To: MyMeanStreetMailingList
Date: Monday, September 18 2006
From: ShaneoMacDaddy @WWE.com
Subject: Pictures From Toronto

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What up, gang?

Shane McMahon here and I’m still en route home from Toronto, Canada. What up?! What up?! I hope you all witnessed my epic encounter alongside my dad Fritz Von MacDaddy against DeGeneration X. We tore the roof off the place! What up! What up! So anywho, I wanted to send you all some of the pics we took in Canada. Take a look! It was awesome! What up!? What up?!

Whoa, whoa, whoa,

Shane-o Mac

***

We started our trip last week. Right off the bat, dad was goofing around -

Dad clowning around at the airport

On the ride over, we had a fun time on the plane. Of course, Randy Orton got in trouble for what he did in everyone’s carry-on bags. That guy. He’s a joker. He’s a nut. Here’ s a picture of him checking out our stewardess. Randy turned to me at one point and said, “Yo. You see her? I’d hit that.” I was like, “Go ahead then” - thinking he meant “sex.” Nope. He decked her. We had to stop briefly in Washington and he had to take a cab the rest of the way.

Before we got to Toronto, Dad read that prostitution was legal there so he bought us new suits. Not only that, but we managed to wrangle up our very own hooker! We found her sitting at Starbucks. She said she wasn’t a prositute and was crying all, “Who are you? Why are you kidnapping me? Help!” That all ended once we put the gag on her face.

Don’t let it be said that WWE doesn’t get the star treatment. Once we showed up in town, everyone was clamoring to meet us! The Big Show (center) even got a chance to meet the Canadian Prime Minster Stephen Harper (left) and Toronto Mayor David Miller (right).

It was all going really well actually. Show was jovial and outgoing. We were all having a great time. Then, the Prime Minister asked if I would go get his camera and take a picture. I was honored that he would want a photograph of the ECW Champion for himself. So I went to get his camera.

When I came back, though. Big Show had eaten both of them.

Needless to say, we had to bust a move pretty damn quick out of there. We did, though. Once back at the hotel, I realized that some people had it worse than others. Shawn Michaels had run into a group of Canadian wrestling fans and a slight issue arose. They were pretty aggressive, but HBK turned the other cheek, so to speak. When he did, they kicked him in it and did, well this:

After just one last stop at the University of Toronto -

- We were on our way back home. What a great time. I can’t wait till I go back…NOT! Ha ha. See what I did there? I said something I didn’t mean and then I said not. Ha!

BTW, I have two other pictures, but I’ll send them over in a separate email.

Love and Highspots,
Shane-o Mac

Not a member? Click Here To Join Now or go to CLUBWWI.com for more information.

Raw Theme Plays.

Right from the get-go, we know it’s going to be a fun night. Lillian “Boo-Hoo” Garcia introduces the new WWE Champion John Cena and the crowd responds with a rousing ovation…of boos.

Yo. Homeboy. Are all those people booing me out there?

Oh. Did I say Lou? I meant that they’re not chanting “boo,” they’re chanting…OK, OK. They’re chanting boo.

The Doctor of Thuganomics is in the hizzy fo shizzy and he seems to be tickled over the horrible reaction he’s getting. Content with the gold on his shoulder, the WWE Champion has a mic in his hand and something to say. Cena says that he must have gotten knocked silly yesterday because he can’t remember his name or what’s going on. Suddenly, it all comes back to him…he’s the Champ and he’s here! The crowd boos and again Cena tries to reel them back in. Sadly, the crazy Canadians are having none of it. He even tries a joke about “Lita giving head” and they don’t cheer. Rough. When you can’t get a crowd to pop for an oral sex joke, you’re pretty screwed. The audience gave him what for and barely listened to a word he said. Just as he’s about to close his promo, they listened. Yup, just as he was declaring an end to his feud with Edge, the crowd popped big. Know why? Because Edge came out. That’s why.

The former WWE Champion has arrived and he has the former WWE Women’s Champion by his side. Edge and Lita step up to the new title holder. You know the worst part so far? Both The R Rated Superstar and The Thuggy Doctor are selling no injuries at all after their TLC Match last night. Nothing. Not a bruise. Not a cut. Not a big-ass Ric Flair forehead bandage. Nothing. No selling. It was so bad that Jim Ross had to jump in and say, “Can you imagine, King, how sore both these men must be by now?” Yup. I bet he can. Know why? Because you have to imagine it! They’re not selling anything! Anyway, Lita’s boyfriend is sore on the inside and sore with the situation. He tells the new champ to nut up and give him a title shot. Do it, Johnny. Hook a brutha up.

