I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you get someone to be guest host of Monday Night Raw who has some sort of wrestling mentality, product knowledge, and can talk, well that definitely goes a long way towards a more entertaining presentation. And they could not have had a better guest host last night on Raw then Governor Jesse Ventura. Ventura, who once graced not only WWE rings but its airwaves as well, managed to oversee one of the most interesting and unique shows in quite some time. The Governor had three hours to preside and present, and overall he did just that. Of course, this telecast was not without some strange occurrences, which I will get into as we move along in my blog.

My interest piqued right out of the gate when Ventura announced that there would be a Breakthrough Battle Royal on the card. But to qualify for that, a series of matches were signed, featuring Raw and SmackDown superstars who had never worn either the WWE Championship or the World Championship. Fresh, innovative, and never before done; that’s the way (uh huh uh huh) I like it!

But through it all their lurked a man who just can not take no for an answer, and felt that Ventura should give him the opportunity to get another WWE Championship match. For someone who currently is at the top of his game, Randy Orton sounded somewhat insecure last night in lobbying Ventura for an opportunity to prove his worth anew. And after sticking to his guns by saying no, Randy felt that he had to make a statement, which he did by destroying Primo, who was en route to the ring for his match against Evan Bourne. That must have impressed Ventura, who changed his earlier edict and allowed Orton to enter the Battle Royal. Now I understood Orton’s desires and needs to have gold, and he is unquestionably one of the greats, but right then and there the concept of something new and vibrant as this Breakthrough Battle Royal was now in my view became tarnished.

By virtue of the qualifying match winners, Raw had “battle royal overload”, with 7 of its talents qualifying, and only one SmackDown talent getting in (R-Truth). And after all was said and done, out went Orton third from last, which I would think shocked everyone. The eventual battle royal winner was someone who continues to make his meteoric rise to the top, Sheamus. In the five weeks that he’s been on Raw, look at where he is today: the # 1 contender for the WWE Championship. And if you really look at it, regardless of how he got there, he got there, which is in and of itself most impressive.

A contract signing followed between the Celtic Warrior and John Cena, and I thought that the newly regaled Cena gave one of his most impassioned deliveries ever as WWE Champion. And I could not agree more about his passion and enthusiasm for what he does for a living, in addition to saying that once the contract is signed, they go to war. But in the same breath, I also think that Cena for openers did not seem to have a great amount of respect for Sheamus, based on what the Irishman has done in the past few weeks. That being said, I give Sheamus props for getting on the express train and not the local, as he tries to reach his destination of being the best on Raw. I too have not totally agreed about him retiring Jamie Noble, and then, unprovoked, going after the timekeeper and Jerry Lawler last week, effectively in one fell swoop. But he strongly won the match that he entered last night against Finlay, then more impressive was the winning of the battle royal that  was mandated by Ventura. The carrot of a championship match was dangled, and Sheamus bit hard on that carrot. He won, he earned it. And now I will go as so far as saying that the way that anything can happen in WWE, I think that Sheamus has a good chance of getting to the penthouse after the dust clears in his Table Match with Cena at WWE TLC on December 13. If not, trust me folks, Sheamus is going to be here for a long time to come!

Speaking of a long time to come, and for those of you who were there from whence we came, was it not cool to see Vince McMahon and Governor Ventura reprise their roles of play by play and color commentator for the Battle Royal last night, complete with the original Saturday Night’s Main Event theme song “Obsession” by Animotion!! As you know, I am a huge fan of retro and nostalgia, and it clicked for me big time. If only we could have had a “mission complete” of Ventura coming down the aisle, resplendent in his feather boa and shades.

Quick Hits:

I’ve been on my soapbox for a little while on this, but it’s nice to see that “Jeri-Show are FINALLY defending their Unified Tag Team Championship against DX in a TLC match at WWE  TLC on December 13. They say that three’s a charm? Well, after two non-title match wins for The Game and HBK over the last two months on Raw, I look forward to seeing if they can gain the unified gold in Shawn’s home town. But first, DX has some legal legalities to go over next week in “Little People’s Court”, thanks in part to papers (or were they Post-Its) served to them last night on behalf of Hornswoggle. And I have a feeling that next week’s guest host Verne “Mini-Me” Troyer will have some involvement in this as well.

Batista has certainly changed his ways, ask Rey Mysterio about that. And last night, Kane inquired first hand if that was the case, and Batista had no intention of letting Kane fine out. But SmackDown GM Theodore Long wanted to find out; hence the match was made for SmackDown this Friday night.

