"Your time is up, my time is now

You can't see me, my time is now

It's the franchise, boy I'm shinin' now

You can't see me, my time is now."

Those are the opening lyrics of John Cena's entrance music. And would you not agree that truer words were never written, based on last night's Raw, and this Sunday's Bragging Rights pay per view event. Indeed, Cena's time IS now!

If last night's match against Triple H was Cena's swan song on Raw, well two things happened:  1) It was a quality match from both competitors, and 2) Cena lost the match. But to me the telling moment was after the match, when Cena, having the fact sink in that he just might have wrestled his last match on Raw, looked like he lost his best friend. His emotions seemed to be getting the best of him as he took that walk from the ring back to the locker room. I have never seen Cena that way since I've known him. And did you notice another thing last night? We never heard a word from Cena, which is the first time in a long time that I can remember that happening.

I have no idea what kind of mental mood John Cena is in as I type this blog. But he's got five days to straighten up and fly right when he steps into the ring to face WWE Champion Randy Orton. If we see a John Cena with a cluttered mind challenge for the WWE Championship, he is going to wind up lagging in decisions won in an hour in the Iron Man match, and he will indeed not return to Raw. Now Randy is not devoid of his own internal business issues, but Cena could be easy pickings for Orton come this Sunday night.

The thing that I am thinking of though is that John Cena is a professional, and a damn good one at that. If Raw means that much to him, I hope that he has what it takes to win the WWE Championship, and remain on Monday nights. But there are two individuals who have made their feelings very well known that Cena is welcome in their respective groups. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long and ECW General Manager Tiffany have made no bones about the fact that they would love to have Cena in their respective stables (and both should have been fined for what I felt was flagrant tampering while Cena was still a member of Raw). Maybe a change of professional scenery will do Cena good.

I liken the plight of John Cena to another batch of song lyrics, these that were so aptly sung many years ago by the legendary leader of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger:

"You can't always get what you want

But if you try sometimes, you just might find

You get what you need"

We'll see if that applies to Cena this Sunday.

Speaking of the WWE Champion, it looks as if he is trying to instill his version of tough love on Ted DiBiase. I feel that there is definitely a noticeable **** in the armor of Legacy; that was all so evident last night. And when guest host Snoop Dogg made the match at the top of Raw, you could sense that DiBiase was going to once again give it his all in attempting to upend his leader. I must say that I don't know what's in the air of Legacy, but Randy Orton's power over his group was evident when he and DiBiase went face to face before their match. And once they got underway, with every Orton offensive move, Ted DiBiase was like a balloon being pumped. The more air you put into it, the closer it was to exploding. How close was DiBiase to just letting it all hang out? But Randy Orton's magnetic field pulled DiBiase back into the legacy camp, and an RKO later, the viper had struck again. I think that this situation bears close watching going forward.

I know that Triple H and Shawn Michaels are a fun loving duo, but are also all business when they need to be. I was totally amazed last night at how, after Team Raw showed its inability to work a team early in the evening, that when Team SmackDown had all of its charges in the ring towards the end of the program against HBK, Team Raw then came out and were united and focused. And I give props to Triple H and HBK for evidently righting the ship. Stating that he and HBK put together Team Raw (Other than DX, didn't Team Raw members have to win qualifying matches last week to get in?), I would believe that DX really had to get everyone together and glue everything back in. And if I were DX, do not sell the two "rookies" of Team SmackDown short. Agreed, we do not know all that much about Eric Escobar, except that Vickie Guerrero is his girl friend; enough said there. But in my eyes, Drew McIntyre is going to be a player in the not too distant future. What a great forum for this brazen Scot to show his stuff. The match this Sunday at Bragging Rights has the ingredients to elevate superstars, and downgrade them as well.

Odds and Ends.....Did any of you think that Hornswoggle could bust a move? Amazing!!! "Snoopswoggle" might just have to get a look see from the "Dancing with the Stars" folks after that dancing display with Eve last night...I enjoyed Snoop Dogg hosting the show. A key component to me is if the celebrities that are guest hosts are locked in to our product, a.k.a. being WWE fans, that's a huge positive!  Snoop proved to me that he was, and was smooth as silk in his role last night.....Keep trying, Santino. One of these weeks you are going to get recognized by the guest host, and might be able to establish a second career in something...What a marvelous tribute to the great Captain Lou Albano on the program. Yes, he was often imitated and never duplicated!!...Not a good night for Jillian. She rightfully received her return Divas' Championship match last night against Melina, and she was unsuccessful. I think that match last night might have been just a tad longer than last week's impromptu bout. And Jillian must also be a jet setter. Last week she was announced as being from Los Angeles, California; last night she was announced as being from her original home of Louisville, Kentucky. Guess that some of us can be just in a little bit of flux with lifestyles and locations at times.....

