WWE

'WWE RAW' Recap: The Miz Goes 3-0, Santina Escapes Again (Page 1/2)

editor@buddytv.com — Tue, 12 May 2009 06:31:12 GMT

Tonight on WWE RAW MVP made a rookie mistake that even I'll admonish him for; Maryse spoke the language of love and unveiled a gem of dialogue; Vicki came up with a clever scheme to expose Santina's true identity but only succeeded in making things worse - Santina now plays for the other team; The Miz got John Cena in the ring, talked circles around him and walked out claiming victory; and a commercial was the most entertaining of the show. Yes, it was an ESPN-style documentary about Little Mac from Mike Tyson's Punch Out looking back at his prize fight with King Hippo. Read about the goodness - wrestling and otherwise - in my WWE RAW not-quite-live thoughts.

Friday Night Smackdown Aftergasm: Jeff Hardy, CM Punk Fight For the Future

editor@buddytv.com — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:21:46 GMT

Tonight on Friday Night Smackdown the campaign raged on, and I'm not talking about the Star Trek promotional campaign. In one of his smartest moves in recent memory Vince McMahon would appear to have told the young talent that he's looking for a few new stars, and sent them out there to battle for his attention. The result has been two weeks of refreshing WWE television. One couldn't point to a lot of big events on the shows. No limousines have been filled with quick drying cement. Nobody has been kidnapped or crucified. Yet they feel more like can't-miss programming than we saw in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania 25.

WWE RAW Aftergasm: The Rising Stars Continue to Jockey for Position

editor@buddytv.com — Tue, 05 May 2009 09:45:16 GMT

When you're a team like the Washington Nationals sometimes two in a row has to be considered a winning streak. For the WWE - who hadn't allowed a fresh and exciting influx of young talent into the main event picture in quite a while - staying on track for two weeks in a row with promoting new main event talent would be an accomplishment worth going to Denny's over.

Last week on WWE RAW they really got the ball rolling with a main event match for MVP, long in-ring interviews for The Miz and Matt Hardy, a win for Kofi Kingston and a new costume for The Brian Kendrick. They continued the trend on Friday Night Smackdown with CM Punk defeating the champion, Jeff Hardy winning a title shot, MVP getting a celebrity guest manager and John Morrison picking up a win. With Batista and Shawn Michaels both saying publicly that they don't know how much longer they'll continue and The Undertaker's health in real question there's never been a better time. But you know how well Triple H shares his toys.

WWE: Vince McMahon Talks Playboy, Movie Flops and Winning Streaks at Shareholders Conference

editor@buddytv.com — Sun, 03 May 2009 15:53:28 GMT

The 2009 WWE Annual Shareholders Meeting was held Friday morning. That may sound like the most boring three hours of incomprehensible statistics and prolonged discussions about bake sale funds imaginable, but it's actually reliably full of news right from the horse's mouth. And by the horse I mean Vince McMahon.

Among the highlights, the McMahon family gave up their big bonuses and returned the money to the shareholders. The WWE is looking to create a show on Wednesdays so they're airing five nights a week. Playboy approached the WWE this year about another crossover and Vince said no - the WWE feels it's better business to go in a PG direction moving forward. The WWE plans to hold a big party leading into SummerSlam this year. Vince will open a WWE Hall of Fame in the future and he's discussed locations, but he has no immediate plans because it wouldn't be a huge profit stream. Vince wouldn't appear in a WWE movie because he wouldn't have the patience to deal with the constant retakes, and he wouldn't personally be the one to screw The Undertaker out of his Wrestlemania winning streak because he thinks a great number of fans would be very displeased with that outcome. Vince is happy with the creative direction of ECW, though not the ratings success. He uses it as an entry point for new talent, a chance to assess what does and doesn't work. He's not inclined to hold Wrestlemania overseas because making it live for North American audiences would present scheduling issues and when they tried holding SummerSlam in London once before it was not a buyrate success.

