the child of one of these superstars? Brooke Hogan is a good example off the top of my head that I can think of. She's got her own music career going now, but I'm sure it had to be cool to have Hulk Hogan as your Dad. On the flip side of that coin, the little girls who call a superstar in the business Daddy must have it rough. Think about it. You're a young girl just starting high school and some cute boy asks you to the winter dance, you'd love to go but you have to get it past Dad. Doesn't sound too bad right? Well think about how that 14-15 year old boy is going to feel having to meet Dad if he happens to be The Undertaker, or Triple H. Talk about intimidating. These men I'm sure are excellent fathers, but their daughters are going to have it rough if they ever want to date before they are 40.

Can you picture your favorite wrestler doing every day mundane things. It's funny to think about The Great Khali grocery shopping, or Batista folding clothes and helping around the house. I bet that Kane hates ironing! That's the funny thing about it that fans don't stop to think about. These entertainers are people too, they have real lives just like you and I. They need to pay bills, they need to eat, they need to purchase necessities, just like anyone else. The only difference is that they happen to have a job doing something that they love doing and being able to travel all over the world to share their love of the business with millions of adoring fans. How many of you out there can say that you love your job enough to live out of a suitcase and risk breaking a bone every time you go to work? I know I can't!

Next time you find yourself in a grind and you think about how excrutiating it is to live your life, think about this: How much money a year does Jeff Hardy spend on hair dye alone and where does he get those fabulous colors? Catch you all next time on FANtastic Entertainment!

Monday night Fireworks!

What a more beautiful way to kick off a Monday night than with the Diva costume contest Battle Royal? How in the world is Victoria going to fight in that Sumo outfit? LOL. This is a total cat fight and it's hard to keep an eye on any one woman, but it's all in good fun. The lovely Kelly Kelly from ECW wins this battle. Then out comes Beth Phoenix to have her say about the results. Kelly makes her way out of the ring, but gets put back in rather quickly. The Glamazon absolutely dominates the petite little blonde in the ring and walks out just as rudely as she walked in. To quote Ron Simmons, Damn!

Shawn Michaels walks out to a huge standing ovation in the Philadelphia Arena tonight! He address the fans with confidence and a sense of humor. He's got good news and bad news. Good news is he knocked out Randy Orton last night at Cyber Sunday with sweet chin music. The bad news is Michaels is not our new WWE champion (yet!). He is invoking his right to a rematch with Orton tonight but of course has to get interrupted by none other than the Chairman of the Board, Mr. McMahon! Who in the hell dressed Vince tonight? Who told this billionaire that mustard yellow was a good color for a suit? Wow....I guess when you have that much money you look good in anything? Vince is in Michaels face and telling it like it is according to Vince. Shawn doesn't let Vince get the best of this face off and he tells it like it really is. He wants to take Randy Orton out of commission, he admits that he wants to take Orton out just like he was taken out by Orton. Vince starts talking about Survivor Series. Vince grants Michaels wish and says he's got his match at Survivor Series. Shawn then almost super kicks the head off the chairman, as a message, "I could have had you if I wanted you!" This night only gets better!

Hardcore Holly enters the squared circle tonight teamed up with Cody Rhodes against the self proclaimed World's Greatest Tag Team Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. I'm glad to see that Holly and Rhodes finally were able to put their hard knocks behind them and are able to combine their fine abilities against Benjamin and Haas who are just way to full of themselves in my opinion. Rhodes has definitely brought his game to the ring tonight and really is taking it to Charlie Haas. Then as quickly as it started, it's over, and Rhodes delivers a DDT to Haas to win it for himself and his partner Hardcore Holly. Just another notch in the respect belt there Cody! Good job!

Todd Grisham is interviewing Beth Phoenix about what happened to Kelly Kelly tonight and what happened to Candace Michelle last week. She has no remorse and she says that she did what she did to make a statement, that Divas who do nothing more than try to be what they are not end up out of a job. Wow she's really hardcore.

William Regal is reprimanding Mr. McMahon for putting himself in harms way with Shawn Michaels earlier, and criticizing him for making the Triple H vs. Umaga and Orton match later tonight. Mr. McMahon justifies it by saying that his reasons for putting Triple H in this match are personal. Then he has a private moment with Hornswaggle who is set to face Jonathan Coachman. Hornswaggle has got such a cute little face, he always looks so innocent. Vince gives him a heartfelt pep talk about becoming a McMahon and standing on your own two feet. McMahon's will get knocked down and every time they do they keep getting back up. Hornswaggle looks so motivated by these heart to heart with his Dad. Vince then tells him the secret of being a McMahon, you have to learn to HATE. You have to hate to be successful. What a great piece of advice to give a child, I'm thinking about having that conversation with my son tomorrow morning....(not!)

Jonathan Coachman comes out to the ring not looking very happy. He is going to enjoy beating the littlest McMahon Hornswaggle tonight. I think he needs to be prepared for much more than he originally planned. The special guest referee for this match up is the Hardcore Legend himself, Mick Foley! This match is all too funny, oh my god! Coach brings a chair into the ring after knocking down Foley, but he doesn't get the chance to use it because Foley takes it away from him and knocks Coach down. Dual Socko's comes out and Hornswaggle wins this match with a huge frog splash off the top rope.....Hornswaggle runs out of the ring to go tell Dad about his victory. The lesson of this match is never leave your family jewels in the hands of a baby socko!

Todd Grisham makes a brave interview with Triple H who blows off Todd's insults by using his witty sense of humor. Triple H is pretty sure that he is going to win tonight's match up, but if by some fluke he goes down, he's taking Orton and Umaga with him! They may be the biggest bad asses in the game, but Triple H IS the game!

The fantastic Paul London is in action tonight (with his partner Brian Kendrick in his corner) against Lance Cade (with his partner Trevor Murdock in his corner). Will this turn into a 2 on 2 free for all, we'll see. Cade makes some quick work on the back of Paul London. Cripple the opponent and they are easier to pin. London makes a great recovery with a springboard cross body, and starts to get a leg up. The London is tossed to the outside by Cade and Brian Kendrick intervenes when Trevor Murdock walks towards London. Well this intervention wasn't a match winner, and Cade gets the win in this match over London. Suddenly out come the Highlanders Rory and Robbie McAllister, who are absolutely destroying London and Kendrick. They are sending a message to the tag champs, that they are next!

Jeff Hardy will see action tonight with his partner tonight D.H. Smith (son of the late great wrestler The British Bulldog) against Carlito and Mr. Kennedy. They all look to be in such bad moods. Jeff and Mr. Kennedy start off this match and it's a replay of Cyber Sunday. The hatred boils up and they lock up. Kennedy is making a good use of his corner and his partner and Carlito enters the match. Hardy goes for an early cover but Carlito kicks out. D.H. Smith gets tagged in and Carlito gets to exact his revenge for being beat by this newcomer next week. Carlito gets Smith in the corner and lets loose the flurry of blows. Kennedy tries to sneak up behind Smith, but Hardy steps in and clears the ring of the problem. (nice!) Smith and Carlito are the legal men in the ring still and Carlito has him in a submission leg hold. This can't feel good. Smith really needs to get that tag to his partner. It doesn't come and Kennedy is tagged in and begins to dissect the new face on Raw. Kennedy is working his magic to make sure that Smith doesn't get that necessary tag to his partner. No tag is made, but Carlito gets in the ring and starts stomping on Smith. The ref won't allow it and calls for Kennedy to get back in the ring and make a proper tag. He does and Carlito comes right back in. Lord have mercy on this poor guy as they work over the knees of Smith. He makes the tag finally and in comes Hardy to save the day! The rainbow haired warrior gets off a whisper in the wind but the cover is interrupted by Kennedy. A twist of fate and a high flying swanton bomb wins the match for Hardy and Smith. Kennedy is left outside the ring clutching his crotch cause he hit himself on the ring rope, just goes to show you shouldn't try to cheat to win.