John Cena does hook Edge up - but not with a title match at first. He hooks him up with praise. The Fresh Prince of New England tells his aggressor that he saw something in him last night that he hasn’t seen before - heart. Aww. So listen up, Broodboy. You want to come out here and talk to the C-Man like that? Huh? Well -

“Have a gigantic one-man live sex celebration and go screw yourself. Option B - put some balls behind your words, ante up just like you did last night, and let‘s have a WWE Title rematch right now.”
                            - John Cena, 9:09pm

The crowd cheers finally, but it may be premature. Copeland lets us all in on a newsflash. He wants to win his title back in Canada - but this ain’t Canada! This is the “cheese-eating, wine-sniffing, inbred cousin of Canada - Montreal.” (JG Note: If they ever wanted to get Sylvan Grenier over, they’d have him run out right now. Talk about time and place - it‘s the perfect set-up.) Adam calls the Montreal crowd a bunch of “Kermits - ribbit, ribbit” and incurs an “asshole” chant from the people who were just all over his jock two minutes ago. Just to make sure they really hated him, Cope went on to say this:

“Amongst other things, I took an F-U off of a 12 foot ladder through two tables. And I could have, I could have raised the white flag like all these people would have and said ‘Auh hauh hauh, I zerender! I zerender!’ But I didn’t do it. I fought like a man. And I’ll take back what is rightfully mine, but I won’t do it here tonight for these people!” - Edge, 9:12pm

Johnny C. then shows the world how great of a heel Edge can be by pointing to the fact that he went from being loved to hated in 30 seconds. In fact, John takes it upon himself to say that the arena now wants him to “beat the holy hell” out of the former champion. Guess what? They cheered him! No foolies. Crazy stuff. It was as if we were in an episode of Sliders. The Marine asks the Frog-hater what he wants from him if not a match. Adam freaks out and turns beat red with every statement. REVENGE, dork! J.C. tries to cut him off, but an irate Edgar shoves him and says he has a back up plan. Things get pretty intense and there looks like a scuffle is about to break out. Then, suddenly…The Canadians’s back up plan arrives…

Cue Brock Lesnar and The Ultimate Warrior.

WHAT?! NO WAY!

Ha ha. No. I’m just f**kin’ with ya. Cue Cade and Murdoch.

Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch show up and attack the new kingpin of Raw. It’s so weird to see them together because they’re both totally different colors. Trevor is so pale he looks like The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Lance is orange like…well, an orange. (JG Note: Actually, you know who Cade reminds me of? Greg Valentine when he dyed his hair, teamed up with the Honky Tonk Man, and made a Hasbro action figure that never came out.) Edge gives The South Texas Rednecks an introduction and informs Cena of their credentials. Last week, they jacked DeGeneration X. This week, they’re going to help him beat the chaw out of ya! Yee-haw! Sadly, the only person in the arena who seems to care about Lance and Trevor joining up with the R Rated Superstar is Jim Ross. Luckily, the crowd was soon given a reason to care. Actually, they were given two reasons.

Shawn Michaels and Triple H run out. DeGeneration X is in the house and they’re here to get them some against the duo that beat them down last week. Once they show up and start to throw hands, some unfamiliar music plays. I couldn’t figure it out at first. It was like hip-hop music, only not. You know - that cheesy wrestling-style hip-hop. I was like who is that? Teddy Long? Rodney Mack? Mark Henry?

John Coachman.

Oh. Remember him? Suddenly, there’s a reason for The Coach to come to Raw. He’s Mr. McMahon’s “executive assistant” and he has to carry out the will of the chairman. So ask the age old question. What Would Vinnie Do? Why, he would book a six man match. That’s what! It’s going to be…Cade, Murdoch, and Edge vs. John Cena and The Killer Bees! Nah. It’s John Cena and DX. What else would it be? Duh. The King of Kings and DJ Jazzy White Bread exchange looks and the segment comes to a close. Sadly, no Sylvan.

Up Next: Umaga vs. Kane. Why? To make people who paid for it feel stupid.