WWE Smackdown Aftergasm: Jeff Hardy, CM Punk and John Morrison Star

editor@buddytv.com — Sat, 02 May 2009 14:32:41 GMT

Last night's WWE Smackdown was the second in a pair of successful debuts for the new brands. Much like WWE RAW on Monday the emphasis was on showcasing younger talent. There was an important difference between the shows. While RAW's new stars - MVP, The Miz, Matt Hardy - have never achieved success on a main event level Smackdown's instant front runners - CM Punk, Jeff Hardy and John Morrison - are former one-time world champions who haven't gotten the sustained push they needed in order to catch fire. All three of their previous title reigns were a month to a few months long and booked hesitantly at best with undercard stars often getting top billing over them.

WWE RAW Recap: A New Generation (Page 1/2)

editor@buddytv.com — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:04:37 GMT

Was tonight the very start of a new era in the WWE? That may be pushing it, but for the first time in a long time this episode of WWE RAW was systematically built around building up a new crop of stars. MVP, The Miz, Matt Hardy, Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston and The Brian Kendrick all got something to work with and seemed as though none of them were getting to let the moment pass without doing all they could to prove they deserved it. Maybe The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, John Cena and Triple H all being off at the same time will prove to be the best thing to happen to the WWE in a while.

As usual I blogged my live thoughts.

WWE Backlash Results and Commentary (Page 1/3)

editor@buddytv.com — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:51:39 GMT

Tonight was WWE Backlash - not known to be a big ticket event as wrestling pay-per-views go. But tonight several men put their heart into their work and exceeded low expectations with pride. WWE Backlash had two built-in bathroom break matches and unfortunately one of them was for the World Heavyweight Championship. But the WWE Title match in particular made up for it. As usual I took notes, pointing out such important points you may have missed as Michael Cole's apparent narcolepsy problem, Edge's unfortunate ring entrance and an I-kid-you-not campaign for Judgment Day.

WWE Backlash Preview

editor@buddytv.com — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:57:19 GMT

WWE Backlash is this Sunday night at 8pm/epm PST, live from the Duncan Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. To my mind, out of all of the pay-per-views WWE Backlash is the toughest sell of the year for fans.

WWE RAW Recap: The Game and The Champ Get KO'd (Part 1/2)

editor@buddytv.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:14:45 GMT

Tonight WWE RAW emanated from London, England, but it didn't feature a lot of British-style wrestling. Both main events featured pay-per-view main event quality brawls, one of them with a surprising finish. The rest of the show was a hodgepodge of stories and short matches building up to this Sunday's Backlash pay-per-view and included the return of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, mounting evidence of a Batista heel turn and The Champ getting knocked out for the count again. Check out my live blog below, keep an eye out for some big stories I have planned later this week and be sure to return this weekend for coverage of WWE Backlash.

9:00 RAW emanates tonight from London, England. It's a slightly bigger arena than the WWE usually visits on Monday nights and this time the show was taped earlier in the day to account for the time zone difference (around seven hours last I checked.)The USA network seems to have a new military green logo. I'm not sure yet whether I like it or not. I'm not used to it.

9:01 Chris Jericho takes over the ring with his usual stage presence and tries his best to make RAW sound like the B show and Smackdown like the A show, bragging about where he's off to.

9:05 Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat makes a surprise appearance to confront Chris Jericho. I certainly thought Steamboat's career was already over and his feud with Chris Jericho was past. I'm not sure I like it. It's not as though I don't love Steamboat or I don't always welcome the chance to see him wrestle. I just thought he had a good sendoff before.

9:09 Jericho taunts Steamboat for being touched that the fans called "You've still got it!" at RAW the night after Wrestlemania, so of course they start changing it again. There's no way to get fans chanting something than to make fun of how they always say it. Jericho challenges Steamboat to a match at Backlash, of course.