Dammit, I made it 1 hour and 38 minutes without having to deal with Santino Marella, but out he comes to the ring. He wants to make a formal complaint to the travel department. He says he was prevented from coming to Cyber Sunday because they screwed up his travel so badly. Once again he is criticizing the movie The Condemned. This is so stupid. Marella has a pre taped version of himself acting like Stone Cold and argues with himself. Wow this guy must be desperate for face time. I hope Stone Cold comes out and opens a can of the "Ass Whip" (lol) on him. Calgon take me away! Maria comes out ringside and announces that Stone Cold is going to be on Raw next week providing Marella the perfect opportunity to take it up with the Rattlesnake.

The winner of the 2007 Diva Search Contest will be decided tonight on Raw. It's down to Brooke and Eve. I have to say that I always prefer dark hair to blonde any day of the week but that's just my preference. I honestly think that Eve is more athletic than Brooke but the voting fans will chose the fate of these two lovely ladies tonight! AND the winner IS: EVE! I just knew she was going to win it, best of luck to the newest Diva.

Randy Orton comes out for his match with his partner for the night Umaga to take on the King of Kings Triple H. I have no idea what Mr. McMahon plans to prove by putting Triple H in these matches every week where his body and spirit are put to the test. I hope that Triple H has an ace up his sleeve tonight because as much as I love this man, he's at a slight disadvantage tonight! Umaga shoves Randy Orton towards the corner and stalks Triple H. Triple H gets in the ring. Then the match begins with Umaga and Orton going after The Game. Triple H is avoiding all the maneuvers that Orton and Umaga throw at him at first, but then they start the two on one beating. A Samoan drop gets Triple H on the matt and the beatings continue. Shawn Michaels runs in and he and Triple H clean house. The match is called for DQ but it's looking like DX

del.icio.us Tags: wrestling , WWE , Monday Night Raw , Dx returns

is finally back! I knew this day would come and I am more than excited about it! It's about time guys!

Cyber Sunday!

I was unable to afford to get the pay per view event Cyber Sunday, but my favorite web site WWE.com lists all the outcomes for me quite nicely. Here are the results of the fan based event that Mr. McMahon claims is his brain child:

Batista defeats the Undertaker with Stone Cold Steve Austin counts it down one, two, three.

Shawn Michaels defeats Randy Orton, but not before Orton can get himself disqualified so he retains his title. Unfortunately this grudge is not satisfied and I'm sure will continue on tonight on Raw.

ECW Champ CM Punk defeats The Miz to retain his title. I usually don't watch ECW so I don't have a whole lot of input on this match up.

Triple H our house favorite defeats the Samoan bulldozer Umaga in a street fight.

Smackdown's MVP faced Kane in a battle I'm sure he won't soon forget. Kane of course took the win on that one. MVP entered Cyber Sunday thinking he would have to face his tag team partner Matt Hardy, but that story soon changed and the odds were not in MVP's favor anymore.

Mr. Kennedy defeats Jeff Hardy in what they are calling the battle of the runner ups as both men were on the ticket to face Randy Orton but did not get chosen for Cyber Sunday. That has to be doubly embarrassing to Jeff Hardy, not getting his title shot then getting beat by the big mouth of Raw, I'm sure he'll redeem himself tonight on Raw.

Smackdown's Rey Mysterio defeats Finlay in a stretcher match. I have always loved Rey Mysterio because he is so talented and always entertaining to watch. He fights for what he believes in and never lets down his fans. I'm sure it was an incredible match.

Halloween fun with the Divas leads to a costume contest. Mickie James wins this years festivities. Will the costumes hold up though in the ring? These divas will be competing tonight on Raw in a three brand battle royal. I'm sure at least one of these divas will have a wardrobe malfunction! How fun!

del.icio.us Tags: Raw , Smackdown , ECW , Pay per view , Wrestling , Cyber Sunday

Candace Michelle's Injury

Sorry that I didn't post this earlier. The beautiful and talented Candace Michelle was injured on Monday Night Raw during her match with Beth Phoenix. She fell from the top turnbuckle and was immediately taken to a medical facility. Upon receiving treatment it was discovered that she had a cracked clavicle and will be out of commission for 6-8 weeks. My thoughts are with Candace while she's healing and I hope that she comes back stronger than ever so she can dish it out to the Glamazon once and for all!

The Next Generation of Stars!

What better way to kick off Monday Night Raw from Omaha than with the mouth of the WWE Mr. Kennedy? (I can think of a few!) He talks about Cyber Sunday which will be taking place this coming Sunday on Pay-Per-View. He is making fun of the contenders for the WWE title Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy. He compares Jeff Hardy to Hillary Clinton saying he won't get the job done because like Hilary he has no testicles. (wow!) He compares Shawn to Rudy Giuliani and says that like Mr. Giuliani he lives in the past. Mr. Kennedy sure isn't being very sportsman like tonight. He is tooting his own horn by mentioning his triumphs in past matches which are all very impressive. However this is not a political election and Mr. Kennedy needs to just shut up and wrestle! Thankfully enough we are saved by Jeff Hardy who comes out to interrupt the mouth. The insults begin to fly. The fans are obviously behind Hardy. (Can't say I blame them!) Hardy points out just how much the Kennedy has failed lately, so now the tempers are really starting to fly. The fight is on and Kennedy and Hardy go at it in the squared circle. Randy Orton gets involved and then out comes Shawn Michaels. All four men are in the ring and tearing it up. This is going to be one explosive night!

A six person mixed tag match with Paul London, Brian Kendrick and Mickie James vs Cade, Murdock and Melina. The tag champs never looked so good than to have Melina in their corner! There is some nice tag exchange and teamwork by London and Kendrick. The women get tagged in and the cat fight begins. Melina tags out and Murdock jumps in while Mickie leaves. The guys get their fight on yet again. There has got to be more tag teams out there than just London and Kendrick and The Highlanders to fight the tag champs. I yearn for the days of DX, those guys could show these fellas how it's done. London Kendrick and Mickie pick up the win!

If you have not checked out the 2007 Diva Search please do so on wwe.com. It's down to the final three so it's coming down to the wire guys! (and girls!) Go online and vote for your favorite tonight! The three finalists are going to make their appearance on Raw tonight to promote the competition. I'll try to contain my envy! =D

Cody Rhodes has a run in backstage with Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. Benjamin and Rhodes will lock up tonight and there is no love exchanged between these men. I look forward to this match up, I hope Rhodes can finally get off his losing streak.

William Regal and Jonathan Coachman are talking backstage. Coach is trying to get a match with Hornswaggle tonight to get the "little guy" out of the picture for the McMahon family so he doesn't cut in on Shane or Stephanie's inheritance. Coach then adds in that he doesn't want to fight Hornswaggle himself, but that the leprechaun and the Samoan Bulldozer Umaga will meet up in the ring tonight. William Regal takes this into consideration and the match will be made. I know it's all in good fun, but I don't hardly think that is a fair match up. A leprechaun vs. a Samoan, talk about the ultimate David and Goliath battle. I hope Hornswaggle shows his McMahon side and wins it!

Cody Rhodes comes out for his match up with Shelton Benjamin. Rhodes has a huge order to fill being the son of the legendary Dusty Rhodes. No pressure or anything. Shelton Benjamin has some fantastic wrestling ability so it seems like he may have a slight advantage over Rhodes. I may not like the attitude of Benjamin as of late, but he is one hell of an athlete. It's a crazy win for Cody Rhodes who reverses a roll up by Benjamin to win the match. When Benjamin and Haas start to beat Rhodes after the bell who runs out to save Rhodes? None other than Bob Holly! I never saw that one coming. I would love to see a teaming of these two men, it would be wonderful. Hardcore Holly nods his head and seems to be please with the spirit of Cody Rhodes. Could this be the respect that Rhodes needed to earn from the Hardcore legend? I believe so!