Commercial Break. The Unforgiven Replay is brought to me by Axe Body Spray…and Nick Lachey. Ugh. Of all the people in the world to bring me the Unforgiven Replay, Nick Lachey would be like one of the last ones I’d choose. He’d be right up there with Ashley Simpson and Satan.

Can’t get enough Coachman? Neither can I. Now that he’s back, he won’t shut up. The next segment is really weird. He stands in front of a camera and talks openly to Vince and Shane McMahon. (JG Note: I guess the McMahons have TVs and can see backstage segments, huh?) It sort of reminded me of the end of the Mork and Mindy episodes when Mork would stand there and talk to his leader. Pat of me expected a voice to boom down and say, “What have you learned today in your adventures, Coach?” Anyway, there’s a point here. Executive Assistant John has set up this time for WWE superstars to come in and wish the McFamily a speedy recovery. You’ll never guess who’s first? “Mr. I Forgot That You Work Here” Shelton Benjamin!

Shelly steps into the scene and he’s ready to address The Macs. Benji doesn’t use this opportunity to kiss butt, though. He uses it to get his anger out. He tells his bosses that they wouldn’t have gotten beat up if they had chosen him as their partner. His anger mounting, Shelt wonders why he wasn’t chosen to be in Hell in the Cell. Then, he looks at his hand and a light goes off above his head. A black light, that is.

“Know what? I think I know why. I think I know exactly why. It’s because I’m black, ain’t it? That is the only possible reason…what? What? I can’t say what? Affirmative action?”
                       - Shelton Benjamin, 9:22pm

I guess they figured that they’re already pushing that envelope. Might as well push it more. Truth or not, Benjamin is silenced by Coachman, who steps in and asks him to leave. Once he does, the E.A. turns to the camera and apologizes to Vinnie Mac and Shane-o Insane-o for the unexpected outburst.

1) Umaga defeated Kane via disqualification

I’m glad they’re giving Kane another feud. It’s been too long since he got to do something tangible on Raw. For the last few months, he’s been either MIA, talking to voices in his head, or trying to eat eyeballs. Now he’s genuinely in a feud with another monster. This one followed the same format you’d expect, but it all took a turn when Armando Alejandro Estrada tried to jump in with a chair. The referee stepped in and ended up sandwiched between the Big Red Machine and the Samoan Bulldozer. The official took a tumble and Jamala took advantage. He grabbed the chair, waited for Mando to distract Taker’s brother, and slammed him in the head with it. Unfortunately for him, the ref was dead and no count could be made. Another ran in, but by then, Kane-o was able to kick out. The battle raged on and eventually, frustrated by the trouble he was having trying to knock the Savage off his feet, Kane got the chair and tried to smack Maga in the head with it, only to be thwarted by a throat thrust. Did he want to get disqualified, I wondered to myself. Yup. He did. Know how I know? ‘Cause like a minute later, Red had Maggie set for a choke slam, but instead chose to hit him with a chair…and get disqualified. The crowd liked it though. They cheered. Unfortunately, though, the Eye Scream Man goes home with the loser’s purse. (JG Note: Know the difference? The winner’s purse is Gucci. The loser’s purse is made out of polyester and ear wax.)

Following the bell, DQ boy chased Armando Estrada up the aisle. Uh oh. Before we could learn what horrible punishment was planned, we go to commercial. What could it be? Necrophilia? Testicles to car batteries? Flaming dumpster? I can’t stand the suspense!

Retro Commercial Break

Back from the break and Kane is beating the ever-loving snot out of Armando Alejandro Estrada backstage. With each hit, he leans in and gives some threatening words. Finally, it looks like he’s ready to end the mugging. Big Red leans in and tells Big Lalo, “I have a spike of my own.” At first, I thought he was threatening to rape him, which is sad to think is my first instinct, but I looked up and saw that he actually was holding a spike. Phew.  He didn’t get to use it though. Umaga came dashing and proceeded to pummel the monster into oblivion, capping it all off with a big avalanche into the steel garage door. Kane-o’s melon bounced off the steel and the manager escaped with his Bulldozer. Once they did, Undertaker’s brother sat back up and laughed - seemingly impervious to the pain. (JG Note: You know, like John Cena and Edge with last night’s match.)

