Thanks for the Fish

Good call. Harley was at the HOF ceremony. Steamboat will of course be there as a roadie.

Sting made his choice.

Chavo is a good midcard fodder type, but nothing more and surely not title material, even the ECW variety. I waver on him, sometimes am high on him and other times no so much. I was all for a Benoit/Chavo Guerrero US Title feud after Chavo took out Mysterio's knee. However there just isn't any compelling matches for him anywhere on the card. Look at the roster of any of the brands and tell me there is a match with Chavo you just have to see? I wouldn't have minded a Benjamin vs Guerrero ECW Title feud, but that's not going to happen. I think he needs to find a tag team partner or risk becoming Val Venis if he's lucky or Nunzio/Funaki if he's not so lucky. His best spot might be in TNA actually, with the possibility of returning down the line.

I created a spoiler thread - http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?showtopic=90207 - though don't know if it will simply just be talked about here or not. Lotta tap-dancin' going on in here.

Where was BDV for WM? I assume he is hurt or there is personal issues that kept him off the card? Was he at the HOF ceremony?

It's interesting that nobody was busted open at all last night - Does wwe shy away from blood at WM because of the larger more diverse audience? Morrison moonsault with the later spot would have been epic if everybody didn't chicken out catching him - I believe Punk tried on the far left and was clipped with the ladder for his trouble. Flair not catching HBK on the moonsault to the outside spot made two for the show. Another thing I liked during the Flair-HBK match was Flair hitting a high cross body off the top. HBK was probably the best opponent for Flair (save MAYBE Edge as they have great chemistry in the ring together), and you knew HBK was going to try his damnedest to make it memorable. The match actually improves on second watching, not so much the execution as the psychology and drama. It has been reported that Flair was offered the ME and flatly turned it down, saying the titles are most important and nobody is bigger than the titles. The plan was to have the fade to black being the robe and boots left in the center of the ring. Cole and Coach were terrible in the ME. I'll say it again, JBL and the WWE don't know how valuable JBL was as color commentator.

I just hope CM Punk doesn't use it to go after Kane and the ECW Title. I expect he'll hold on to it for awhile, as I expect Orton to drop the title to HHH at Backlash, meaning UT and HHH will both hold the titles as faces. And with plans to market Punk heavily to the kids, he's not going to heel any time soon.

I believe I read somewhere that SD/ECW wrestlers were to be at Raw tonight, possibly to set-up/announce the next draft.

The opposite scenario seems more likely. Cherry was already turned face in the Smackdown diva contest. Deuce and Domino seem the ones played out. Cherry is going to be 34 yo in August - she can wrestle though. Deuce still has mileage as Jimmy Snuka's son and Domino is the youngest of the bunch at 28.

The Mayweather handler how took the offense was wwe developmental Charles "The Hammer" Evans.

Yeah, one of the cables broke and the firework shot into the crowd and reports have one fan lit on fire. There goes the WM profits...

I expect Chavo vs Kane will have a legit rematch on ECW this week. He's not going anywhere either, both as a Guerrero and because the wwe is criminally short on Mexican/Latin American wrestlers to appeal to that growing fanbase. Sadly that will save Carlito as well. I think he's garbage and wish they would have let him go before. He really looks like he is half assing it in the ring, brings no passion/emotion and moves in slow motion. As for who I think should go or is in danger of going - Ashley is at the top of my list. She is terrible in the ring, is a terrible character adding really nothing and already posed nekkid. Charlie Haas is in danger, as they've tried a lot of different ideas with him and he can't get over. I think he might get a SD! switch for one last chance. I really think his best option is in a no-nonsense tag team. Developmental Jake Hager is a fellow Oklahoman and Collegiate wrestler - I think a pairing could work. Hell, even have Jerry Briscoe manage them for a spell. Snitsky - Channel change material. Hacksaw Jim Duggan - Nostalgia run was long over. Deuce and Domino will be repackaged, Cherry will be released. Balls Mahoney - not being used and offers little in the ring Boogeyman - Goner Armando Estrada - waste of time in GM only role. Drew McIntyre - bland and offers nothing. Mike Knox - Surprised he's lasted this long. Johnny Jeter - Always rumored for a call-up, but never materializes. As fr Developmental call-ups Nic Nemeth Eric Perez Dibiase Jr TJ Wilson(team with Harry Smith on SD!) Nattie Neidhart (paired with Smith and Wilson on SD!) Colt Cabana Jay Bradley