D.H. Smith the son of the British Bulldog makes his first appearance on Monday night Raw and will be facing the very cool Carlito. It's always a pleasure to see the next generation of stars come out and show their colors. Smith looks like a fine athlete and resembles his legendary father 100%. Carlito should feel honored to be in the ring with such talent. Of course Carlito is too hell bent on winning to notice much else, but hey everyone's got a job to do! Smith wins a huge victory dedicated to his legendary father the British Bulldog. I'm all smiles about this one, good luck to Smith for future battles!

Hornswaggle McMahon vs Umaga is the next match. I don't see why everyone has it in for the little guy, I think he'd be just fine if everyone would just leave him alone. I'm definitely cheering for the underdog on this one! Hornswaggle's music starts but he doesn't come out right away. He was under the ring and he looks so broken hearted to have to fight Umaga. He looks like he's been condemned to death, poor little guy. Coach keeps taunting Hornswaggle to get in the ring. The little guy is very hesitant, can you blame him? Hornswaggle runs to the back and out comes Triple H in his place to fight Umaga. It's looking like the Game is On!

This match up begins and it's a street fight of sorts. Triple H is in his street clothes and absolutely destroying Umaga. A slew of referees come out to ringside to try to pull these two men apart and it's not very effective. Triple H grabs a chair but Umaga gets him down again. Damn I haven't seen a fight like this in years! Triple H won't let the officials leave with Umaga, he keeps jumping on him (literally!) How many men does it take to stop a cerebral assassin and a Samoan Bulldozer? Obviously more than what was a ringside tonight...

Just when I thought that I might get by with escaping the stupidity of Santino Marella tonight, out he comes. The only redeeming thing about him coming out ringside is Maria. He is promoting the 500th edition of WWE magazine which comes out to a store near you tomorrow! Again Santino is ragging on Stone Cold Steve Austin. In the middle of Santino's rant that strange computer code appeared on the Titan Tron. This odd code has been appearing for weeks and no one knows what it is or who is responsible for it. Finally out comes Ron Simmons to shut up Marella. Their match begins. There is bad blood between these two that leaves Maria in the middle. She likes Ron as a friend but she's dating Santino. It's silliness. Santino delivers a very visible low blow to Ron Simmons and gets himself disqualified. He does not agree with that decision, well he should have thought of that before kicking someone in the family jewels. He leaves the ring with Maria on his arm, at least that's something to be proud of!

A two out of three falls match between the Glamazon Beth Phoenix and Candace Michelle explodes in the ring. I don't think I've ever seen a two out of three falls match between women before, this could be interesting. It always amazes me the crazy outfits (or lack thereof) that these women fight in, they are just asking for a wardrobe malfunction. They must use some heavy duty spirit gum to attach these bits of fabric. Candace Michelle is digging down deep to try to beat the Glamazon, but Beth powers back and wins the first fall of the two fall match up. Beth Phoenix is absolutely powering over Candace Michelle tonight. For every hit that Candace gets in her favor, Beth powers right back with more. Suddenly from nowhere Candace gets her second wind and gets a two count on Beth. She is relentless in her fight and continues to pin the Glamazon. A bad accident where Candace fell off the turnbuckle leaves Beth Phoenix to finish the match. She pulls Candace Michelle to the center of the ring and pins her for the win by prompting of the referee. The EMT's get a stretcher out to ringside and she is taken to a medical facility. I will update you on her condition as information is released. It was a complete accident and Beth did not do it on purpose, Candace just wasn't ready to be shaken off the top rope quite like that. My prayers are with Candace tonight as she is tended to by medics.

The show must go on and the tag team match up between Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy vs. Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy begins. Here's a bit of information for you reading this. Did you know that Shawn Michaels intro music is being sung by him and Sensational Sherry? Who would have thought that Shawn Michaels was such a good musician? Sorry I got distracted typing by Jeff Hardy's intro. (Ha Ha). I have always loved Jeff Hardy because of his extreme wrestling ability and I love to see what color his hair will be each week. Mr. Kennedy is walking to the ring with a no nonsense gait and he's all business. No bells or whistles for him tonight. The out comes the Champ Randy Orton. Will these guys be able to stay partnered up in the teams that they have been put in or will this match become a free for all once that bells rings. I'm not sure. Orton is the ultimate hunted in this match even though his tag team partner Mr. Kennedy has agreed to help their team win. Shawn Michaels and Mr. Kennedy start off this huge match up and the fans are on their feet. Shawn is beating Kennedy like a government mule and showing just how much he is not ready for a retirement home yet! In comes Jeff Hardy to weaken Kennedy. Will the high flying moves of Jeff work for him tonight? Orton gets a near fall on Hardy using his sheer force of power on the rainbow haired warrior.

Hardy gets that much needed tag and Michaels is back in the ring cleaning house. Orton tried to cheap shot Michaels but Shawn was smarter than that. Orton gets a tag in and starts to take apart Michaels. Shawn is not going to take those punches lightly and he tries to power back, but Orton is always a stop ahead and Shawn can't get a let up. Kennedy back in and he's trying to disassembly Michaels. Shawn really needs to get the tag at this point, the fans are behind the Heartbreak Kid. He gets two back breakers from Mr. Kennedy and he goes for the pin, but Michaels kicks out of it. Orton is tagged back in, things are not looking good for Shawn at this point. Kennedy gets a blind tag to get back in and there is a quick double team on Michaels by both Orton and Kennedy for a moment. These two are tagging in and out quicker than I can type, ha ha. I hope Shawn can get to his corner eventually. Hardy riles up the fans behind Michaels to give him the strength to make that tag, it works and in come Hardy to face Mr. Kennedy. Hardy is relentless on Kennedy, but Orton interrupts the three count. I think this is where the free for all starts. Who the heck are the legal men in the match right now? Jeff Hardy gets the three count and wins it for his team. Hardy and Michaels are victorious! Never underestimate the power of teamwork!

del.icio.us Tags: Monday Night Raw , WWE , Wrestling

Monday Night Raw

Monday night Raw is coming to us tonight from the United Kingdom in the beautiful country of England. Randy Orton decides to go into General Manager William Regal's office to give him some good advice. What would the raucous fans of the UK like more than to see a triple threat match up between Jeff Hardy, Shawn Michaels and Mr. Kennedy? All of which are up on the ballot to face Orton at Cyber Sunday. Well Mr. Regal indeed thinks that matches in threes are a wonderful idea, but I don't think that his solution is what Randy Orton was thinking of.

 

William Regal comes out to address his adoring fans of England and announces that Randy Orton will be in three separate matches tonight against each of his possible contenders for Cyber Sunday. Randy Orton much first take on the rainbow haired warrior Jeff Hardy.

 

This match up is hot with a barrage of deep arm takedowns by the Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy. A running low baseball slide leads to a high fly maneuver by Jeff right to the face of Orton. Orton turns the tables on Hardy with a drop kick and a power slam. For a few brief moments it looks as if Randy will win this by sheer power. He places some nice choke holds on Hardy but with no success in choking out the extreme champion. Jeff manages to get a huge clothesline on Orton which leads up to a whisper in the wind which ends in only a two count. Mr. Kennedy has to come out and interrupt the match distracting Jeff just long enough for Orton to land that RKO and get the win over Hardy. One down two more to go. Who is going to come out to distract Mr. Kennedy when his match with the champ is up?