9:11 John Cena hit's the ring, The crowd is off. They're all over the place in their response to Cena, not in the sense of two groups starting a "CENA! SUCKS!" chant but in the sense of just cheering and booing randomly at the same time. Cena challenges Jericho to a match later tonight.

9:18 Chavo Guerrero wants to establish his dominance on his new brand so he makes an open challenge to anyone in the back. Obviously he's never seen SummerSlam 1988 where the Honky Tonk Man tried the same trick. The Ultimate Warrior showed Honky the door in a matter of seconds and I'd be shocked if Batista didn't follow the trick. A kick to the gut and a Batista bomb later hr proves me right.

9:20 Chavo crawls on the ground and begs Vickie to forgive him, whining on and on. He says he wasn't ready so Batista comes back, kicks him in the gut and Batista Bombs him like it's instant replay. That's certainly not the way to give a talented wrestler credibility on a new brand but they're obviously looking for fans to hate Chavo, not respect him.

9:27 Shane McMahon and Batista meet up backstage and make good with one another like buddies, laughing about how riled up they got with each other. Until, that is, Shane mentions why he was so upset with Batista, and Batista mentions why he was so upset with Shane. Then it's uncomfortable. Here's the problem. At Backlash there's no reason at all for Batista and Shane to be competitive with one another. If they both want to beat up the Legacy they can go ahead. No need to even take turns. So the whole angle is leading up to a match that basically isn't going to happen (i.e. one where it matters who gets the pinfall.) What's that about?

9:29 CM Punk beats Kane in a very short match with some sort of interesting trick pin.

9:37 An ad for the Greatest Stars of the 90s DVD. The clips are iconic for anyone who was a fan during the era - Flair with his black and white robe, Shawn Michaels kicking Marty Jannetty through the barbershop window, Yokozuna squashing a jobber on Superstars. I don't know if I'm drawn to the format of the DVDs, with a series of short futurities on each star. But some of the footage might be great.

9:40 Santino Marella does a segment talking with Santina, who appears live from Italy. She calls Italy the best country in the world to a cheap round of boos. Marella is obviously talking to a video recording of himself. Then of course the tape gets mangled and Santina speaks in squeaky high pitched speeds. Santino tells us she loves Red Bull. Santino reads a poem to Santina about their family honor but when Beth Phoenix interrupts the tape of Santina keeps going, now completely of synch with what Santino is saying. Santino's promos are always some of the most entertaining of the night. Even when I don't love the angle I'm never disappointed by the execution.

9:44 Melina comes out to wrestling Beth and does her usual entrance, which is something I'll never complain about. Melina wins with the age old finish where Beth accidentally collides with her manager and the baby face sneaks in for the roll up victory.

9:55 Shane, apparently having read my complaint that the angle isn't building towards the match that's scheduled for Backlash, clarifies and talks us through the point of the tension between Triple H, Batista and himself. It's not that the three heroes are going to collide in the ring so much as that they're all hotheads and one of them is going to get the others disqualified or counted out due to their selfish and blind rage. Not to be a naysayer but if that's the case then the WWE is building up to another match where Triple H cannot get violent because he has to avoid getting disqualified. Since a big part of the problem fans had with their first match was that it wasn't violent enough to make use of all of the rage between the two I'm not sure another hyper-DQ sensitive rematch is the way I would have gone.

10:00 John Cena wrestlers Chris Jericho in a solid, fast paced pay-per-view main event-style match. Jericho looks like he's trying to make some lasting impressions tonight. He's been at his best both on the mic and in the ring all night. There's worse nights to shine than your last match on RAW. Jerry Lawler rips into how terrible of a band Fozzy is, which is great advertising and probably a personal favor between him and Jericho.

10:05 The WWE is pushing Caprica, the DVD prequel to Battlestar Galactica, pretty hard during the commercial breaks. The concept for the pilot is great. Grounding the show on the planet's surface with a new set of characters makes for a fresh start. But there's just something about the way that guy says "You're out of your frack'n mind!" that I still can't get used to as an actual swear word.

