Although ECW’s telecast last night on Syfy was a very enjoyable and entertaining one in my eyes, this week I devote a very short ECW Thoughts blog to the announcement made by WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon last night, concerning the future of ECW. Simply put, ECW is going off the air after its telecast on February 23. Then the following Tuesday, March 2, as our Chairman aptly put it, there will be “a new, innovative, never before seen program broadcast at the very same time here on SyFy. This will be the next evolution of the WWE. This will be the next evolution of television history”.

I have always welcomed change here in WWE. This organization certainly does not subscribe to the theory of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. I truly believe that we always try and stay ahead of the curve as best as we can. Change is good, and innovation is even better. I for one have had my curiosity piqued big time by the Chairman as to what is headed to Syfy on March 2.

However, that being said, if this new program is going to be a complete 180 from what we have had on Tuesday nights on Syfy for nearly four years with the ECW program, then I have just a few questions to ask out of curiosity:

What happens to those superstars that are under the ECW banner?

Will there be a disbursement draft of said superstars to Raw and SmackDown, or will any of them be involved in this new program?

Where has ECW General Manager Tiffany been for the past three telecasts? Did she have any idea that this was going to happen?

I will leave it at that for now. But one other thing: ECW has had a rich tradition in its own right for a number of years. I sincerely hope as a wrestling fan that on February 23 we see some type of a farewell piece chronicling the history of this brand. A picturesque sunset of ECW followed by a spectacular sunrise with the new WWE program the following week is what I am rooting for.

Thoughts? Comments? You know what to do. Thanks.

I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s Raw telecast for a myriad of reasons. And with the Royal Rumble right around the corner this Sunday, there are many superstars whose performances are dependent upon charting their courses this early in 2010.

I want to say something right off the bat concerning Triple H and Shawn Michaels, collectively known as DX. The Unified Tag Team Champions got a good win over Legacy last night, and now have a title defense this Friday on SmackDown  against CM Punk and Luke Gallows. But more importantly with the moment at hand, the Royal Rumble Match this Sunday means the world to both of them. HBK is nothing short of being obsessive in wanting to face the Undertaker at WrestleMania, while The Game just craves the spotlight of being in the main event on the grandest stage of them all, in addition to once again wearing the WWE Championship. And for Hunter to let Shawn know last night that they should work together and eliminate the entire field in the Rumble match, then battle it out themselves, well two things come to mind. First of all, in this Rumble match, the basic theme is that it is every man for themselves, so there might be a method to Hunter’s madness there. Secondly, Hunter’s pronouncement to Shawn is not guaranteed in stone, as it’s dependent on the luck of the number drawn by each man. If the Rumble Match does come down to the DX faction, so be it. If not, so be it. We shall see what happens.

Touché, John Cena!! It took a lot of moxie to confront the boss last night, but indeed he did, and in the process took Mr. McMahon to task concerning Bret Hart. And Cena is right this time. Many greats in WWE History went to the very top of their profession, and made the WWE Chairman shine ever brighter than ever in many ways. But once (as Mr. McMahon said) the gum lost its flavor, it was gone. Kudos to Cena for speaking up, not only for himself, but I am also sure his fellow brethren, and a good number of you in the WWE Universe, concerning his feelings on the situation. Bottom line: The Hitman returns to Raw next week, and will no doubt have a few things to say himself to Mr. McMahon, which should be most interesting to witness.

Then as a reward for his verbal lashing at the Chairman, Cena was awarded with a match against WWE Champion Sheamus. Cena was more than pleased to accept that, but once again fell short of the mark, thanks in part to the interference of the # 1 contender, Randy Orton, who needed to let the Celtic Warrior know that he had a date with destiny (by Orton’s accounts) this Sunday at the Rumble. But once again, I thought that in this match, not withstanding the disqualification due to Orton’s interference, and despite Cena making a great accounting for himself, Sheamus once again proved to be the better man. The more Sheamus gets in the ring with the best that WWE has to offer, the better he gets from both a performance and confidence level. And if he can emerge victorious this Sunday against Orton, that would be yet another notch in Sheamus’ belt.

Folks, I am going to state here and now that Kofi Kingston deserves an opportunity to take on The Miz for the United States Championship. Sorry MVP, but thank Raw guest host Dule’ Hill for that one. Now I know that MVP is the current # 1 contender for said title, and he did not have a good night at the office against The Big Show. Then Hill put Miz in action against Kingston, in a non-title match. And “boom, boom, boom”, Kingston scored the win over the Miz. Yes, that win was attained due to MVP’s music playing, which led to a Miz distraction, giving Kofi a chance to get the victory. After that, here came MVP out, kind of repayment for Miz seeing that Big Show took MVP on. I get that picture crystal clear.