 

Santino Marella and Val Venis match up yet again this week. These two men have no love whatever for each other. They exchange blows and Santino uses the rope to secure his win over the big Val Venis. Maria is sure looking beautiful tonight, that's about the only thing redeeming about this match, I'm really sick of Marella at this point I think he has overstayed his welcome. =P

 

Carlito and Jonathan Coachman exchange commentary on small things, and Hornswaggle gets brought up. Carlito makes fun of Coach for getting beat on last week by Hornswaggle with his own walking cane. Hornswaggle runs in and tags coach then runs out, the Monday night game of tag is on yet again! The thing that I don't understand is that they are treating Hornswaggle like he's a child. In fact he is an adult, despite the fact that his stature is small, he is a full grown man. Sure his actions are a bit childish at times, but could that be simply because people expect him to behave in such a manner? I think that he has real potential and I don't think that any member of the McMahon family should be exploited in such a way.....or is it Hornswaggle going the exploiting? They run into the back where the kitchen/dining area is and Hornswaggle leaps onto the face of Coach and runs back out....it's on now, the Monday night war begins again!

 

Mr. McMahon addresses Regal. He asks how old the Queen is really? William asks which one, (the pictures on his wall say it all)...Vince tries to correct William Regal's pronunciation of Umaga's name but to no avail. Mr. McMahon has something up his sleeve when he finds out the Triple H is in no condition to fight tonight due to the severity of his encounter with Umaga last week on Raw. What could that dastardly chairman have in mind now? I swear DX just needs to come out and shut Mr. McMahon up! I'm sure that will happen but in my opinion it can't happen soon enough!

 

Mr. Kennedy comes out ready to fight for his match up with Randy Orton. Will the mouth of the WWE be able to topple the tower of the Legend Killer? I think they should offer Mr. Kennedy a job as a ring announcer, he'd be really good at it. I wonder is Lillian Garcia is going to get sick of announcing Randy Orton tonight? Ha Ha! The match up begins. Mr. Kennedy is capitalizing on his strengths and Randy Orton's weakness of already being in action once tonight. Orton powers back and shows Kennedy that he's the champ for a reason, no one is going to best him that easily. Kennedy gets a two count on Orton and it's looking like he may have a leg up on the champ. Nope, Orton is not ready to lay down just yet, and Kennedy ends up on his back. The stomping begins by Orton. Kennedy is trying to utilize the ropes to his advantage but it's not meant to be. Kennedy picks up Orton and slams him down then Hardy runs out and interrupts Kennedy's match and beats the crap out of Kennedy. Orton high tails it out of the ring and paces like a caged animal just out of reach of our rainbow haired warrior. The intensity just got turned up a notch and I'm not sure Orton was quite expecting this. Two down one to go Randy!

 

Mr. McMahon comes out to address the audience. Oh lord he says that he amazes himself with his own promotional genius. He is promoting Cyber Sunday again. Sure it's a great idea, but I'm not sure if I would call Mr. McMahon a genius. At Cyber Sunday it will be Triple H vs Umaga. Umaga comes out ringside and Mr. McMahon calls for a referee for this really unnecessary match up. Mr. McMahon explains what stipulations can be added to the Cyber Sunday match up, then asks for a demonstration by Umaga. First up, a street fight. What an example. Umaga is simply tearing apart his opponent. Poor guy! A steel chair is brought into the picture and Umaga's opponent is counted out. Umaga wins. Mr. McMahon isn't done yet. The next demonstration is of a first blood match. Umaga must drawn first blood on his opponent to win this match. Mr. McMahon is getting too excited about this demonstration, his imagination must be in over time thinking that this poor man is Triple H. This is all so uncalled for. Repeated Samoan spikes bloody the opponent. His mouth is pouring blood and he can barely comprehend what's going on. There is a third option to Cyber Sunday. The steel cage starts to lower and whoever escapes first wins the match. This poor nobody can't possibly survive this match up. Mr. McMahon is delusional as he calls for the replay footage of the devastation of "Triple H"? He's done lost his mind yet again. The cage match begins. Mr. McMahon demands more carnage. I hope that he is paying this guy good to get his ass handed to him by Umaga. Mr. McMahon talks to Umaga throughout the match like Umaga is a pit bull and he's in a dog fight. How demeaning. I suppose Umaga doesn't care since he doesn't speak English. This match was simply ridiculous but I guess Mr. McMahon got his point across to those voters for Cyber Sunday.

 

Jillian Hall comes to the ring and of course has something to say to England. She confronts Lillian about her "pathetic" performance last week on Raw. Jillian continues to belittle Lillian on her music and band. "No one even understands Spanish" Lillian says. She is going to sing tonight. Thankfully enough we are saved by Candace Michelle before our ears start to bleed too badly. The match up begins. Candace is really starting to shape up as a wrestler, she demonstrates some fantastic moves and has the match won in about two minutes. Beth Phoenix is standing by with something to say. Next week Candace Michelle has invoked her rematch clause against the Glamazon and Beth can't hardly wait, claiming that she will get Candace Michelle on her knees next week.

 

Cody Rhodes is fighting Hardcore Holly again tonight and they face off together backstage first. A hard slap of reality by Holly gets Cody's blood boiling and Holly says that "that's the look I was looking for!" Could this be the match that finally earns the respect of Holly for Rhodes? Or will the young superstar remain defeated by the Hardcore legend? Only the squared circle has the answers.

 

The tag team champs are ringside to watch over the match between Rory McAllister and Brian Kendrick. Paul London is in Brian Kendrick's corner and Robbie McAllister is in the corner of Rory McAllister. Rory is showing his malicious side tonight in this match up and he is having no mercy for Kendrick tonight. The ropes save Kendrick from a pin fall by Rory and the match continues. Paul London tries to get the crowd behind his partner, but Kendrick can't seem to get a leg up on Rory. Finally a breath of fresh air and Kendrick gets one shot at the Scottish highlander. Rory doesn't go down and he finally gets the win over Brian Kendrick. The Highlander's eye the tag champs and exit the ring. Could the tag champs be in for more than they bargained for with Rory and Robbie? Time will tell.

 

Shawn Michaels has an interview with Todd Grisham. He addresses Orton and is not too happy with Orton at all. He seems to have a bad attitude towards our champ gee I wonder why?

 

Holly faces off with Rhodes for hopefully the last time. How many times can one man get beat in a row by the same opponent? I guess when you have something to prove it's not about how many times you get defeated but how many times you keep coming at the opposition. He may not be lucky in the ring but at least Rhodes is persistent. The match up begins. The veteran Holly is really taking it to the newbie Rhodes. Rhodes gets a nice barrage of pin fall set ups but never gets more than a two count. He ties the speed approach, but Holly still has the upper hand. There are more near falls in this match than I have ever seen, but Hardcore Holly wins it with the famous Alabama Slam yet again. I think that Rhodes needs to start at the bottom and work his way up to the legendary stars, not try to make a statement by going after the veterans first.

 

Randy Orton in action for the third time tonight against the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. This match up has the potential to be absolutely explosive considering the past that these two superstars have together. Orton being responsible for putting Michaels out of action for months due to a massive concussion. Could the Heartbreak Kid be looking to give the Legend Killer a taste of his own medicine? I certainly hope that there are paramedics on hand because one of these men is probably going to need them by the end of this match up. The match begins. Damn it's an all out brawl and Randy Orton can't even escape the fists of Michaels. Orton is capitalizing on the skull of Michaels hoping to cripple the Heartbreak Kid. Orton goes up top an his attempted super plex fails, but Michaels capitalizes and starts to have the upper hand on Orton. Mr. Kennedy runs out and interrupts the match and the match is called due to disqualification. Jeff Hardy runs out to get more of Randy Orton and amidst all the confusion Michaels lands a super kick to Orton, showing him that you never take your eyes off the prize. I have a feeling that this show of man power tonight will lead to something like a tag team match up next week, but that is simply my prediction.

 

The show comes to an end tonight with Shawn Michaels giving the knocked out Randy Orton a look like a cat about to eat the canary. I have to say that I am ecstatic that Shawn has returned to Raw, for awhile I wasn't certain that he was going to be coming back due to the extent of his injury. Just goes to show that once wrestling is in your blood it takes a lot more than a gung ho kid to take you out of the picture! Welcome back Shawn!