10:16 Edge interrupts the Cena and Jericho match to get the jump on his Backlash opponent, drawing the boos not only of fans who hate Edge but of fans who feel like they didn't get their money's worth since the match was missing an ending. Edge cracks Cena's head open with a one man conchairto, which looks really fake but also looks deafening. He stands over Cena counting to ten, demonstrating how easy it will be for him to win their Last Man Standing match at Backlash. Cena, always willing to put someone else over for the benefit of a storyline, plays dead and makes Edge look like gold.
Read more on Page 2.

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Slideshow "If I Ran the WWE": One Know-It-All Fan's Top 45 Fantasy Moves

WWE Legends of Wrestlemania Contest Results

editor@buddytv.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:42:38 GMT

What would make for the ultimate Wrestlemania dream match? Would it have to involve the wrestlers who have won the most over the years, the poster boys of different eras in wrestling history like Hulk Hogan, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and John Cena? Or would it involve the purest athletes, the ones who make wrestling feel like a sport? Would it be some combination of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, the Harts, Mister Perfect and Kurt Angle? Or would there have to be a special hook, something that would carry a lot of emotion? Maybe Bret Hart would get revenge against Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels for the Montreal Screwjob, or John Cena would take down The Rock for abandoning the WWE for Hollywood. Would it have to be a one-on-one match or could there be five or eight or sixteen wrestlers involved?

Last month we challenged the readers of BuddyTV to make the case for their ultimate Wrestlemania dream match. The five best - as judged by, well, me - would receive a copy of Legends of Wrestlemania for the Playstation 3 and some Wrestlemania 25 souvenirs. My inbox nearly exploded as hundreds of people replied overnight and the mail continued to pour in, with late entrants still trying their best for weeks afterward. Thank you so much to all who entered. It took the better part of a day to read through them all but it was a blast to do so.

'WWE Superstars' Premieres

editor@buddytv.com — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:02:47 GMT

Is it a bad omen to have one of the stars of the main event on your new series walk out on the match? This past Thursday at 8PM Eastern and 5PM Pacific, for those of you didn't know the WWE debuted a new show on WGN America called WWE Superstars. The basic premise is a fairly good one. New RAW, Smackdown and ECW matches featuring name brand wrestlers airs on the network of Chicago Cubs baseball and Out of Sight Retro Night reruns Alf. The series sounds totally expendable - a likely casualty of fans' busy schedules and personal lives - but not unpleasant. Unfortunately, the execution was flat and the reasons aren't surprising. I do, however, have an idea of how to fix it.

The main event featured Matt Hardy testing his newly forged mettle (pun intended) against The Undertaker. As it turned out his mettle wasn't so mighty, as Matt did the old routine where a heel holds their head like they bumped on the car door and stand outside the ring while they watch the referee count to ten.

WWE RAW Recap: The Live Draft Show (Page 1/3)

editor@buddytv.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:02:09 GMT

Tonight on WWE RAW twelve superstars changed brands in the annual tri-branded draft show. Josh Mathews got off to a bad start as ECW’s new announcer; the ECW champion set out to win the fans over; two men turned on their friends at very unexpected moments; and one brand got absolutely hosed. If you didn’t see the show don’t worry. I was taking notes, and writing my editorial remarks in the margins.

Friday Night Smackdown Aftergasm: Beware of the Career-Threatening Stretcher Match!

editor@buddytv.com — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:48:48 GMT

You’re the WWE. In the past couple of months you’ve booked Money in the Bank ladder matches, elimination chambers, Last Man Standings, Extreme Rules. But you need something for the main event on Friday Night Smackdown this week that’s a little different and exciting. A regular one-on-one match just isn’t going to cut the Dijonaise. So what do you turn to? A casket match? Too much to work to set up in the storylines. A cage match? Too bloody. A paddle on a pole match? Too sexy. What else?

