10:14 Jeff Hardy, John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and The Great Khali will be fighting in a Scramble Match on
Smackdown. The winner is the number one contender at Judgment Day. It's a good idea, especially coming from Madison Square Garden. One would imagine Hardy is likely to be the winner.
10:20 Michael Cole makes an eye rolling comment about how there has never been a more eventful, exciting and unpredictable event in WWE history than Backlash last night. Develop some self respect, why don't you? It was a good enough show you don't need to use absurd hyperbole. Just tell people how good it was.
10:25 Annoyingly enough I got a phone call but The Miz is mocking John Cena and challenging him to a match. "He's always saying you can't see me and he's right. I can't see you because your movies aren't in theaters long enough." He makes a goofy face and slowly does the Cena hand waive. The fans seem to want his head on a stick. The Miz says since Cena failed to show for the match he wins by forfeit. When Lillian Garcia refuses to call it he grabs the microphone and makes the announcement himself. The crowd hates him and I love him for making the crowd hate him. How long have I been saying that this guy's promo skills need to be utilized on TV?
10:28 This is the second time they've aired this cell phone ad in which a coroner tosses a breakfast burrito on a realistic open cadaver, picks it back up and eats it. That's no longer funny. It turns my stomach.
10:31 A music video from the recent European tour.
10:32 Primo and Carlito are still carrying four belts rather than the unified belts. They're taking on Chavo Guerrero and Jamie Noble. Hadn't seen Noble in a while.
10:33 Jerry Lawler explains that Carlito and Primo are not exclusive to
RAW but can defend the belts on any brand. Richard Gray over at Wrestling News World would have a fit about how that makes the draft meaningless. I think it's a good call because there aren't enough tag teams for them to face on any one brand.
10:37 Carlito does an awesome move where he leaps from onto the top rope, then jumps to the other top rope before diving down at Jamie Noble. He hit's the back cracker for the win.
10:38 Backstage Batista is asked whether he feels responsible for Triple H losing the belt. He looks stupefied by the question, then says he's going to go out there and hurt Orton just like Orton hurt Triple H. I'm unmoved.
10:46 Next week on
RAW it's Orton against Shane. I've been a fan of Shane's for a good ten plus years and even I feel like the WWE is ramming him down my throat right now. What can I even say? The McMahons - Triple H especially - are all getting older and they feel like their lives are slipping away from them so they're living it up and having the time of their lives at the expense of what's good for the business. Everybody knows it. No one can do anything about it.
10:53 I'll give Batista this: The crowd is loud for him tonight.
11:03 John Cena appears on the ramp. The Big Show follows him out of the ring while the referee counts. At the count of eight The Big Show realizes what's happening and bounds for the ring like a St. Bernard but he's too late. Batista wins by count out. He'll fight Orton at Judgment Day. I suppose it was smart of the WWE not to make The Big Show look weak, even if the main event they're setting up holds no appeal for me.
This was a stronger show than most. The WWE obviously isn't ready to let go of the specialness of their top stars, nor should they. But they're starting to give fans a reason to love and hate their next generation. The Miz, The Miz, Matt Hardy, Kofi Kingston and The Brian Kendrick all owe Vince McMahon and WWE creative a heartfelt thank you for the pushes they got tonight. You almost get the feeling that tonight was a turning point, the very start of a new era of the WWE. But that's getting way, way ahead. Let's see them keep this up for more than one week in a row first.
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