 

del.icio.us Tags: Monday Night Raw , WWE , Wrestling

More Guarantees than a Presidential Candidate!

I knew that there were going to be some serious repercussions from No Mercy on this episode of Raw, but what the night had in store for the fans watching at home I'm not sure I was quite ready for! It was a hell of a way to kick off my week and I'm glad that I opted to stay awake to watch Raw.

 

Mr. McMahon kicked off the evening with more talk about how he kept his end of the deal and gave the people what they wanted at No Mercy. He then proceeded to go off on the Cyber Sunday tangent talking about how generous it was of him to give up his "power" for a night and give it to the people. The people can log in to WWE.com and pick the matches for Cyber Sunday. Who fights who, what style match etc etc. I have participated in the voting for Cyber Sunday before and it's a whole lot of fun, no doubt, but he was making it sound like he was doing the public a favor by providing us this service. About the time that everyone was getting tired of listening to him toot his own horn, out comes the man of the night, Triple H. He confronted Mr. McMahon and told him that he was invoking his automatic rematch clause and that he wanted Randy Orton in the ring right then that night. Triple H wasn't asking for a rematch, he was telling Mr. McMahon that a rematch was taking place. That's one thing about the king of kings, he can be very convincing when he needs to be.

 

Mr. McMahon makes the main event match for that night Randy Orton vs. Triple H for the WWE championship. As Vince is leaving the ring though, he gets a brilliant idea. He then makes it a handicap match. Triple H vs Randy Orton and his tag team partner Umaga. Now I've been watching wrestling for years and I've seen some dirty underhanded deeds that Mr. McMahon has pulled off, but this is getting downright ridiculous. I know that Triple H. and the McMahon family have a long history, but that is no reason for Vince to be so uncaring for the well being of Triple H at this point. I mean the man just came back from a quad injury last month and already Vince is trying to take The Game out of the game. I was not happy in the slightest about this decision, if he were my boss I'd have two words for him!

 

Monday night also brings back everyone's favorite general manager wannabe Jonathan Coachman. He is speaking with the Raw General Manager William Regal about his comeback and how John Cena "deserves what he got last Monday night after what he did to me!" Apparently Coach now has to walk with a cane because Cena messed him up pretty bad. Personally I think Coach deserved what he got for being an annoying prissy pants, but that's just me. I don't think Cena deserved to have his pectoral tendon ripped off the bone and have to have emergency surgery to repair it, no one deserves that no matter what. Mr. McMahon enters the room and asks Regal of the whereabouts of his little boy Hornswaggle. Regal claims that the "little tyke" is taking a nap because he tuckered himself out playing earlier that day. As soon as Mr. McMahon leaves, Regal gets in Coach's face and tells him that Hornswaggle is now Coach's responsibility and that he's sleeping in the closet. Well of course he's not in the closet, so Coach begins his search for the missing McMahon.

 

Just as I was comfortable snuggled up on my couch watching my favorite show, out comes Santino Marella. This man can make me want to turn the channel faster than anything. He has been challenged to a rematch by Val Venis because of his attack on Venis last Monday on Raw. Venis comes out still limping from the vicious attack on his knee the previous week. Just as Val gets into the ring Santino goes over to J.R. and King's announcer's table and gets a microphone. He announces that he has a previous engagement that evening and he is unable to fight Val Venis that night, but that Mr. McMahon has chosen a suitable replacement. Val Venis is suddenly facing down the hideous Snitsky. This man is the epitome of ugly, the next horror movie they make where they need a psychopath, he's your guy. The match begins and Snitsky immediately goes to work on the already injured knee of Val Venis. This is a huge disadvantage to Venis who tries but fails to fight on one good leg. Snitsky capitalizes on this weakness and wins the match almost effortlessly. I call this the filler match of the night cause it really has no impact on the rest of the show....lol

 

John Cena gives his first interview after his surgery last week for this torn pectoral tendon. J.R. and Jerry the King Lawler interview him via satellite. He says that since it had only been days since the surgery a prognosis was still pretty vague. The doctors are telling him 7-12 months of rehabilitation before he is ready for action again. He is hoping for less but I'm sure that he won't come back until he is 100%. He does comment on Randy Orton's statement at no mercy about Cena being lucky he was injured so he wouldn't have to face to embarrassment of losing at No Mercy. Cena had this to say about that, "It's better to fight and lose than to not get in the ring and fight at all." He also said that he is not going to focus on the past that he cannot change but he's going to focus on getting better so he can come back and kick some ass! I can't wait until that time comes, but in the meantime John Cena is in my thoughts and I hope he has a speedy recovery.

 

Randy Orton and Umaga are teaming up against Triple H. I can't say that I like the cerebral assassins chances here. Mr. McMahon also made the stipulation that all three men were to be in the ring fighting at the same time, Orton and Umaga were not actually "tagging" partners. This is going to get ugly. J.R. says during the match that it's going to take a miracle for Triple H to win this match and I have to admit sadly that I'm praying for that miracle as I watch. I can't stand to see the King of Kings man handled in such a way. Triple H gets a huge DDT on Randy Orton early enough in the match that I start to feel guilty for my doubting him. Orton and Umaga are both working on the already hurt ribs of The Game and Orton gets another one of those fantastic vertical drop kicks right into the face of Triple H. I swear it seems like Orton and Umaga are playing, "you hold him for me I'll hold him for you" as they beat the game out of his mind. Triple H gets a reprieve and delivers a face buster to Orton. Umaga delivers a chair shot to Triple H and the match is called by the ref for outside interference with a chair. Of course just because the bells rings doesn't stop the destructive duo from beating The Game. Randy gets an RKO and walks about content with his actions. Umaga however is another story. The Samoan Bulldozer takes the next few minutes to absolutely destroy Triple H in ways that no man should have to suffer. After executing a huge Samoan Spike to The Game, Umaga looks absolutely satiated with his dissection of the King of King and he leaves the ring. Officials move in to help Triple H, but every king has their pride and he tries to leave the ring on his own. He falls flat on his face on the steel entrance ramp and has to be helped out of the arena by officials. My heart stops hoping that he's ok and wishing that someone would just kick the crap out of both Randy Orton and Umaga.

 

The spirit raising match of the night is Paul London and Brian Kendrick vs. The Highlanders Rory and Robbie. The Highlanders are trying to "earn" the right to take on the tag champs Cade and Murdock. The match is very short lived and the ropes are used to help the highlanders score an upset over the high flying duo. I don't know if I'm such a big fan of the bad attitude of the highlanders as of late. Maybe it's because when they came into the WWE no one was taking them seriously. I liked them when they first debuted, but now I just think that they are bullies and cheaters the perfect match for Cade and Murdock in my opinion.

 

Coach is still trying to find Hornswaggle at this point, no one has seen the littlest McMahon. William Regal asks Coach if he's had any luck on finding him, and they butt heads on the issue of the task at hand. This could go on all night if Coach doesn't channel his inner Sherlock Holmes.

 

A wonderful break from the squared circle for a moment when Lillian Garcia and her band perform her new single off her album Quiero Vivir! The album is entirely in Spanish and let me tell you what, Spanish music never sounded so good. This woman is so talented and beautiful, I would love the opportunity to eventually meet her. It's a great song and I'm glad that she still finds time to work on her music with the busy WWE schedule that she keeps!