That's it for this week. What are your thoughts? Agree with me? Disagree? Please leave a comment and be heard.

Thanks for reading!

I am saddened today of the news I received of the passing of Lou Albano, at the age of 76.

For those of you who weren't familiar with the man, here's a synopsis for you to read:

After being an in-ring competitor as one-half of the tag team known as The Sicilians throughout the 1960's, Albano opted to pursue a different route to career success.

Better known as Captain Lou, Albano gained prominence as a manager in the early 1970's in the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation. Although he was despised by the WWE Universe for the way he conducted his managerial business, it was under his guidance that Ivan Koloff was able to dethrone Bruno Sammartino for the World Wide Wrestling Federation Championship in 1971. That began a plethora of managerial successes for Albano. Throughout the 1970's and well into the mid-1980's, Albano managed a number of Intercontinental Champions, and captained 15 tag teams to championship gold.

As the 80's took shape, Captain Lou became professionally involved with rock star Cyndi Lauper, appearing in Lauper's worldwide hit music videos "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," "She Bop," "Time After Time" and "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough." As a result of their association, the Rock 'N' Wrestling Connection came into being, and played a significant role in the man known as the "Guiding Light" becoming a unique fan favorite. That, along with the phenomena known as Hulkamania catapulted World Wrestling Entertainment into a whole new arena: that of a global entity.

With his trademark rubber bands adorning his beard and face, Albano's quick wit, managerial exploits, and overall successful career paid off for him in grand style, when he was inducted in 1996 as a member of the WWE Hall of Fame.

And now, a remembrance:

When I got involved in this industry back in the mid 1970's, the good Captain was another individual who made me feel welcome. Punching his ticket as a manager back in the then World Wide Wrestling Federation was all good for Lou, and he loved to make the people hate him. And when that rare but special opportunity came about for him to don the tights, boy oh boy did the fans want to see him get his just desserts. And more times than not he did.  But to me, Lou was one of the first people who could not do enough to encourage me as a relative rookie in the organization that if you worked hard and had the energy and enthusiasm to succeed, you could.

One of the things that I enjoyed about Lou was his unique way that he conducted himself once the red light of the camera went on. You know, in today's WWE as we know it, the wrestling manager has become a lost art. And if there ever was a revival of it, it would never, ever rival the greatness of the managerial trio that accompanied their charges from the 70's until the early 80's. The Grand Wizard was brilliant, Classy Freddie Blassie was unique, but there was no one like Capt. Lou Albano. He had a unique way of not only getting those he was managing over, but he got himself over as well with his quick wit, perhaps at times more than his stable of talent. He was the master of "speaking" many languages, with him not being skilled in any of them. But the way in which he spoke them had you convinced that he was fluent in them all. Then came the rubber bands to adorn his facial features. He always made me smile with whatever he did, even if it was intended to generate crowd un-acceptance.

The one remembrance that sticks with me to this day as the best wrestler-manager break-up ever occurred back in 1982. Lou managed Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. When Albano and Snuka hooked up, the intent was to have Jimmy become equally despised as his manager was. But something special happened here, because the fans took a liking to the Superfly because of what he did in the ring. You could sense something special was in the air, as the fans themselves spoke out in their love and admiration for someone who was supposed to incur their ire as Snuka was. Albano took matters into his own hands and laid Snuka out; the divorce happened. From there, Jimmy went on to become one of the most popular talents in our company's history. And he and Lou had a series of matches up and down the east coast, giving our fans what they wanted to see: Capt. Lou Albano paying dearly for his wrongs towards the Superfly. A star was born, and Albano proved his worth once again as a despised and despicable manager.

I was thrilled for Lou once our company began its pursuit of gaining worldwide acceptance. In the genre that was at one time known as sports entertainment, Capt. Lou was very much a part of that in its embryonic stages. And he capitalized quite nicely. From his association with Cyndi Lauper to his role in the movie Wise Guys, and everything else in between, Captain Lou seemed to be pressing all of the right buttons at the right time in that era. And personal satisfaction was mine in 1996 to see my friend Lou inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. This was a "gimmee" in my eyes, and something that the Captain remained proud of in his later years.