Back in the “Get Well McMahon Video Studio,” it’s Maria’s turn to record her greeting. Fist, she confuses Vince McMahon with Ed and Jim McMahon. Yeah. Then she wonders if it was “fun” for him to have his head shoved into Big Show’s butt. She compares it to entering the Bat Cave. Insane. Is her character supposed to be ditzy or severely retarded? Before I can think about it for too long, the Five Chinese Brothers showed up with a bullhorn.

That’s right. The Spirit Squad arrive and commandeer the spotlight. They all express their sadness over VKM’s injuries, but give him some good news. They’re all still the tag champions. Even better… Johnny has challenged Ric Flair to a match and it’s next! Guess what else. Guess! He’s dedicating that win to you! That’s right. Give me an X! X! Give me an F! F! Give me an L! L! What’s it spell? Mr. McMahon! Yay!

Still to come: The Guys from Heat and Christian’s Fake Brother take on Stephanie’s Favorite Wrestler, God’s Favorite Wrestler, and Nobody’s Favorite Wrestler.

Commercial Break. When Ken Shamrock gets mad in his car, he gets into the AutoZone.

2) Ric Flair pinned Johnny with a roll-up

Before the match began, Johnny asked his partners to remain up the ramp so he could face The Nature Boy himself. This match really seemed out of place and really seemed to be the first step in the separation of the Cheerleaders. Up until now, only Ken Doane and Mikey - the screaming one - have been given any sort of character development. Jim Ross even informed us that John is the S.S.’s “martial arts expert.” Hmmm. Learn something new everyday. The arrogant Kung-Fu master even impressed J.R. with his strategy at one point, after he locked Ric into a Figure Four. It didn’t get the job done, though. Flair rebounded and set up Johnny-Boy for a Figure Four of his own. The Cheerboy countered with a cradle, but Naitch rolled him over and ended up on top of the heap. The ref counted three and the Green World Order went nuts. They must realize that this is probably the start of a program where Slick Ric beats all of them week-by-week. I’d go nuts too.

Get Well Vince Video Time. The next message is brought to you by Lita. Miss Amy expresses her condolences over their injuries but wants to turn the attention back to herself. Mr, McBoss, there’s a little issue of the Women’s Title. It’s vacant now that Trish Stratus has retired. So…how about hooking up Leets with the belt now. After all…Hey! Who let Mickie James in here?! Amy tries to push Mickie out of the scene, but is unsuccessful. James uses the opportunity to talk about how great Trish is and how bad Lita is. She gets in some cheap shots at the former Champion and her boyfriend, Edge. How does The R-Rated Valet answer her? She shows the Single White Female her strong pimphand. Slap! Alexis kisses pavement and sits back up, holding her face in shock for some reason. I don’t know what she expected. If you insult a female wrestler to her face, chances are you’re getting slapped…or kicked in the testicles. Mickie James has no testicles, hence a slap in the face seemed appropriate.

Still to Come: Lita vs. Candice Michele.

Commercial Break. Tomorrow Night on ECW - King Booker vs. Rob Van Dam.

Randy Orton is the next person up and - surprise, surprise - he has something to say. Everyone’s talking tonight. What does Randy have to say? Well, last night he ended up with stitches on his face. What a travesty! You all saw last night’s match, right? No? Well, it was da bomb! Orton tells us all that he proved something last night. He proved that he’s the future of this industry! No one can say otherwise…

Cue Johnny Nitro.

Why?

I don’t know. No reason, really. Just for shits and giggles.

Johnny Nitro arrives with Melina by his side and his title tucked into his undies. J.R. informs us that in the latest edition of WWE Magazine, Mel said she “wants to have sex with a man who keeps his socks on.” (JG Note: I’m sure she has other stipulations too, though. I feel bad for whoever handles her website and has to field all the incoming self-pics of huge scary guys wearing nothing but socks.) Nitro is here to confront Dandy Randy on his brash comments. You think you’re the future of the industry? Bah! Humbug! No way! The future of the biz is Johnny “Hennigan” Nitro. All the haters can just look at the Intercontinental Title and know who the man truly is in WWE. Jeff Hardy ain’t squat! He was a ton of hype, but N shut him down. Gaaaaa-goysh!! Look what I did to you…a-gain.