But I also get the fact that Kofi Kingston gained a win over the United States Champion, and if I were him, he is well within his right to ask for a US Championship match against The Miz. And I can accept if he and MVP have a special one-on-one match to see who gets the right to face Miz, if that was the route to be traveled. It’s been all talk thus far between MVP and Miz, and in Kofi’s case, it was a match and a win over The Miz that in my view gives him grounds to go for the US Championship gold.

QUICK HITS

I have two quick hits this week, and they are both concerning the two semi-final matches in the “never ending” tournament to determine a new Diva’s Champion.

First, Alicia Fox fell short of the mark against Gail Kim, and she blamed Dule’ Hill for her loss. Huh? Believing Hill’s “psychic” prediction definitely threw Alicia off her game plan, no doubt. And after being defeated by Gail, Alicia took her frustrations out on Hill, which culminated in him receiving a s-l-a-p from Alicia. Was that justified? If you believe Alicia, definitely. But matches are won and lost in the ring by your own ability, that’s for sure. Dule’ paid a price for his actions, but Alicia paid an even bigger price by not advancing to the tournament finals.

Also, Maryse gained the other final slot by virtue of a win against Eve. But beyond that, I said to myself when Eve entered the arena for her match: Where was Chris Masters? I mean, whenever The Masterpiece has been in ring action as of late, Eve’s been right there by his side to lend him support. So Eve has arguably her most important match in her WWE career, and the shoe was certainly not on the other foot from a support standpoint. I don’t know if Masters’ presence at ringside would have made a difference for Eve, but it certainly would have been nice to see.

ODDS AND ENDS:  The piece that aired last night on the Royal Rumble Match was well done. It was informative and entertaining, and definitely should have given you a good feel for what this match is all about....“Beam me up, Jerry”! I am looking forward to seeing William Shatner as Raw’s guest host next week. Shatner inducted Jerry “The King” Lawler into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007……. Music plays a big part of WWE, you’ll have a chance to own WWE The Music— A New Day, Volume 10. There will be 14 tracks of superstars’ theme songs available, including Legacy, Christian, Sheamus, and the re-mix of Bret Hart’s theme. This Thursday, go to amazon.com for a limited time offer to get this new music release for only $ 3.99!!!

Feel like playing a tune in the form of a comment. Please do so; we’d like to know what you thought of my thoughts, or last night’s Raw in general.

As always, thanks for reading.

Last week in my ECW thoughts I suggested that to prepare Ezekiel Jackson for his upcoming ECW Championship match against Christian at the Royal Rumble, William Regal had to get Zeke in the ring and run him through a simulated match or two, with Regal assuming the role of Christian, and pitting his Guyanan charge through the paces.

Whether or not that is happening, I have. But last night, Regal decided to get inside the ring and face the ECW Champion himself, with his man Ezekiel intently watching on the outside of the ring. Of course Regal and Christian certainly are not strangers to each other; they battled tooth and nail during the latter part of 2009. That being said, he and Captain Charisma had a textbook wrestling match last night. And I would certainly think that Ezekiel had to pick up on some of the methods behind Christian’s madness, per se. Oh yeah, Ezekiel also left a “calling card” with Christian after all was said and done, in the form of his finishing maneuver.

Personally speaking, I’m hoping to see Mr. Regal allow Ezekiel to showcase him in one last match before the Royal Rumble, and to have that match next week on ECW TV. It’s all well and good to attack you adversary in the manner that he did. But it’s also important to see what Ezekiel Jackson is all about as the powerhouse that some are touting as the next ECW Champion. Only time will tell.

OK, it’s time to talk about ECW’s ring announcer, Savannah. She has a lot of energy out there, makes a nice presence, and really tries her best. Her future is bright. However, I have to take her to task a little bit based on how I heard her announce Zack Ryder and his new moniker last night. She had to do it twice, and that still was not good enough, according to Ryder, and more specifically Rosa Mendes. Luckily for Savannah, the Hurricane was able to get involved and put an end to the bullying that was going on. But from one ring announcer to another: I do have to side with Ryder and Rosa on this one, on how Savannah announced him. When you announce a superstar’s name, you’ve got to make that last name of said superstar "explode"; I did not think that happened. Perhaps Savannah was a little intimidated, I don’t know. But from a ring announcing perspective, to me it’s a growing pain, or shall we say pains, with the pains being Ryder and Rosa. Go get ‘em, Savannah; I’m rooting for you!!