I gave in and ordered it last night, and I wasn't disappointed. Best match was obviously Flair vs HBK, and the best part of the night was right after HBK slapped Flair early in the match, causing Flair's mouth to bleed, to which Flair replies "First blood, Brother" - sounds sorta weird in print, but it was pretty bad ass. I was hoping he would have left his boots in the ring, but it's certainly not going to take away from the match. Finlay vs Bradshaw was solid for what it was, stiff as one would expect. I still think JBL was 100x more valuable as the CC guy for Smackdown. Money in the Bank was probably the second best one of the lot. Maybe it was because there was so many legit possibilities to win with Jeff Hardy out. Punk wining is actually a surprise. They had solid spots, and inly one botch. Benjamin once again was the MVP of the match. Speaking of MVP - Why did Hardy run in out of the crowd in his ring gear, specifically without his shirt on. Yeah, when you have to nitpick it means it was a good match. Nobody seemed to want to catch Nitro when he did the moonsault with the ladder to the outside bit. Raw vs SD! match wasn't bad, but it was just there. While I'm a hater, Batista does surprise me in spots. His jumping from cage to cage in the Punjabi Prison Match, then the "top rope induced tombstone flip" in the Elimination Chamber were solid spots. There was really nothing last night, but I think the two could have a solid feud if that is the direction they want to take. The Demon bomb spot where Batista fell down actually added to the match and the finish. ECW Title match was so damn predictable solely because Chavo took so damn long to get to the ring. I hope the two have a return match on ECW this week and are given the time to put opn a solid match. Flair vs HBK - I've already touched on it, but it was worth the price of the PPV alone. It wasn't the best work rate ever, but the story and emotion was top notch. I'm glad Charles Robinson worked the match as well. That moonsault out onto the table had to have injured HBK. Then Flair totally misses on catching him on the outside. Bunnymania was fluff. Ashley is absolutely HORRID! I think she needs to be fired. Candace would have been so much better in the role and match. I didn't understand Lawler getting involved though, when Snoop was going to do his bit later. Triple Threat match was the letdown match of the night. It really didn't click for me. HHH has dropped a lot of mass and when compared to Cena was outright orange. You can tell he tans in a bottle whereas Orton probably hits the tanning beds. Anyways, I was surprised Orton retained, and dare I say I think HHH should have won. They probably didn't want to have all titles change hands in one night though. I just don't know what is left for Orton right now. Cena is terrible. This is the first time I'll admit he deserved all the criticism he gets. His finisher STFU is ridiculously sloppy in that he isn't pulling back at all on his opponents head, to the point where Ortons head is wobbling around in the space between his arms. Also he completely no sells at points, just pops up and goes on offense like the previous beatdown had no effect. He just really bothered me tonight. Big Show vs Mayweather was better than I had expected, though not Bam Bam vs LT level, it was decent. Are his handlers indie wrestlers? Mayweather emoted/sold really well and the fans seemed interested throughout. World Title Match was a good match eventhough the result was never in question. I HATE the gogoplata finisher UT does, but that's the MMA mark in him I guess. Seeing Charles Robinson hauling ass to the ring was funny as hell because it was so damn far to run. I did think that the Hawkins/Ryder interference should have happened before Robinson came out though - it didn't make sense to me the way they did it. One of the guys got killed - he ate a stiff elbow from Taker, and then got smushed when his partner was choke slammed on to him. Flair-HBK MITB Undertaker-Edge Mayweather-Big Show The rest

Why bother paying for the nose-bleeds? Who was eliminated when Tazz called Noble out originally? Was Noble prematurely eliminated, so he just rolled in so he could do the walking on the wrestler spot?

Why is Edge there? Is it an Edgehead? Could it be Paul Burchill? Actually I think it's Domino Yeah that's Shannon Moore beside Kofi.

Whoever pushed the idea to have Wm in an outdoor stadium should be fired. If there is blowing rain getting in the ring, they better hope in the very least that the MITB ladder match happens in a dry spell, as does Mayweather/Show and hopefully Flair vs HBK.

The Carlito/Benjamin match wasn't all that good. Carlito seems a step too slow in everything he does, and doesn't seem all that interested. He needs new music as well. Benjamin can still be a player in the business, though he probably needs to be switched to SD! given ECW doesn't have any faces save Punk (It's too bad we didn't have Punk vs Benjamin at WM for the title).

Anybody vs Undertaker sucks because A]Every big feud with the Undertaker is basically the same and B]Undertaker isn't going to lose at WM.

I don't think London pissed off anybody. I think it's a combination of selling his beatdown, and even more so the wwe wanting to save that storyline for post-Mania. What are the odds on Robbie getting fired? Rory seemed tired of the business anyways and is hurt now, and Robbie certainly doesn't have singles level talent.

I agree completely. That's why I don't understand them showing him. You gain nothing as nobody cares but the wrestler probably gets in shit.

Watch Robbie get fired for this. TNA is scum. He was probably there watching friends, not drawing attention to himself or sitting in the front row and they go out of their was to out him, and even use his real name. Wwe should ban all TNA wrestlers from the HOF ceremony for this stunt.

That's pretty low shit, outing Robbie McCallister in the audience. He's probably there to see friends for crissakes, and wasn't drawing attention to himself in any way. Also what's the deal with using his real name? Bunch of scumbags.

Seems rather lacklustre. Wwe has done a horrid job of building hype going into WM. The only two matches I am really interested in are Flair/HBK and Mayweather/Big Show. Wwe really dropped the ball with the title matches.

About 10 minutes ago. I won't see it until tomorrow.

I wish Carlito would have left for TNA. He seems so uninspired in the ring, like he's just going through the motions. I can't remember the last time he has put on a compelling match.