Turns out the answer is a stretcher match. There are probably two schools of thought about a stretcher match. One is that they’re not violent enough. That’s valid. When you’ve just seen Shelton Benjamin jump off the top of a giant ladder outside of the ring and dive bomb their opponents onto the metal ramp it is hard to go back a week later and say, “You know what would be really hardcore, guys? If one wrestler had to get knocked out long enough that you could push him on a stretcher across the finish line. I mean, whoa. He’d have to be destroyed first.”

The WWE's Year Round Format Risks Less Suspense

editor@buddytv.com — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:56:39 GMT

In a movie thriller if the loving husband was driven to
pick up a sledgehammer and destroy the psycho who had been threatening his family that would be the end of it. In a primetime drama if the invincible colossus won an epic battle against a surging underdog there would be a summer hiatus at least. Viewers would have to wonder for five months what would happen next. In sports if a team took home the Heisman trophy that would mark the end of the season.

For fans of professional wrestling it’s not that simple. The WWE has no off season. The episode of WWE RAW the night after Wrestlemania is one of the highest rated and most talked about of the year, with cliffhangers from the night before already needing to reach partial resolution or further complication. But it’s not possible to do a two hour show without addressing most of the major questions fans want answers to

WWE RAW Aftergasm: In This Story The Dragon Slays The Prince

editor@buddytv.com — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:15:00 GMT

24 hours removed from the show of shows it was Wrestlemania Remix Night on WWE RAW, with many of the matches coming as twists on the previous night’s matches. And in the true end to Wrestlemania weekend Batista returned to defend Vince McMahon against Randy Orton and The Legacy. Not every Wrestlemania weekend will be perfect but all will bring memorable moments and great times. I think it’s fair to say that in the end this year’s show delivered at least that much.

Okay, so let’s get into it. Did you ever have a really awkward conversation with someone who’s embarrassing themself and doesn’t realize it? If you’re a girl just think back to your last breakup. You know how you try to clue the person in and let them know they should just stop before they dig a deeper hole for themselves? But they never get it, do they? Because by that point they just can’t help themselves. That’s sort of how I feel about Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole.

WWE: My Moment Alone With Mickey Rourke and Other Stories From Ringside at Wrestlemania 25

editor@buddytv.com — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:32:44 GMT

Every year fans travel from around the world to go to Wrestlemania. Glance behind the wrestler's heads and you'll see flags flying that you can't even identify. Stand in an elevator with those people at the hotel and you realize they're for real - world traveling wrestling fans. My journey was shorter, just a five hour flight. It was my second year in a row attending and my third overall.

The world got one view of Wrestlemania last night, with over a million buys expected at $59.99 price point, many of them for groups of friends. That's a lot of eyeballs. But I experienced in a different way, not better necessarily but more up close and personal. So much so in fact that I had the opportunity to share a one-on-one moment - okay, a short one - with the man I rooted for on Academy Awards blogs throughout the winter, the one whose movie I tried to drag everyone I knew to see. That was only one highlight of the night. Let me start by telling you a few others.

WWE: Mickey Rourke Knocks Out Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 25

editor@buddytv.com — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:02:52 GMT

Tonight at the 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania 72,744 fans packed Reliant Stadium to see celebrities, rock stars, thundering pyrotechnics and, of course, the culmination of a year’s worth of storylines. The event is part Super Bowl and part season finale, with satisfying resolutions and new cliffhangers occurring over the course of four and a half hours. Last year’s event grossed 23.8 million dollars in pay-per-view revenue, bringing 50 million more dollars in revenue to the home city.

While this year’s spectacular was uneven in quality, Mickey Rourke got into the spirit of the event by stepping into the ring to take his medicine from Chris Jericho; “Stone Cold” Steve Austin made the special appearance his hometown fans came to see; and the most anticipated match of the evening exceeded expectations to become an instant classic that kept fans around the world afraid to leave their seat during a seemingly endless standoff.