This and That….I like the combination of Yoshi Tatsu and Goldust, but did it seem strange to see Goldust walking out with Yoshi last night… to Yoshi’s music??... Not withstanding the promotion of the Royal Rumble last night on ECW TV, chronicling the Championship Matches and the Royal Rumble Match, from a standpoint of it being ECW television, It might have been cool if the ECW representation thus far in the Royal Rumble Match could have been given a courtesy mention, even in as little as a graphic across the screen. Just my opinion, but I guess that’s why you folks come here and to wwe.com to find out…Oh, by the way: Those ECW names are up on the Royal Rumble site on wwe.com….Might as well have you take one more step to see who they are. :)

That’s it for this week’s ECW Thoughts…Please comment if you’d like, and as always, thanks for reading.

From a personal standpoint, I have always said that next to WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble has to be my favorite WWE pay per view event. The key word every year for me has been intrigue for the event, and for the Royal Rumble Match itself. And from an overall standpoint, what I saw on Raw last night that was pertinent to the Rumble event has me in a “can’t wait” mode for sure.

Shawn Michaels comes to mind first off of last night’s Raw. He wanted an answer from the Undertaker to his challenge for “HBK-UT II” at WrestleMania in March. This has given me mixed emotions. Last year, these two ring titans collided in Houston, and delivered a match for the ages. So from that standpoint, let it be remembered for what it was, and be a match that could stand the test of time; But the other emotion within me was that let them do it again, and create more positive moments that would then become memories. Undertaker said no, and then Shawn said no, when given an opportunity from Undertaker to prove himself (at that time) right then and there.

Yet after all was said and done, HBK will enter the Royal Rumble Match. He knows exactly what the odds are to attain victory, and then set his sights on the Undertaker and the World Heavyweight Championship. But again, part of me hopes that it happens for HBK, and part of me doesn’t, for the aforementioned reasons. I guess we’ll all fine out what course will be charted by HBK after January 31.

And the Royal Rumble Match itself. Not just HBK, but other WWE Superstars are throwing their hats into this unique ring. John Cena, MVP, Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase and Triple H are among 30 superstars entering. And as evidenced last night, the mind games began in earnest, with Triple H proclaiming that he will be the man, regardless of who’s with him or not. There are no friends in the Royal Rumble Match. Hunter lives for needing one of the big championships around his waist, and he also lives for performing on the grandest stage of them all. All indications are pointing to what should be another intense event looming on the horizon.

So, WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon compared Bret “Hitman” Hart to a piece of gum that has no flavor left? Interesting analogy. Well,  based on the response that Bret got two weeks ago when he made his WWE return,  I beleive that he could have been the gum whose flavor lasts and lasts and lasts. In his own unique way, the Chairman is proud of his accomplishments towards the Hitman from the past two weeks, and continues to crow about it. But there are some that would like to see Mr. McMahon “eat crow”, and feel that he is taking a cowardly approach towards the Hitman. I think that we all had better stay tuned to this situation.

As mentioned in prior Ramblings, I have been a big booster of Shamus. I am a big believer of the “it came out of nowhere” syndrome, and Shamus certainly fits that bill as it relates to his continuing to hold the WWE Championship. But Randy Orton senses it. He smells it. He literally tastes it. Less than two weeks and counting. Both men had victories on Raw last night. But it was Sheamus who really got a “kick” out of things, literally, with a laser like punt to Orton, something that the Viper himself is good at. Intrigue? In this match, definitely. And should Sheamus leave the ring in Atlanta on January 31 victorious, then he definitely will have fortified his stance that much more.

I mentioned John Cena earlier. And I want to mention him again, only this time in partnership with Kofi Kingston. I thought that these two had instant chemistry in taking on Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. This was a very good match, and the underlying current here was that apparently all is tense between Rhodes and DiBiase these days. Let’s all keep a keen eye as to where that is heading..

SOAPBOX TIME

Through my eyes, I want to voice my opinion on two instances that caught my attention on last night’s Raw.

First of all, riddle me this: How long does it take to complete a tournament with eight total participants? After watching the tourney develop over the past few weeks to determine a new Diva’s Champion, I was fully expecting to see at least one of the semi-final matches take place, either Eve –vs- Maryse, or Gail Kim –vs- Alicia Fox. But what did we get last night? The four semi-finalists participating in a tag team match!!! Why??? You have a tournament in progress and it gets a night off???  Further to that (and thank God this did not happen), but what if one of the semi-finalists had suffered an injury participating in the tag team match?? Their chances and dreams of becoming the Diva’s Champion would have gone right down the drain!!! Let’s move on with the Diva’s Championship Tournament and crown a new titleholder. The events of last night concerning this were, in my opinion, logically illogical!!