What was with that Diva’s match last night?… A Mayflower Melee? The Indians –vs- The Pilgrims? Geez, when I heard the first sounds of the Indians’ entrance music, I thought that Tatanka was going to be in their corner!!! And the return of the Gobbledy Gooker? No, it was actually the return of the sensually sinister Maryse, who evidently wanted to return “cold turkey” and make an impact on Diva’s Champion Melina…..and she did, attacking Melina and leaving her in a bad way. There’s trouble a brewing there, for sure. And in a head scratching moment: I was somewhat surprised that Melina’s partners Mickie James and Kelly Kelly, who had just left the ring, did not come back to rid said ring of Maryse, as Melina was being dealt with. I guess that when you are the Diva’s Champion (or any champion for that matter), you truly have no friends!!

Odds and Ends: Back to Governor Ventura again: In the Breakthrough Battle Royal, Randy Orton got out of the ring when the going got tough early, then stayed out on his own time until he went back in at his opportune moment. And the two referees on the outside officiating this match seemed to be oblivious to it. Bulls eye to Ventura, when he said  “Aren’t they going to get him back in? What’s with these lame referees you got?” Governor, you’re preaching to the choir here!!!…..And a comment if I may to my ring announcing friend Justin Roberts: Jesse “The Governor” Ventura? The graphics said Governor Jesse Ventura.. Nit picking time, but I’m just sayin’…and I can!!…Where was the ECW representation on last night’s telecast?..Um, Tiffany???...What a night for Santino Marella! Sampling some Thanksgiving pies courtesy of Alicia Fox, Gail Kim, the Bella Twins, and Eve was quite the experience. And for those of you remember and understand, the late, great Soupy Sales would have been proud of Santino!! Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Vickie Guerrero!!

A long rambling this week, but overall a very interesting Raw last night. Do you have any comments to offer? I encourage them, so please leave one if you’d like.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it this Thursday!

Bad turns to good, sorrow turns to happiness, clouds give way to sunshine. Paul and Katie Lea Burchill can currently relate to the bad, sorrow, and clouds right now, what with both of them now no longer a part of ECW, due to the Ripper’s loss to The Hurricane last night, in a mask –vs- career match. However, in my humble opinion, good, happiness, and sunshine could very well be within the Burchills’ reach in the not too distant future.

Beneath Burchill’s pronouncement to leave coming true, I feel that ECW has lost arguably its most underrated performer on their roster. The Chelsea, England native has been a steady and reliable hand, and blossomed nicely in 2009. Give someone the ball, and they can choose to run with it or not; Paul Burchill did. And as far as Katie Lea is concerned, it has been a rare day for her to let the WWE Universe know that there is more than meets the eye concerning her abilities. Folks, this lady can step in the ring for Diva's action, and is a more than capable talent from what I have seen.

That being said, the less that the Burchills lament, the better it will be for them. And as the ECW door is closed, well, two doors could potentially open for them, that being the respective doors of Raw and SmackDown. From my vantage point, one of the two groups would be wise to offer Paul and Katie Lea Burchill an opportunity to show their stuff on either Monday or Friday nights. And given that opportunity, I believe that the brother-sister duo will not disappoint.

Did the name of the program change last night to “E C M Punk W"??? The “prodigal son” returned last night, and seemed to be all over the show. But where it counted the most was inside the squared circle. In what could be described as a Survivor Series preview, the straight edged superstar and William Regal took the measure of ECW Champion Christian and SmackDown superstar R-Truth. Punk certainly has gone a long way, career-wise, since his ECW days, and certainly showed off his signature GTS move last night. Personally speaking, I'd like to see the occasional foray by Raw and SmackDown superstars into the Land of Extreme continue. Props to ECW GM Tiffany for getting that done last night, kind of an addition to the New Superstar Initiative; let’s call it the Existing Superstar Initiative…

Three matches thus far, three wins thus far; impressive to say the least by Vance Archer. They set them up, he mows them down. The only way you advance yourself in WWE is by making your showings count. That he has done, and all three wins were attained in a relatively short amount of time. I am looking forward to seeing how Archer fares against some of the ECW roster members as time moves on.

This and That: Speaking of the Survivor Series taking place this Sunday night, it’s great to have ECW represented anew on a WWE pay per view event. And in my view, ECW should always have some sort of representation on all WWE pay per views. It just enhances their position as being a viable entity in this organization… This personally saddens me, but I’m close to declaring the fact that ring announcing has become a lost art!!! Finally, a thought concerning Mr. Regal: Where were his trusty sidekicks Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson last night??? And still no sign of Tommy Dreamer....