Today will come and go, and tomorrow will arrive, but tomorrow will not bring Captain Lou Albano with us. But I sure believe that with his arrival in a better place, Captain Lou Albano is being embraced by a wrestling fraternity that preceded him there. I can only imagine the stories that are being told right now!!

I now invite you to share your thoughts and remembrances on the legendary Captain Lou Albano by commenting below.

Last night on Raw, guest host Nancy O'Dell announced that she had spoken with SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long and ECW General Manager Tiffany this past weekend, and the three of them cooked up what turned out to be a very interesting three brand trade of Divas. The trade caught this individual off guard, and although not a blockbuster in any sense of the word, in my opinion one brand got the better of the deal, which I will get to in this blog, with some analysis.

But first off, I was surprised to see that Jillian Hall was given a Diva's Championship match last night on Raw against Mickie James. Don't get me wrong, I like surprises, but when did she become the # 1 contender? I can't put a finger on the last time she wrestled in singles competition. Further to that, one person who in my view definitely got the short end of the stick in that equation was the Glamazon, Beth Phoenix. If I recall, not too long ago she scored a victory over Mickie in a non-title match on Raw, and even though she has had her share of title matches, she absolutely was well within her right to ask for another title opportunity....but she didn't. And as we found out later in the evening, Beth was part of the trade, going to SmackDown.

Nonetheless, it was what it was, and Jillian pulled off the upset of all upsets. A new Diva's champion was crowned, and Jillian was able to bask in her glory. However, Nancy O' Dell put a pooh pooh on Jillian's reign by announcing at that moment that a trade had been made, and then mentioned that Jillian was about to defend her newly won title against "Raw's newest acquisition" from SmackDown, Melina. Um, Nancy, guess you didn't know that Melina was not a new acquisition, as she was re-acquired by Raw after being drafted from Raw to SmackDown last April. Well, if the Access Hollywood host wanted to make her mark last night, she certainly did just that, as Melina made Jillian's title reign a short one. The dust cleared, and Melina is now the Diva's Champion; congrats to her on that!

Now of course the argument can be made that Jillian was totally unprepared for this match, and I think that she has a viable gripe as it relates to that. I certainly hope that Jillian lobbies to next week's guest host Snoop Dogg for a return match; that much she should be entitled to.

Now, let's take a look at the trade:

RAW GETS MELINA, EVE AND THE BELLA TWINS

What can one say about Melina. She returned to Raw last night and made an immediate mark on the Divas' group. She came back, immediately became the leader of the pack, and is now the hunted, just like that. Eve's star was rising in SmackDown, as she quickly made the transition from an interviewer to an in-ring Diva. She brings to Raw energy, desire, and a great attitude. I feel she will remain hungry for success, even more so with her new address to hang her hat at... The Bella Twins were also re-acquired by Raw from ECW. Let's face it folks, they were seldom seen on ECW, with an occasional appearance here and there. Brie and Nikki are also very energetic, have great attitudes, and definitely want to impress. We've seen them in recent weeks on Raw working with some of our guest hosts, and now I hope to see both of them make their mark in the Diva's division on Monday nights.

ECW GETS ROSA MENDES

Now many of you might think that ECW General Manager Tiffany made a trade just for the sake of making a trade, giving up the Bellas and getting Rosa back, kind of like a wash. But I want to say this about Rosa Mendes: In the short time that she's been in WWE and on Raw, we've seen her develop from being a fan to living her dream as a WWE Diva, but we have seldom (if at all) heard from her. I feel that there is a golden opportunity for Rosa to blossom in some capacity in the land of extreme. Right now, Katie Lea Burchill rules the ECW Diva roost, but my spidey sense tells me that Rosa has the capability of making a name for herself. Perhaps the words right place, right time might hold true for her; we shall see.

SMACKDOWN GETS MICKIE JAMES AND BETH PHOENIX

Wow. Well, after digesting this part of the trade, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long proved again to be a shrewd wheeler and dealer, as he pulled the biggest plums out of the trading pie from a wrestling standpoint. And looking deeper, I feel that both Mickie and Beth will benefit greatly from a change of scenery. It's kind of like a fresh start for both competitors in entering the SmackDown universe, and I believe that both are going to fit in quite nicely and thrive. The landscape has definitely changed, and Women's Champion Michelle McCool could very well be feeling the heat of these new acquisitions sooner than later.