 

Jeff Hardy faces off against Mr. Kennedy. The rainbow haired warrior meets the mouth of the WWE. They lock up and the match is a nice exchange of blows and blocks between the two men. Hardy tries to go high risk on the top ropes at one point attempting to jump on Kennedy who is outside the ring. Kennedy moves and all Jeff gets is a chest full of retaining wall. (ouch!) Mr. Kennedy turns up the heat with a 1/2 Boston crab submission on the Intercontinental Champion but Jeff gets free. Jeff continues to try to go high risk but it's not his night to fly. A drop kick takes him off the top turnbuckle as he's attempting another move. Kennedy seems to be in complete control of the extreme warrior tonight. Kennedy begins working over the legs of Hardy knowing that that is the strength of Hardy and if you take that away from him you've won. Hardy of course fights back like a champ and uses a modified brain buster to take Kennedy down. Kennedy gets a roll up on Hardy but Hardy counters it and wins the match. This was not a title match so he had nothing to loose, but everything to gain in the game of rising to the top!

 

Now the big event of the evening! Mr. McMahon announced earlier in show that every person on the Raw roster was going to come ringside and shake the hand of Randy Orton and congratulate him on becoming the champ. Despite the fact that Triple H was absolutely unable to even walk, Vince demanded that Triple H will be the first man to shake Randy's hand even if he had to be brought ringside on a stretcher. The wrestlers come out (I don't see Triple H?) and then out comes the champ himself. He struts to the ring like he actually deserves all this attention. He gets in the ring and I notice that he's wearing a suit with his wrestling T-shirt underneath the suit jacket. Now come on Randy I know that they pay you well enough to buy dress shirts, you should try it sometime. Or have you forgotten all those stylin and profiling days of Evolution? Orton makes this touching speech about how perfect he is and it almost brings me to tears (of boredom!) I'm serious his arrogance is going to get him hurt one day!

 

Vince calls out Triple H to come shake Randy's hand. Well nothing happens no intro music. So Randy decides to go backstage and "drag" The Game out. Orton gets about halfway up the ramp when intro music starts. It's not Triple H's music he hears though. It's the music of the one the only Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels! At this point I'm on my feet in my living room jumping up and down like a school girl because I've been waiting for months for him to make a comeback and I wasn't sure it was going to happen. Man Randy Orton started to back pedal toward the ring like a scared little girl. For those of you who don't remember, it was The Legend Killer Randy Orton that kicked Shawn Michaels head off a few months back resulting in a massive concussion. Shawn walks slowly and deliberately to the ring savoring the fans reaction to his being there. Once he gets in the ring Randy Orton has "No chance in Hell" of escaping unscathed. Michaels beats the crap out of Orton then delivers that sweet chin music that we all know and love that is classic Heartbreak Kid and knocks Orton clean out. The Show Stopper is back on Monday Night Raw and it's about time!

 

A couple of side notes were mentioned during Raw that I found pretty interesting. Friday Night Smackdown is about to get a whole lot more extreme. The Brothers of Destruction are back! (for those of you who don't know who that is, Undertaker and Kane). These two are teaming back up to wreck havoc on Smackdown and their first victims are going to be Matt Hardy and MVP! I'll be sure to tune in Friday night to catch that one. I absolutely love the Undertaker and the days of long ago when he teamed with Kane were awesome and thrilling. These two men are huge and no one can beat them when they are working together. The Dead Man and the Big Red Machine are back (too bad they aren't still on Raw.....lol)

 

The 2007 Diva Search is almost over as well. There are 4 divas left I believe in the running. These women are absolutely beautiful and I'm sure very nice women. What happened to the days though when the women actually wrestled. Sure pretty faces are nice, but that gets kind of old after awhile (ok maybe not for the men who watch but not all wrestling fans are men duh!) I'd love to see whomever is selected this year actually take some training and learn how to be dominant in the ring and beautiful for the cameras as well. So far I've got my money on Beth Phoenix keeping her newly acquired Women's Title for awhile because not many of the other Divas backstage can fight their way out of a paper bag honestly. Please get some women wrestlers not just pretty faces. Ok I'm off that soapbox! Make sure you go to www.wwe.com to vote for your favorite Diva! (If not at least you can look at some really hot pictures of scantily clad women) =P

 

del.icio.us Tags: WWE , Monday Night Raw

No Mercy is Electrifying!

The beloved chairman of the board kicked off this pay-per-view with a statement about John Cena's injury which took him out of action. Due to this accident, the WWE Championship was vacated and up for grabs. Mr. McMahon guarantees that by the end of the night there will be a new champ and that he will give the people what they want. Well I have to say that Mr. McMahon blew my mind when he gave the title to Randy Orton, literally! Orton comes out looking absolutely victorious and is very proud of his "accomplishment". The Raw general manager William Regal then makes Randy Orton's night even better, by telling Randy that he will defend his title that night and that Orton will get to choose his challenger! Now what kind of crap is that? Talk about favoritism. Sure Randy Orton has been gunning for a title shot for awhile, but he keeps coming up short. I can't believe they just handed the title over to him for lack of a better plan on such short notice. Wow!

 

Just as I was beginning to feel really disappointed, out came the answer to my prayers. Triple H wasn't about to let Mr. Orton off the hook that easy either. He came to the ring to simply offer his congratulations on Randy's recent acquisition. It was all in good sportsmanship, really! Triple H presents Randy Orton with the opportunity to fight him for the title at No Mercy. Of course Randy Orton blatantly refuses. Mr. McMahon has to add his two cents worth in as well and that's when Triple H's attention goes to the chairman of the board.

 

Triple H begins the demeaning process in order to get Vince to buckle and give him a title shot. He calls Mr. McMahon things like, "spineless, gutless, coward" and then follows up with saying that "Mr. McMahon has no balls!" The one thing you never want to say to the face of Vincent Kennedy McMahon is that he has no balls. The chairman starts to get offended, you can see the hatred in his eyes as Triple H continues his barrage of insults. The final straw is when Triple H says that "Under that $5000 suit isn't a puffed up man, but a shriveled up old man!" He then follows that insult up with, "and under that $500 alligator skin belt isn't a huge pair of grapefruits, but two shriveled up pair of raisins!" Now he's gone too far, he insulted the grapefruits! All gloves were off at that point and Mr. McMahon gave the audience and fans at home (and Triple H) what they wanted, the match of Randy Orton vs. Triple H for the WWE Championship would commence immediately! The look on Randy Orton's face was priceless when he realized that Vince wasn't kidding. He looked like a kicked puppy for a split second, it was classic!

 

The match was on and it was a pretty good fight, but Randy obviously wasn't quite prepared to take on the cerebral assassin because he just couldn't get a leg up on Triple H. Thirty minutes after being awarded the WWE Championship, Randy Orton lost it to Triple H. I think that may have been the shortest title reign ever! Triple H is victorious and Randy Orton leaves the ring in utter shock at his shortcomings.

 

There is a "bonus" match made that evening that would give us some tag team action. It was a six man tag team match with Jeff Hardy, Paul London and Brian Kendrick vs. Lance Cade, Trevor Murdock and Mr. Kennedy. This match was high flying and intense but in the end Paul London just couldn't keep from getting pinned and despite the effort of his partner Brian Kendrick, the team of Cade, Murdock and Mr. Kennedy is victorious. I fully expect to see a rematch on Monday Night Raw!

 

Backstage Mr. McMahon finds Triple H and informs him that since he always "gives the people what they want", that Triple H's match with Umaga will still happen and it will be for the WWE Championship. Man Vince really hates Triple H.

 

The ECW championship is being defended next. CM Punk has wrestled his ass of the past few months to get this prestigious honor of being the champ. He had to go through the previous champ John Morrison and there was no love between those two men. Tonight thought CM Punk's challenger is the absolutely huge Big Daddy V. This man is almost 500 pounds and it's not muscle. He's fat, plain and simple and someone that fat should really wear a shirt. The match commences and all I can think is "I hope Punk has a harpoon for the whale!" Well Matt Striker interrupts the match and causes a disqualification for outside interference. CM Punk retains his title but the match isn't over yet. Big Daddy V is pissed and he's taking it out on the man in the ring with him. He obliterates Punk and leaves Punk in a bad way. By the end of the barrage of kicks and knees to the sternum and ribcage, Punk is bleeding from the mouth and having to be half carried out of the ring, but he remains the champ!