WWE Hosts the 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania Tonight With Mickey Rourke

editor@buddytv.com — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 06:02:28 GMT

Mickey Rourke lost his fight against Sean Penn at the Academy Awards after being nominated for playing an aging wrestler who refuse to give up the spotlight. Tonight he'll have the opportunity to better his record when he wages a new war against the WWE's best actors, Chris Jericho, as the corner man of three aging wrestlers who refuse to give up the spotlight, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. Since this is the WWE expect him to get in as much offense as Snuka and play a decisive role in the match.

It's all part of WWE's 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania, at a special start time of 7PM Eastern/4PM Pacific. Wrestling's biggest event of the year broadcasts live from Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. Over 70,000 will be in the stands, with millions of others watching on pay-per-view. Last night I reported from the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony where Rourke sat with the superstars and tomorrow morning I will report from the 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania.

WWE: Reporting From the 2009 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

editor@buddytv.com — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:05:58 GMT

Tomorrow Wrestlemania 25 will air at a special 7PM EST/4PM PST on pay-per-view. But tonight at the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony the fans went wild for a very unlikely performer, Bill Watts drew shocked silence from the crowd in a moment sure to be cut from the DVD, the 24 clock ticked, Austin brought down the house and a production assistant took an unintentional pratfall. I was in attendance at the Toyota Center to report what you didn’t see on TV. While I thought the show as a whole was subdued even by the standards of past years it was still nice to hear some familiar voices and listen to their stories.

In the past five years the WWE Hall of Fame has gone from a small event held at the hotel to an arena show with expensive sets, souvenir programs and fans in suits. The Houston crowd was more excited by the idea of dressing up than the fans at the Amway Arena in Orlando were for last year’s induction ceremony. The vast majority of men in the crowd worse business attire while the women favored a wider range of dresses, from Prom Night to cheetah print. While the crowd in Orlando was constantly screaming their feedback at quiet moments to make themselves audible on the DVD this year the crowd was well controlled for the most part.

WWE: Five Things To Watch For On Sunday

editor@buddytv.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:52:38 GMT

Numerous questions hang over this Sunday's Wrestlemania 25. Will The Undertaker's winning streak continue? Will Mickey Rourke mix it up with Chris Jericho? Will the Money in the Bank ladder match and the Extreme Rules deliver unique, awe inspiring stunts? Will WWE legends make unexpected appearances? Look for our complete preview on Sunday morning. But for now we look at five questions that will be answered on Sunday night.

WWE: 16-1? Should Shawn Michaels End The Undertaker's Wrestlemania Winning Streak? (Page 1/2)

editor@buddytv.com — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:23:41 GMT

This Sunday at Wrestlemania 25 Shawn Michaels will challenge The Undertaker. While both world titles will be on the line everyone from Jim Ross to the Orlando Sentinel have acknowledged that this is the one people are waiting for. Shawn Michaels long ago earned the nickname Mr. Wrestlemania, perhaps a fitting nod to baseball‘s “Mr. October” Reggie Jackson. Much like the famous Yankee Michaels is a great contributor throughout the year but prone to the spectacular when the world is watching. The Undertaker, of course, has The Streak, having won his last sixteen bouts at Wrestlemania.

BuddyTV considers the eighteen year history behind this match, what's really at stake, explains why it could surpass Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant, and determines whether or not Shawn Michaels should end The Streak.

'WWE RAW' Aftergasm: The Losingest Champ

editor@buddytv.com — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:28:21 GMT

It's Wrestlemania Week, but not just at Titan Towers. For the next days BuddyTV is going to bringing you daily WWE features, and I'll be reporting what I can from the ground as I head to Houston for Wrestlemania weekend.