The Fink's consensus: I feel that SmackDown got the better of the trade from an overall standpoint of immediate recognition and veteran wrestling acumen with Mickie and Beth. Raw got a established and polished performer who helped herself right out of the gate with Melina, and three folks who have nowhere to go but up in Eve and the Bellas. And if the stars align in the galaxy, ECW could have a winner with Rosa Mendes; only time will tell.

What do you folks here in the WWE Universe think of the trade?  Please leave a comment and voice your views. As always, I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog here in the WWE universe. Enjoy the rest of your week.

You know, the fun part about blogging is that you can generally speak your mind on how you feel about things. And off of last night's Raw telecast, I've got a boatload of blogging to do, with a chunk of it consisting of my analysis of last night's tri-branded Divas' trade. More on that in a special Divas' trade analysis blog that will be forthcoming.

Randy Orton is always thinking, more times than none ahead of everyone within WWE. If you do the math based on last night's event, and fast forward to next week, I thought that the WWE Champion showed an unusual sign of being "fan friendly", as well as also being self-benevolent. And the centerpiece of it all is John Cena.

In less than two weeks' time, Orton and Cena will meet in an Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship at the Bragging Rights pay per view event. And as you know, the one individual to score the most decisions within the framework on a one hour time limit will be the winner. In Cena's case, if he comes up on the short end of the stick, he has to leave Raw. And last night, these two men did not fare all that well as tag tem partners, either. That being said, Orton also is well aware that next Monday's telecast could be John Cena's Raw swan song, pending the results on October 25. So what does the quick thinking Orton do? He called next Monday's guest host Snoop Dogg and gets him to book a match between Cena and the game, Triple H.

Reading between the lines, I consider this to be a sign of being "fan friendly". A Cena -vs- Triple H match is big for Raw, so that in and of itself is one heck of a main event, a win-win for the WWE Universe tuning in next Monday night. But the viper is also perhaps being somewhat self-benevolent, as he has to be thinking that the Cena -Triple H match is going to take its toll on Cena, thus making their Ironman match an easier task for him to end the Raw tenure of Cena at Bragging Rights.

As mentioned last week, Cena and Orton have had a lengthy and grueling rivalry through the years, and on paper, it seems that Randy Orton has thus far pressed all of the buttons in his favor. But there is one big button yet to be pushed...the eject button...something that Orton is poised and ready to do in less than two weeks. But Cena will try and keep that particular button in lock mode, and in the process overcome all of Orton's "road blocks" en route to regaining the WWE Championship.

Speaking of Orton, seems to me that the business relationship that he has with Legacy members Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase is showing some signs of fraying. And for that matter, the Rhodes-DiBiase duo seems to be showing a strained relationship as well. You can't fault Legacy for striving to be the best at what they do, and from my standpoint, their recent go round with D-Generation X further solidified their status of being a top notch tag team. But put them into any unique situations like last night, and Legacy begins to come apart at the seams. I think that it's safe to speculate that the honeymoon might be over in the Legacy camp.

There could be another "honeymoon" in question: Did you also notice a little dissension in the ranks of the Unifed Tag Team Champions last night as well? Honestly, I am somewhat surprised that the professional camaraderie between Chris Jericho and the Big Show didn't burst sooner than it did last night. This team has two huge egos that have been kept in check due to their championship status, in my view. But leave it to Triple H to stir the pot, and now at Bragging Rights, "Jerri-Show" are going to be on opposite teams in the Raw -vs- SmackDown match. Could this be the beginning of the end for the Unified Tag Champions?'

Odds and Ends: So the US Champion the Miz will face the Intercontinental Champion John Morrison at Bragging Rights, and I for one am interested in finally seeing these two come to battle. Since the draft of Morrison to SmackDown six months ago, both men have done respectively well for themselves. I'll be interested if Morrison has a rebuttal to the Miz upcoming on this week's SmackDown.... As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am very happy for Justin Roberts' ascension into the Raw ring announcer's role; he's earned it. He has a good delivery, and makes a very good appearance in the ring. But he threw me for two loops last night, the first of which was when he announced John Cena's name for his initial in-ring appearance. And one of our live chat members really nailed it adequately, saying that it sounded like a mother calling her kid who was playing in the backyard into the house for dinner!! And the other was when he said "this match is set for one fall". Well, if it was set for one fall, then you are guaranteeing that a fall is going to happen. What happened to the term "scheduled for one fall", which is the proper way to announce it. I might be nit picking a bit, but as a fellow ring announcer, I can!!......What is it with Chavo Guerrero and the guest hosts??.......And week after week, Santino Marella tries oh so hard to impress said guest hosts in the hopes that he can fit quite nicely into their universe, yet heseems to always fall short of the mark One of these weeks it's going to happen!!