There you have it. Please feel free to leave a comment if you'd like. Thanks!

So Monday Night Raw last night came to us from the World’s Most Famous Arena, MadisonSquareGarden in New York City. I would suggest that any number of you who are reading my Raw Ramblings blog might have questioned why there were many, many mentions of the arena throughout the 2 ¼ telecast, and the answer is simple. No matter where you live, you have to understand that from a performer’s standpoint, the old cliché is you haven’t made it until you’ve played The Garden. And although this company has had many a success in many an arena from a global standpoint, quite frankly, there is nothing like showcasing your talents on the greatest stage of them all in the largest city of them all.

I was happy to see Rowdy Roddy Piper as guest host. Of course anyone who commands that position with a wrestling mentality scores points with me right out of the gate, although I still would have loved to have seen Hot Rod strip "Jeri-Show" of the Unified Tag Title. Additionally, I was also applauding Hot Rod for having the chutzpah to challenge Mr. McMahon to a match as well, but the Chariman declined, citing he’s retired as an in-ring competitor.

I really don’t know who I am going to select in to win in either of the two Triple Threat Championship Matches at Survivor Series this Sunday. Both of these match-ups are too close to call. There is a lot of built-in intrigue as well. In these respective matches, it’s every man for himself. So with John Cena entering one match as WWE Champion and Undertaker as World Heavyweight Champion in the other match, the question is can each man withstand the fact that there will be not one, but two individuals in each match looking to unseat the incumbent titleholder. And at what cost? There are so many different scenarios that one could plug-in, and Triple H, Shawn Michaels (-vs- Cena), and Chris Jericho, and The Big Show (-vs- Undertaker) are prepared to pull out all of the stops to gain the ultimate prizes, even if it leaves current friendships a tad fragile.

Speaking of D-Generation X, looks like that they executed that cease and desist order themselves last night on Hornswoggle, and I’m not sure if that was the smart thing to do. Granted that the little fellow was emulating two individuals that he looked up to, and he so wanted to be an official member of DX. Personally speaking, I felt that Hornswoggle actually championed the cause for The Game and HBK, and I’m surprised that they could not reach a compromise decision. But then again, unless he has us all over a barrel, it would be difficult to work things out with someone who grunts for his answers. That being said, I would not be surprised if Hornswoggle placed a call to his dad Finlay, and it would further not surprise me to see the man who loves to fight work on instituting a measure of seeking revenge on DX, whether from a legal front, or within the confines of the squared circle. Stay tuned on this one.

With every passing week I am becoming a bigger believer in Kofi Kingston. A few weeks ago I mentioned that he grabbed the brass ring, and wasn’t going to let go of it for awhile. And regardless of what transpires this Sunday at Survivor Series, I am begging WWE officials or guest hosts to make another one on one match between Kingston and Randy Orton. After witnessing last night’s brawl that went from the ring and out to the Garden floor, these two are hell bent on destroying each other; advantage last night went to Kingston for that. Also, I have always been an exponent of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase being banned from running interference for their Legacy leader, but they were conspicuous by their absence last night to potentially aid and abet; interesting. Additionally, once again the official who was trying to get some semblance of order restored took forever in getting his fellow officials out there to assist. Did he think that he could do it al by himself? That baffles my mind.

Well folks, history was made last night in MadisonSquareGarden. Melina defended her Diva’s Championship against Alicia Fox. What a great opportunity for the # 1 contender to garner the crown in the Big Apple. But guest ring announcer Judah Friedlander said that the contest would now become a Lumberjill match. Was that a Piper decision? Anyway, for the first time in WWE and Garden history it was a three-sides of the ring Lumberjill match. When you have matches of this type, the lumberjills (or lumberjacks) are supposed to surround the ENTIRE RING. And with eight additional divas out there, two of them could have been on each side; easy math. I might be nit picking here, but I am also being factual. Why have one of these matches when one side of the ring was not covered. For what? The TV cameras shooting on that side? Inconsequential. And I think that the rookie challenger might have had her game plan thrown off a tad by the stipulation being added. But it was somewhat of a preview of the Divas’ match at Survivor Series this Sunday, although I hope that Alicia gets another opportunity in the near future, with no presto changeos being thrown at her. By the way, where were the paparazzi last night for Melina’s entrance??