 

There are some things that go deeper than wrestling. The competitive nature of both MVP and Matt Hardy is one of these things. The past few weeks have been a show of physical, mental and emotional machismo between these two men. They are the Smackdown tag team champions, but MVP is also the United States Champion. Could Matt Hardy secretly be gunning for that belt? Tonight's challenge will be one that only a real man could stomach. It will be a Chicago style pizza eating contest. Tazz is our announcer for this unique match up and the lovely Maria and Melina are the guest judges keeping track of how much pizza these guys consume. The two challengers come down to the ring. MVP is all mouth and talks a line of smack a mile long. Finally Tazz gets the two men to sit down and start the "competition". Matt Hardy is going to town on that Pizza while MVP looks absolutely ill to have to eat such "garbage". In the end of course Matt Hardy is victorious with two pieces consumed, MVP didn't even get one! Matt Hardy added insult to injury when he threw up on MVP. MVP turned a shade of green that I didn't know a black man could turn and Matt Hardy once again left victorious. (yuck!)

 

Triple H comes out for his second match of the night looking ready for a fight. Can the King of Kings withstand the devastation of the Samoan Bulldozer? Umaga is dominant at the beginning of the match and Triple H's chances don't look good. Triple H pulls out all the stops and lands a huge Pedigree on Umaga to retain his title. Once again Triple H proves why he is the King of Kings, no obstacle is too great!

 

The next match is the first time ever Punjabi Prison match between Batista Smackdown's champion against the Punjabi giant himself The Great Khali. For those of you who have no idea what a Punjabi Prison match is I'll explain it to you. There are two steel re-enforced bamboo cages involved. The inner cage is 16ft high and has four doors in it. The outer cage is 20ft high with no way to escape other than by climbing over it. These two cages are lowered over the ring and the object is to get one of the doors of the inner cage opened so you can get out. You will have 60 seconds to escape once the door is opened, if you do not, the door is locked and cannot be reopened for the remainder of the match. Wow this is definitely going to be an intense match up. They will have to escape both cages to be victorious! So the challenges come to the ring and the match is on. There are no disqualifications, no count-outs, no submissions and no pin-falls. The only way to win is to escape the Punjabi Prison. The Great Khali dominates Batista and begins his climb out because all 4 doors were opened and not escaped through. I totally thought that Khali had this match won. Batista reached down deep and channeled his inner spider climbing abilities and cleared both cages just before Khali did to retain his title. I was pleasantly surprised. I'm sure that this rivalry is far from over, but for the time being Batista is still the Smackdown Champion!

 

Irish Pride vs. Luchador honor. It's Finlay vs. Rey Mysterio. Rey Mysterio just recently made him comeback debut from an injury and he has been red hot ever since. When you see this match up you would think that Mysterio has it in the bag because he is quick, limber and has a barrage of high flying maneuvers that devastate any opponents. Finlay is taking it to Mysterio at the beginning of this match, he's relentless on his punching and kicking. The referee actually has to assert his authority on Finlay and reprimand him for bringing a weapon into the ring. Mysterio avoids being hit with the dreaded shalleighly and capitalizes on this opportunity to fight back. Rey knocks Finlay out of the ring and it appears that the Irishman is hurt. His head bounced off that mat on the floor like a super ball. It was not pretty. Mysterio feels horrible for hurting Finlay. Finlay is loaded up on a stretcher by medical officials and put into a neck brace. Just as they were taking him out of the arena as they got to the exit ramp, Finlay jumped off the stretcher and begins accosting Mysterio yet again. He faked the injury to give himself an advantage. There was no defined winner of this match up, but Mysterio was caught off guard with this last attack and appears to be hurting because of it. I'm sure that this will be rectified on Friday Night Smackdown.

 

Once again we go to our beloved chairman who is antagonizing Triple H yet again. Reassuring Triple H that he is only doing this because it's what the people want, Mr. McMahon let's Triple H know that Randy Orton has cashed in on his automatic rematch clause. Triple H will fight Randy Orton tonight in a last man standing match for the WWE Championship! Vince is obviously not going to stop until Triple H is either dead or no longer champion.

 

The Women's Championship is being defended by the beautiful Candace Michelle against The Glamazon Beth Phoenix. Can the playboy bunny defeat the Glamazon? I have to admit that when Beth Phoenix first came into Raw that I was not all that impressed with her attitude. I do have to have respect for the fact that out of all the other women in the locker room recently she is actually built for wrestling. She's not a skinny little waif and she has the best of both worlds with strength and beauty. I can relate to her fighting style and ability because I am built very similarly to her (she has a bigger chest of course!). It's good to see a real woman in the ring, not just some beautiful super model. Not since the days of Chyna, Trish Stratus and Lita have I seen such a great display of ability and beauty! Beth Phoenix gets the win over Candace Michelle and announces that the Glamazon Era has begun!

 

As Triple H enters the ring for his third match of the night, he is far from 100%. His ribs are injured from the barrage of attacks from his match up with Umaga and he's already fought Randy Orton once tonight. Randy Orton comes to the ring proud of his ability to get his shot at regaining the title. As these two face off you can feel the absolute animosity and hatred between them. They lock up and it's all or nothing. Orton impresses me once again with his vertical leap ability. There are no rules in a last man standing match, the way you win is to incapacitate your opponent to the point that they can not make it to their feet by a ten count. These two are absolutely killing each other in the ring. It's amazing to see the carnage of these two rivals. Orton resorts to using television cables to choke out Triple H at one point, but Triple H makes it to his feet. What will these two men do for gold? Orton goes through an announcer's table and his arm is injured, but he fights on. Tables should never be used as slip-n-slides. Orton takes steel steps to the face and I'm certain that that will be the deciding factor of who wins. He makes it to his feet. The two continue their mutilation in the ring and Orton gets a huge DDT on Triple H. Triple H's face bouncing off a steel chair at that point. As Triple H's face becomes a crimson mask of rage he begins knocking the crap out of Orton again. They end up outside the ring yet again and Orton tries to capitalize by trying to give Triple H the steel steps in his face, this fails. Orton falls and gets a chair shot to his head instead. Triple H finally gets the low blow from Orton and is taken up on the announcer's table that hasn't already been destroyed. Orton delivers a huge RKO on the table to Triple H and gets back into the ring. Triple H tries his damndest but he cannot make it to his feet by the 10 count. Holy crap, Orton wins the championship! He lost it in the first 30 minutes of the show, only to regain it two hours later. I have to say I was impressed by this match up and I hope to see more of it in the future.

 

I'm sure that all the rivalries displayed at No Mercy will be rectified on their various brands this week. Raw, ECW and Smackdown should all be smoking hot coming off of this absolutely electrifying pay per view! Thank you World Wrestling Entertainment for yet another fantastic night of entertainment!

John Cena out of action due to injury!

Mr. McMahon made an announcement on Tuesday night during ECW that John Cena was going to have to undergo immediate surgery on his pectoral tendon and that he would be out of action between six months and a year. This came as a blow to the Raw roster as there are only a matter of days until the pay per view event No Mercy.

 

John Cena was supposed to be matched up against Randy Orton that evening for the WWE Championship. Unfortunately due to the severity of his injuring the WWE medical team and staff are not allowing Cena to compete in this event no matter how much Cena feels that he can do it.

 

The match at No Mercy has been changed to an Open Title Match, which will determine the new WWE Champion. I'm not sure who will compete in that match but I hope that a fitting champion is crowned.

 

Apparently it was difficult to diagnose the injury at first because John Cena is so muscular that the tendon tear wasn't discovered right away but was finally found. Doctors are sure that Cena will do what it takes to come back stronger and faster than they expect because this business is his life and it's in his blood. My prayers are with John Cena and the Cena family right now that he has a speedy recovery and I look forward to him making his fantastic comeback. Best wishes John!