Folks, there is so, so much for me to say about last night's Divas' trade between the three brands, and some other comments based on what I saw on Raw last night, that I am going to be following up this blog with a special blog on the overall situation. Please be watching for it.

And as always, feel free to leave a comment. Thanks for reading.

I must say that last night's ECW telecast on SyFy had me taking a lot of notes, as there are any number of things that I need to broach with you good folks.

Let me start out with the ECW General Manager Tiffany. It was good to see her back in the thick of the business end of things after her unfortunate accident of two weeks ago. The desire of someone at the helm of his or her group to be hands on no matter what is very admirable. However, I feel that Tiffany was putting the cart before the horse in a one specific instance that WWE officials might not take too kindly to.

Last night Tiffany made mention of the upcoming Iron Man match on October 25 at the WWE Bragging Rights pay per view between WWE Champion Randy Orton and John Cena. She further said that depending on the outcome of the match, "ECW could be the place to see John Cena." Interesting words from the ECW GM. I felt that she expressed her desire in a roundabout way of wanting John Cena to be a part of her group if things don't work out for him on October 25. That's all well and good, but for her to say that, might that be considered a form of tampering? I think so. John Cena is currently a part of Raw. He is not a free agent, and has a match to prepare for at WWE Bragging Rights. Who knows if Tiffany has already sent signals out to Cena that he is more than welcome to join ECW if it comes to that. I feel that the ECW General Manager had better be careful about how she does her future business on this situation. Simply put, she could potentially raise more than an eyebrow or two from WWE officials as it relates to what possibly could be construed as tampering.  

Additionally, I felt that William Regal definitely got the short end of the stick last night on two fronts. When Tiffany told Regal that his match was Yoshi Tatsu was upcoming, Regal had very little time to change from street clothes into his ring gear. I don't know how he made the quick changeover as fast as he did, but other than not lacing his boots up properly, he was ready to go in seven minutes; amazing! That's got to be a record of some sort. But nonetheless, the match went on, and the increasingly popular Japanese star gained a murky victory over the Englishman, murky in the sense that Regal's foot was clearly under the bottom rope when the referee counted three. A few things here: Another questionable referee move. Certainly you have to make sure that the shoulders are down for the three count, but in making the three count, you've got to take a look at everything pertaining to it. In my opinion, the referee failed to take a quick look up from the mat. Had he done so, he in all likelihood would have stopped his count. Regal definitely had a clear cut, legitimate gripe following the match's conclusion.

That once again begs the issue of whether instant replay should be used in controversial situations like the one that took place last night. I say yes. Our top notch production team covers it, it's there for the viewing, so why not?  I'll have more to say on this later.

Regal's daily double of Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson had a very good win last night over Tommy Dreamer and Goldust, but thanks in part to Dreamer. I could not understand why Dreamer, having Jackson vulnerable, all of a sudden decided to kick a fallen Kozlov off of the ring apron, thus giving Jackson a split second to recover and catch Dreamer for the victory. Unfortunately, the experienced and savvy ECW Original used rookie logic at that point, and it cost his team the win.

But after was all said and done, it was Regal, Kozlov, and Jackson ending strong, albeit unscheduled, making mincemeat out of both ECW Champion Christian and his opponent as well, Zack Ryder. Side bar: Where was the referee during all of the post-match aggression? Outside of the ring. Form your own opinion. But I truly believe that with every passing week, the triumvirate of William Regal, Vladimir Kozlov, and Ezekiel Jackson will continue on their self-planned journey into domination of the ECW brand.

This and that: Evidently, Tony Chimel has morphed into a new, better looking ring announcer. As this was the debut of this unnamed individual, I will reserve comment on performance until I hear more of her in the weeks to come, then I will voice my opinion......ECW represents on WWE Superstars this Thursday night at 8 PM/ET on WGN America with Shelton Benjamin facing Sheamus. Nothing has been settled between the Gold Standard and the Keltic Warrior; perhaps this Thursday night will tell the tale.....

And now, here's where I would like my readers to jump in: Simply put: Should instant replay be allowed for select instances in matches? Would love for you to voice your views and comment below!

As always, I appreciate you taking time to take a gander at my ECW Thoughts! Thanks, and enjoy the rest of your week!