Odds and Ends: You mean to tell me that no one in the entire Raw locker room wanted to take Sheamus up on his invitation to give him a fight? Is that a form of respect towards the Celtic Warrior? Must be. But what Sheamus did to the timekeeper and Jerry Lawler following the unanswered invitation was totally uncalled for. In four weeks on Raw, the Irishman has been impressive. But last night’s unwarranted attack falled into the "that ain't right" category……Since being acquired by Raw from ECW, what is Evan Bourne’s won-loss record? He gives it his all in his matches, but just falls short of the mark. I still maintain that Evan Bourne will turn things around for himself, sooner than later…. Finally, on a personal note: When Mr. McMahon entered the MSG arena last night and acknowledged the crowd, I was proud to see that, as the McMahon family has had a phenomenal association for many years with MSG. I also regret that I was not there last night in New York to get “swept up” in the Garden aura as well. Trust me folks: Wherever you are reading this blog, I would tell you for one time in your life to go see a WWE live event in Madison Square Garden. I can’t explain the magic that that arena exudes with WWE in the house; perhaps one day you’ll be able to experience it for yourself!

Agree? Disagree? Have a thought you’d like to share? Please leave a comment.

Thanks for reading, and take care everyone!!

It was like a breath of fresh air!

As simple as that, those were my thoughts concerning last night's ECW Championship match between Christian and William Regal, and I honestly thought that the home turf of Regal's native England was going to be the added advantage that he would need to garner the win. I truly believed that today I was going to be talking about a new ECW Champion. But I absolutely tip my cap to the "peep man" for emerging through it all to retain the ECW Championship.

This match was a pleasure to watch. The breath of fresh air comes into play with no Vladimir Kozlov or Ezekiel Jackson there to lend their "support" to their leader. Having been banned from ringside last week, I feel that you as a viewer did not have to wonder about what Regal's charges might have done, if anything, had they been allowed to be at ringside for this match. Christian, who also had a fair number of supporters in the Sheffield crowd, had every intention of puitting closure on this bitter rivary that he and Regal had, and that he did.

So now who's next in line for an ECW Championship match? In my opinion, I would give the nod to Shelton Benjamin. The Gold Standard is one of the consistently steady peformers in the ECW camp. Week in and week out you get more than your money's worth from Benjamin inside the squared circle. Additionally, what is next for Mr. Regal? Personally speaking, I am not sure. I guess that only time will tell.

It appears that a young man's (Zack Ryder) fancy (Rosa Mendes) looks like it might be on the road to turning into love. And although they say that love makes the world go 'round, how much more orbiting is the "Woo Woo Woo" man going to be doing with Ms. Mendes? Two weeks in a row from a match perspective Ryder has wound up on the losing end of things, all with him having goo goo eyes for ECW's newest Diva. Where is this all going? Well, Rosa looks to be in the process of hooking up with an up and coming superstar, but Zack's progress in the ECW food chain might be taking a hit by his apparent infatuation for Rosa. What will win out in the end? Tune in next week and find out!! (There is my soap opera promo! ) :)

I look forward to next week's career defining match between The Hurricane and Paul Burchill. And Hurricane got "one up" on Burchill last night via distraction, costing Burchill his match against the veteran Goldust. That's all well and dandy, but I'd like to advocate that in next week's match, with the important stakes on the line of the potential of Hurricane unmasking against Paul (and Katie Lea) leaving ECW for good, let's replicate what we saw last night with Christian -vs- William Regal: Katie Lea is banned from ringside, and Hurricane's "hurri-cane" is nowhere to be found as well. Just a thought, and may the best man win.

This and That.....I believe that I'm in the minority on this one, but I continue to enjoy the Abraham Washington Show when it is presented on ECW TV. The host goes a good job, but my buddy Tony Atlas has me over a barrel with his incessant laughing. I think that the next time that the show airs, I am gonna count up the number of "ha ha has" that come out of Atlas; perhaps I can submit it to those that work on that book of world records!..... Lauren Mayhew??? Next!!!.......And is anyone wondering like I am where in the world has Tommy Dreamer been as of late?? .......... 

As always, I appreciate you taking the time to read this blog, and if you desire, let yourself be heard by leaving a comment.

Take care, everyone!

What in the world is going on as it relates to the Raw guest hosts and the Unified Tag Team Championship? And further to that, is the time now right to strip Chris Jericho and The Big Show of wearing what I thought were those prestigious titles? The answers to my questions are I don't know, and yes. Let me explain my rationale on both fronts.