Monday Night Damn!

Monday night Raw started off with every ones favorite boss Mr. McMahon coming out and saying a few kind words about his match that evening with Triple H. In order to send a very serious message to the cerebral assassin Mr. McMahon had three men in the ring who were "masters" of their chosen fighting style. Then he called out the Samoan Bulldozer Umaga to take on these three men in a handicap match in order to prove to Triple H just who the better competitor was. Well the match began and naturally Umaga was dominant and very much like a bulldozer that night. He obliterated his opponents easily enough and the message was sent. Triple H I'm sure was shaking in his boots at that very moment, (hardly).

Jeff Hardy had a tag team match that night partnered up with the high flying duo of Paul London and Brian Kendrick. These three extreme dudes were taking on Shelton Benjamin and the Tag Team champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdock. These six men were certainly going to give the fans something to talk about. It was a high flying speed match with Jeff Hardy's team going to town on the Tag Team champs and Benjamin. Using the ability of speed and high flying maneuvers that I don't recommend anyone try to duplicate at home, Jeff Hardy and his partner's made quick work of their opponents. If any of the WWE staff is reading this, I would love to see more teaming of Jeff Hardy, Paul London and Brian Kendrick!

Smiles all around and welcome back to the Raw General Manager William Regal. Mr. McMahon said that since Jonathan Coachman was out sick this week that Mr. Regal would have some very big responsibilities to deal with on his own. His first and most important responsibility, to take care of the cutest McMahon Hornswaggle for the evening while Daddy McMahon had his match. Regal agrees to do so and after Vince walks out, Regal loses Hornswaggle. He looks high and low in the office and that little bugger just vanished! I know one thing, Mr. Regal isn't watching my son any time soon!

J.R. and King went via satellite with Randy Orton who had a few choice words for his favorite person John Cena. Randy was in Chicago Illinois talking all kinds of crap about our champ and about how he loved beating up John's father Mr. Cena. When asked as to why he wasn't at the arena that night he simply stated, "It's not to my advantage to be there." He is looking forward to settling his score with John Cena no matter what!

Right before the commercial break the Highlander's were seen and had something to say to all those listening. They are gunning for the Tag Team championship and no one is going to stop them! Could this be the start of something interesting? I did notice that they are sporting new kilts. Black with a gold and black tartan wrap. Interesting could the Scottish underdogs become the team to fear? Only time will tell.

Wrestlers are mostly known for their charisma, their physique, or their moves in the ring. Would it surprise you to know that some of these folks are educated and have college degrees in various subjects? Well just because you are a superstar doesn't mean you have to be super dumb, except in the case of Cody Rhodes. Apparently the young Rhodes didn't get enough of a stompin last week from Hardcore Holly, so he challenged Holly to a rematch. Rhodes must really feel he's got something to prove. Well just like last week, this was not his time to earn Hardcore Holly's respect. He lost the match in a very big way and was looking up at Holly from his back. Not a very respectful position there Cody. For the second week in a row Holly left the squared circle disappointed.

The women don't get much t.v time on Raw as of late, well this was remedied tonight. Beth Phoenix came out and had a favor to ask of Lillian Garcia. She asked if Lillian would announce her as the "new women's champion". Lillian humored the glamazon and made the announcement but followed it up with "if you can beat Candice Michelle at No Mercy." Well that's all it took to knock the glamazon off her high horse and start a fight. She attacked Lillian by backing her into a corner and chocking her. Well the WWE Women's Champion wasn't going to stand for that so Candice Michelle ran out to defend the battered Lillian. Beth left the ring in a huff certain that the gold is going to be hers come Sunday night!


Finally the match that I had been waiting for all night began. Mr. McMahon came down the ramp like he owned the place (well guess he sorta does). Triple H made his usual entrance and was rudely interrupted by Mr. McMahon he demanded an end to the "showboating". Personally I think Vince is just jealous of Triple H's awesome intro. Mr. McMahon starts calling for a referee to come ringside so they can "get it on". It takes a moment, but out comes the referee none other than Carlito. Now where is going to be fair in this match? Triple H's chances at an honest match just went out the door if there every was a chance of that to begin with. The beginning of the match is like a cat and mouse game with Triple H and Mr. McMahon. It's totally silly. Then they get down to business. Triple H gets Mr. McMahon and starts to actually wrestle when Carlito has to interfere. Carlito ends up giving Triple H a huge backstabber and knocks the wind out of the game for a moment. Triple H doesn't let it keep him down and he sets of Vince for a Pedigree when Carlito calls for the bell for roughing the ref. Triple H is disqualified and once again Mr. McMahon steals a victory from the King of Kings.

The match doesn't end there though, of course. Out stomp Umaga like someone just killed his pet puppy and that person looks a lot like Triple H. The exchange blows and Triple H lands a thunderous DDT on the Samoan Bulldozer. Well this was about as effective as a slap in the face and Umaga gets right back up. (What?) Just as the Game is getting his licks in on Umaga, Carlito has to go and get involved yet again. Triple H gets taken out of the ring over the top rope by Carlito, who thinks he's done a good deed. In reality all he did was put Triple H closer to his sledgehammer, which he wields and starts to get back into the ring. Umaga thinks better of another showdown and leaves the ring with the Chairman at his side. Game Over!

Just when I thought that I could get through an entire episode with having to hear the rantings of Santino Marella, here he comes with the only thing he's got going for him, the beautiful Maria. He is doing his version of "At the movies" and his choice flick to rate this week is The Condemned starring Stone Cold Steve Austin. Santino has nothing nice to say about the movie and actually calls it "pathetic". Maria doesn't agree with his opinion and says that she liked the movie. Santino says that if he were in the role of Jack Conrad instead of Steve Austin that the movie would have been so much better. (Hardly). About that time out comes Val Venis to give Santino something else to talk about other than himself. Insults are traded and the fight is quickly on. Santino takes out Val Venis' knee and escapes the ring dragging Maria along with him. Val tries to get up and thinks better of it.

Could it be more screen time for the women tonight? Why it sure is. Melina is matched against Mickie James former WWE Women's Champion. The match is a total cat fight with some impressive counters and moves from Mickie James. Then Melina is distracted by her new boyfriend Hornswaggle, who was hiding under the ring waiting for his time to spring into action. Mickie James gets the win due to the little distraction and leaves the ring proud of her accomplishment. Melina and Hornswaggle get into a tiff and she chases him under the ring. (Again not the most brilliant wrestler in the locker room). Well Hornswaggle being a sneaky little devil, manages somehow to get the shirt right off Melina's back. (And her pants too!) She's left under the ring wearing??(insert your fantasy here) Hornswaggle exits very proud of his tokens.

The first time ever match up of John Cena and Mr. Kennedy is the main event of the evening. The match starts off great with a fantastic vertical leap over Mr. Kennedy by Cena. That man got great height on that one. The crowd is totally into this match up with chants of "Kennedy" and "Cena" reverberating off the rafters. Cena lands the STFU and wins the match after an incredible fist fight. Just as he thought it was just another victory to attribute to the chain gang fans all over the world, out runs Randy Orton at full speed. (Holy crap all the way from Chicago too, man that's dedication!) Orton lands his RKO on Cena and the devastation begins. Cena takes the steel ring steps to the chest and head which knocks him out. Orton then dismantles the announcer's table and sets up Cena for another RKO on the table. Orton has done lost his friggin mind tonight. Is he trying to kill the champ or just get his belt? Well Orton leaves with a smug look in his eye and Cena looks really hurt. Is the champ going to be able to compete at No Mercy after this brutal attack from the Legend Killer, or was he just the most recent victim? More to come in my next installment of Fantastic Entertainment.