The other instance was that once again, one of our referees turned a blind eye towards an impact situation. After Randy Orton gained his victory over Chris Masters, here came Sheamus into the ring to lower the boom on Orton. Everyone was stunned by this, and what did the referee do? He got out of the ring!!! At least make an effort to control the situation!! Man oh man, a Supervisor of Officials is SO sorely needed in WWE!!!

ODDS & ENDS: Good job by Don Johnson and Jon Heder last night as Raw’s guest hosts…once Heder got there…with the Bella Twins in tow.… For celebrities, they meshed well into the Raw fabric and entertained me, although “The Flame” should cherish the memories he had last night as tag team partners of the Miz and the Big Show, and bottle it!.....Was it me, or did it feel somewhat weird not to see Chris Jericho on Raw last night?.....Finally, if you haven’t done so, you should join us every Monday night for the Raw Live Chat here in the WWE Universe. I believe that it adds more spice to what you are viewing on Raw. And with the occasional stop-in by a WWE Superstar or Diva, that certainly adds to the incentive. Join me and the gang next Monday night at 8:30 PM ET; I think that you’ll be glad you did.

Thanks for reading, and comments are always appreciated!

And then there’s Ezekiel…… Jackson, that is.

The powerhouse from Guyana emerged from the ECW Homecoming Finale last night as the # 1 contender to Christian’s ECW Championship; he gets his title opportunity at the Royal Rumble on January 31.

It certainly was no walk in the park for Jackson, but he did what it took to win. I mean, eliminating Kane from an event like that was no easy task. But Jackson was at the right place at the right time, and garnered the victory.

So it’s onto the Royal Rumble, and the title match against Christian. Now my initial thoughts on this match is that I feel “Captain Charisma” is the better man for one simple reason: experience. As much as Christian loses the strength and power department to Jackson, he most definitely has the advantage when it comes to skill, smartness, and savvy.  However, there is what I will call an ” X factor" in this scenario: William Regal.

If Mr. Regal truly has a vested interest in Jackson, then I feel that for the next 2 ½ weeks he (being Regal) has to get into the ring, train with Jackson, and become Christian in that training process. I believe that Regal knows Christian well enough to emulate the style and moves of the ECW Champion. Power is not the only thing that could bring Jackson the ECW Championship; he is to be well versed in everything that Christian has in his arsenal. Who better than Regal to run Ezekiel through a series of simulated matches, moves, and counters to get the Guyanan powerhouse ready for the most important match in his WWE career.

Shifting gears, it seems that the butterfly is out of the cocoon as it relates to Rosa Mendes. Remember when she first appeared in WWE…as a fan sitting at ringside, worshiping Beth Phoenix? Well based on what I saw last night, that initial sighting seems like an forgotten memory now. Since getting into WWE, and more specifically being traded to ECW and getting involved with Zack Ryder, we are seeing the emergence of someone who makes a great presence, and seems to have an unbridled sense of loyalty to her man. That surely was proven last night when her Latin temper rose to the surface and she slapped The Hurricane, a slap that made Green Bay’s famed frozen tundra start to thaw out! I feel that despite whatever emotional feelings there are between Zack and Rosa, the “Woo Woo Woo” man now gets a bonus out of that in Rosa’s temperament, which can be turned up on a dime.

This and That: I have said this before, but I am so impressed with Goldust’s tenure in the Land of Extreme. Granted, he may not win every match that he competes in, but the one thing that is for certain is that if you face him, win, lose, or draw, you know you’ve been in a battle; ask Trent Baretta about that……Now that the ECW Homecoming is over, I am curious to see what is next up General Manager Tiffany’s sleeve. Knowing that Christian and Ezekiel Jackson battle it out for the ECW Championship, I now wonder how many of Tiffany’s ECW superstars will get the nod to compete in the Royal Rumble Match itself? Go to work Madame GM, and let’s see what kind of influence you have within the WWE hierarchy…….. Where has Abraham Washington been as of late? I am one who enjoys The Abraham Washington Show when it airs on ECW TV. And considering that there seems to be some turmoil as of late in the late night talk show playing field on television, perhaps Mr. Washington will be making a few comments concerning that situation, if not just outwardly seeing if he can let the world know what he’s all about. Only time will tell!!

That’s it for this week. I always appreciate you taking the time to read this, and if you so choose, please leave a comment. Thanks, and enjoy the rest of your week.