Thanks for the Fish

Foley was horrid calling the original ONS. Just retire JBL again for crying out loud - he's so much more valuable in the booth then in the ring. Of course JBL wants to wrestle and could simply quit if they tried to force him out of the ring. Of course Foley could really grow into the role as he was one of the best mic men of his time and has a knack for storytelling. His ONS performance was a one-off occasion and he probably shouldn't be judged on it. Hell even that ONS performance would be an improvement over Cole and Coach. Coach is a PBP guy, the CC should be a former wrestler IMO. I'd be all for Coach heading to ECW to replace Adamle or even dare I say a three man booth.

I don't think it will be Jericho as Jericho is gradually turning heel himself. Punk vs Regal would be a solid program, but Regal needs the feud win, and Punk needs to be kept strong for his eventual MITB cash-in match. I'd guess Regal will feud with Jeff Hardy. Hardy is likely due for a series of jobs, might as well burn his rub on Regal.

I have no real desire to watch ECW anymore. Punk was it's major draw for me and he can be seen on the other brands and isn't long for ECW with the MITB contract, let alone should there every be a brand switch. Kane and Chavo are played out and certainly not compelling, and Miz/Morrison are SD! regulars with the tag titles.

Hayes joke probably went over well with MVP that he thought he'd try it with Henry - you need to know your audience. You tell a dirty joke to one co-worker and it's a laugh-riot, you tell it to another and it's sexual harassment.

I'm wondering if Punk will move on to a program with Edge after Edge/Undertaker finishes up at Backlash. And with Edge having his "Family" always interfere, I'm wondering if Colt Cabana will debut to align with Punk. The storyline could be where Edge is out of title shots after losing again to The Undertaker and goes after Punk's MITB shot so he can get another shot at Undertaker. Unlike Kennedy, Punk will blow him off, saying he'd be stupid to do that. Edge will then try to antagonize him, have his goons jump him until one time Punk will be getting swarmed by Chavo, Neely, Edge, Hawkins and Ryder when a "fan" will jump in the ring with a weapon and clear them out. Too bad Ace wasn't around anymore. Because 5-on-2 is still pretty shitty odds.

So is Khali working for Regal? I'm wondering if Regal will attack Big Show during the Khali match or something and cement their working relationship and give Big Show his next feud with Khali as Regal's bodyguard. The reason I bring it up is that obviously Khali didn't bother to try and win the match, he was just there to take out Finlay. Also given Regal's first round match-up, it's obvious that he put together the bracket, while stacking the other side to ensure who ever came out would be pretty beaten up. Now on one hand Regal is cemented as a heel given how he basically cheated his way to the crown, however on the other hand he really doesn't gain in being a legit threat in that he had a cakewalk basically to the end. Of course Regal is so badass in the ring and on the mic he is almost always over, or one segment from being over. Another possibility got King William is to use some of the Brit talent/developmentals to give himself some bodyguards. Burchill is rumored to be losing his incest angle and Taylor is still around, and they have 3-4 British developmental wrestlers in FCW.

Punk doesn't need the crown as he already has the MITB, besides his character wouldn't use the crown gimmick well at all. I'd love to see Regal win, just because it would mean he's getting an in-ring push. The finals will either be Finlay vs Jericho or Punk vs Regal - both solid matches I guess.

They're not giving away any fresh matches in the KOTR are they - I believe all those matches including the second round have happened before and pretty recently.

I want King Jericho the Wicked!!

He's signed, they're just waiting to debut him. I believe he hurt himself in a house show match recently, though obviously not seriously.

Obama should call and ask his spot to be pulled. Let Clinton and McCain look like pandering fools. Hillary dropping Randy Orton's name is silly - as her to pick him out of a line-up for crissakes. I mean why pander? Just give a straight up message, put over "Tribute to the Troops" and the "Make-a-wish" exploits, ask the fans for their vote and wish them a good night.