This past monday in Sheffield, England, Raw guest host and boxing great Ricky Hatton had a confrontation with "Jeri-Show", with the end result being that he made a match for them to face Triple H and Shawn Michaels. So after that announcement I was waiting for the other shoe to drop and hear Hatton announce that he was also going to order that the Unified Tag Team Championship was on the line. Welcome to England, boys. But that did not happen. Then, a song came into my head by the great John Fogerty, with some of the lyrics so appropriate to what I was thinking:

"Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before.............It's like deja vu all over again".............

Indeed, it was deja vu all over again. DX and "Jeri-Show" had a match back in October on Raw that was made by guest host Ben Roethliesberger, and it was not a title match, and DX scored the win. So last night, I felt that the other Triple H....."Hometown Hero Hatton".....fell short of the mark here, especially fueled by the fact of DX's victory on Raw last month. And quite frankly, what with "Jeri-Show" doing a number on DX the week before, when the match was made last night, I was further surprised that neither Triple H or HBK demanded that their match have the Unified Tag Titles on the line. And wouldn't you know it, DX won again, thanks in part to a Big Show punch that went awry, and right on the noggin of Jericho.

So now that's two non-title wins for DX over "Jeri-Show". They say that three's a charm, so should they get that golden opportunity of a championship match? Well, as much as they should be afforded it, I say no. Not because they don't deserve it, but because I feel that Chris Jericho and the Big Show should be stripped  of their Unified Tag Team Championship for failure to defend their honors in a 30 day period!

Let's look at the facts. The last title defense for "Jeri-Show" was on October 4 at the Hell in the Cell pay per view against Rey Mysterio and Batista. And as I type this on November 10, that makes 37 days since the nified Tag Titles have been defended. And honestly, if whomever the WWE officials are who mandate the rules for title defenses are asleep at the wheel, then it's time to once again lobby for someone who is attentive to detail, and can oversee all of the important points that are within the framework of being champions, and make it happen.

Now we should not discount discount the fact that Jericho and Show have a most important Triple Threat Match at Survivor Series on November 22 against current World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker; I get that. But when the WWE Unified Tag Team Championship was created, I became excited that we were gonig to see this title defended on Raw, SmackDown, and ECW, and against any and all competitors. And since Jericho and Big Show joined forces, it actually has not panned out that way, let alone making title defenses with some semblance  of regularity.

Next Monday night in New York City's fabled Madison Square Garden, legendary WWE Hall of Famer Rowdy Roddy Piper is the guest host of the program. Hot Rod is an no nonsense individual who has been in the trenches, has a knack for doing things unexpectedly and unpredictably, and more importantly, someone with a wrestling mentality!! Now not withstanding that there is a high end main event in the Garden next week between the teams of DX, "Jeri-Show", and John Cena and The Undertaker, I implore you to make an impact, Mr. Piper. Strip Chris Jericho and The Big Show of the WWE Unified Tag Team Championship for faliure defend the titles within the 30 day window, and conduct a tournament to crown new champions, inviting competitors from all three brands to participate. Make it happen, Mr. Piper!!!

"Teams of five strive to survive". The motto is certainly applicable to the traditional Survivor Series matches that were announced last night for the November 22 event taking place in Washington, DC. And that announcement went a long way to letting you know who was going to be on what team, with opportunities being given  to superstars from all three brands to show their stuff. And with some of the things going on between Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton, Mark Henry, MVP, and Legacy, and also some bickering back and forth between the United States Champion The Miz and the All-American American Jack Swagger, plus the Divas as well, in addition to the one-on-one encounter betweem Batista and Rey Mysterio, there's no doubt that the 23rd edition of the Survivor Series will be one event that you'll want to see.

Odds and Ends: Well, as an offshoot of Sheamus' recent brutal onslaught on Jamie Noble, the affable West Virginian has announced his retirement as an active in-ring competitor. I wish all the best to Jamie; he's a nicee guy and a quality human being. However, I'm not so sure about the Keltic Warrior being one himself. So far, he's been in a steamroller mode on Monday nights, which actually has been impressive. I am keenly interested in seeing how the Irishman fatres going forward against quality competition.....Looking forward to seeing the new opening for Raw next Monday night, complete with a new theme song from Nickeback, Burn It to the Ground. Props to the Canadian band for being a part of the presentation.....Finally, a cheap shill, if I may: All this week there will be some great photos from WWE's continuing European Tour on our site; please check them out.

Care to comment? Feel free to do so; it's always much appreciated!

Thanks for reading!