Last Monday night on RAW the WWE writers and talent took big strides in advancing the storylines for this coming Sunday’s Wrestlemania 25. By comparison, this past week’s Friday Night Smackdown would have to be considered a more moderate success. A haunting feud playing up Jeff’s feud with his brother Matt did some service to their program. Shawn Michaels made an inspired appearance in a stark white Undertaker costume to promise that the light of his faith will outshine the darkness that The Undertaker represents. But Smackdown did not do enough to sell the Hardy feud and did nothing to sell the Tag Team Title Unification Match.

'Friday Night Smackdown' Aftergasm: Lord of Darkness, Son of Light

editor@buddytv.com — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:08:03 GMT

This past Monday night on RAW the WWE suddenly realized that the volume was on at half the usual strength for this time of year and gave the dial a really good turn. No, I’m not talking about somebody eating a sandwich in the production truck. I’m talking about the intensity of the storylines heading into Wrestlemania. Ric Flair was severely beaten, his forehead cut wide open, his clothes torn from his body and his gold retirement watch smashed into bits and pieces. Randy Orton drove Stephanie McMahon head first into the canvas and kissed her on the mouth while Triple H watched, helpless. The Undertaker brought up the fact that he put Shawn Michaels out of action for five years in establishing their history together.

The result was that despite a few minor missteps the WWE upped the anticipation surrounding several of Wrestlemania’s top matches significantly in just a short time. But I posed the question, ‘Would they be able to carry that urgency over to Friday night?’

Exclusive Interview: The Miz of the WWE

editor@buddytv.com — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:35:45 GMT

A week from this Sunday at Wrestlemania 25 World Tag Team Champions The Miz and John Morrison will face WWE Tag Team Champions Carlito and Primo Colon, title for title, champions vs. champions. You may be planning a beer run or a quick phone call during that match. Don't do it. While there's no question that today's main event stars like John Cena, The Undertaker and Randy Orton are compelling but you have to look on the undercard to find someone truly Mizmerizing.

As anyone who's watched The Dirt Sheet on WWE.com knows The Miz and John Morrison are two of the WWE's most underutilized talents. Their vicious critiques of wrestlers' backstage personalities, WWE legends, celebrities and politicians are laugh out loud, bray like a donkey funny. Their parodies and impersonations are spot on. Inside the ring they routinely use their unique offense to carry dramatic and well structured matches. The Tag Team Unification match may not sell the pay-per-view but it may make you happy you did.

'WWE Monday Night RAW' Aftergasm: Silence of the McMahons... Err... Lambs

editor@buddytv.com — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 05:05:37 GMT

Now that was RAW. That was an episode you did not want to miss. Though it's almost the last minute the storylines leading up to this year's Wrestlemania finally, finally hit their stride in one of the most compelling episodes of RAW in recent memory. The writers must have been pounding the typewriters with urgency this week because they pulled out all the stops to make fans sit there with Combination Lo Mein hanging half out of their mouths and mumble as best they could, "Foley schmidt." Or, well, you know.

'Friday Night Smackdown' Aftergasm: Did You Know?

editor@buddytv.com — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:53:14 GMT

Smackdown tonight was fairly typical of the WWE lately. Vladimir Kozlov, once undefeated for nine months, lost by pinfall again. Shelton Benjamin and MVP had another nice match. Triple H gave us a surprising insight into his personal relationship, with footage of his real life wedding with Stephanie. John Cena had some amusing comedy playing Edge, The Big Show and Vickie Guerrero against each other. The show was a relaxing and enjoyable way to unwind after a busy week but it didn't offer goose bumps, just some good sights and sounds to accompany my pizza eating and Diet Coke drinking.

Since I've discussed most of those topics before, however, I decided to focus this week's Aftergasm on just thirty seconds of the show. As you know about 75 percent of what I have to say about the WWE is overwhelmingly positive, but to my mind that's what makes the other 25 percent earned and fair. Unlike most journalists I'm not going to kick Vince McMahon in the seat of the pants just to watch him stumble (although to be honest that does sound really amusing and if anyone does it they need to send me a Youtube video.)