Oh My God! They all went for the cheap pandering. Hillary says that tonight in the spirit of the wwe you can call her "Hill-Rod" and that the campaign is like the king of the ring, only there will be a woman left standing. Barack does drop the "If you smell what Barack is cookin" and looking like a tool doing so and McCain channels Flair and Hogan saying "To be the man you're going to have to beat the man" and "what are you going to do when all of my McCainiacs run wild on you". He also butchers Barack's name in the process. It's all right here, leaked(?) on youtube - Actually those are just snippets. Here's Clinton's "script"- Hi, I’m Hillary Clinton. But tonight, in honor of the WWE, you can call me Hill-Rod. This election is starting to feel a lot like “King of the Ring.” The only difference? The last man standing may just be a woman. The truth is, this election is so important. The next president will face a stack full of difficult challenges right from the opening bell… to fix the economy, bring our troops home from Iraq, and make college more affordable. You need a president who will go to the mat for you. And that’s exactly what I’ll do. I’ve been knocked down, but I’ve always gotten back up. And I know how to take a hit for the American people. And if things get a little tough, I may even have to deliver the “people’s elbow.” Because this country is worth fighting for. Now, I promise to stick to the political arena. So don't worry Randy Orton you're safe… for now. When it comes to standing up for the American people though, I am ready to rumble.

"If you smellllllll-la-la-la-la-la-la what Barack is cookin!!" They were planning a parody, however the candidates took them up on the offer. I assume it was Sen. Clinton initially as her campaign is broke and she's looking for free publicity anywhere she can get it. She's on Larry King and Olbermann tonight as well. Wwe probably then contacted Obama saying Sen. Clinton was actually interested in a taped message sorta deal though they'd only go that direction if both were willing to do it. $10 bucks McCain talks about wwe's yearly tribute to the troops in his spiel. I seriously hope none of the candidates pretend to be wrestling fans though. That would be cringe worthy.

Hillary is doing Larry King and Obama is doing Jon Stewart. Not like anybody really expected them to be there in the first place. I expect a Rosie/Trump-esque lame brain skit. I think you can pencil in Ken Kennedy as part of the KotR as he's making his big return after being off for the straight to DVD movie he is currently filming.

He's tagging with another Brit in FCW. hThey're calling themselves "The Empire"...

I recall thinking it was Spike Dudley.

You'd think they would have had him calling matches from the wwe library sorta deal, or even practice calling the live shows in the back. Maybe they're trying to make him quit.

This could be completely bullshit, however the story I remember about Droese had him tied-up, naked in the shower area and bawling out of fear JBL was going rape him (JBL was playing the part). He was then let go with the understanding "know you know how the girls feel". Of course that could have been some twisted fanboy internet story, however is likely the one others are hinting at.

Supposedly he's being moved to wwe.com according to the in-the-know sites. I guess that 1wrestling.com experience is paying off - maybe he'll work on the "insider news" section...

Styles over-ratedness comes from the combination that the wwe forces him to call their way and the fact that he's faking any passion calls. It's probably not rewarding enough to want to be on the road anymore. I believe he gave up a pretty solid job when the wwe came calling, and had to be talked into taking the wwe offer.

I thought Adamle was horrid live - was that just for the interview segments? Can he call a live event? Styles probably called the moves by their proper names too much. I guess he could have asked out, maybe taken off the road and based out of Ct or whatever. Wwe has lost it's two best commentators over the last few months now - first JBL and now Styles.

Actually having to win three matches in one night is more of a feat. KotR as a PPV used to happen in one night - and that is when it was at it's best.

I think they're doing the ol' bait and switch - HHH, HBK, Batista are not going to be in it. And considering they'd only lose via outside interference to keep them all strong given the PPV in a weeks time - it might be better that way.

I thought the show was top notch last night. Of course then I read that Stephanie has really decreased her booking role for the time being and Hayes is basically writing Raw and SD! these days. The only segment that didn't work for me in any way was Burchill vs Duggan. That's really it. The HBK/Jericho promo was very good, all the backstage segments went somewhere and wasn't just fluff humor, the matches were all very solid at worst, I really liked Regal vs Orton. It's too bad Kendrick/London's split push was derailed because Cade and Murdoch are splitting and you could only have one team split at a time I guess.

What? This show was taped this afternoon due to the time change...