After showing off the title he had just had untucked from his weenis, Johnny turns the attention back to the tattooed Diva Killer in the ring. He says this:

“Hey, uh, Randy, where’s your title, buddy? Oh that’s right. You don’t have one. You know what, Orton? You’ve been coasting on your reputation for years. That’s right. You’re all talk and while you’ve been talking about getting to the top, some of us have been actually making it to the top.”
                  - Johnny Nitro, 10:01pm

Cowboy Bob’s kid didn’t react well to this. The veins bulged from his head and he tells the fur wearing youngster that he can take the Intercontinental Title from him whenever he wants. Oh, oh…and guess what else. Go on. Guess. That’s right. Mr. Orton can take your girl too. No problem at all.

Cue Chris Masters.

Oh. I thought that was Michael Cole.

Chris Masters walks up the ramp and he’s got a microphone too. The Masterpiece informs Johnny Come-Lately and Randy Go-Crazy that he is the true future of professional sports entertainment. He has the looks. He has the body. He has the Masterlock. How do Heel #1 and Hell #2 react to the boasts of Heel #3?

They laugh in his face.

Now, I thought they were laughing because he lost 40 pounds in like three months. No. They were laughing because of his consecutive losses to Super Crazy. I forgot about that. Ort says that Masters was defeated by someone “who should be bussing tables right now.” Even Melina jumped in with the mockery. She asked him if he could spell “future.” Ha ha. Anyone can spell fewchure!

I spit in the face of people who misspell future.

More people, more talking. Carlito shows up and he’s the lone baby face in the fray. Carly says that winners are cool, but wants to let everyone in on something. Randy Orton may have been a winner last night, but Lito is a sore loser. With that, Afro Joe rushed the ring and threw the first punch. He had the upper hand for all of two seconds before the other rule breakers joined The Legend Killer in the fight. It looked like a 3-on-1 beating until…

Super Crazy and Jeff Hardy ran out. The Hardy Boy and the Loco Boy unloaded on the heels and assisted Triple C in his battle with them. J.R. wondered what was going on. Simple, Jim. They’re setting up for the following announcement from John Coachman.

All six men…one match…right now. A Six Pack Challenge with every man for himself. The winner will be the Intercontinental Champion. No friggin’ way! Way! No friggin’ way! Way!

Commercial Break. It’s Optimum or it’s not. Well, duh.

3) Intercontinental Champion Johnny Nitro won a Six Pack Challenge over Carlito, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, Chris Masters, and Super Crazy when he pinned Masters

For the most part, this was a bad match. It was just spot after spot for most of it. Aside from the slow motion exchanges and awkward near-falls, there was actually one point where Randy Orton was stumbling around stunned, suddenly snapped out of it to see if Super Crazy was in position, and then became stunned again. Things were pretty ho-hum until they hit the highspots. Everyone took turns doing the over-the-top rope moves and they all ended up on the floor. When things landed back in the ring, it went back to the way it was before. Everyone paired off and traded opponents on and off. There seemed to be too much going on and not enough going on all at once, if that makes any sense. Finally things reached the next level in spot taking - finisher spots. Everyone had a chance to hit their signature move with Randy nailing an RKO on Nitro, Carlito hitting a backcracker on Randy, and Masters locking the Masterlock on Carlito. Super Crazy ran in and went for a top rope moonsault. Alas, though, he was pushed from the top rope to the floor by Jeff Hardy. Jeff quickly scaled the turnbuckles and hit his patented Swanton Bomb. Seizing the situation, Johnny tossed Hardy from the ring and scored the pinfall himself, retaining his I.C. strap in the process. It was a pretty anticlimactic finish.

Smackdown Rebound. Hey! I remember Smackdown. Is that show still on?

Commercial Break. USA says they’re playing “Liar, Liar” Sunday at 9pm. For some reason, I don’t believe them.

Cryme Tyme Video: This week, JTG and Shad Gaspar jack a car because homeboy rolled up in here in a mini-van lookin’ for directions to the country club. You know, if they’re robbing stores and car jacking and calling it wrestling “training,” then we really shouldn’t be surprised when they finally debut and can‘t wrestle.

John Coachman is center stage on the We Love Vince McMahon Video Greeting stage. Before he introduces Cade, Murdoch, and Edge, he wants to say…uh oh.

DeGeneration X slowly walk onto the set and John Coachman backs away. Shawn Michaels feigns sadness over the McInjuries, but Triple H calms him down. In an effort to sarcastically lift Vinnie Mac’s spirits, Hunter has put together a little video package to show how DX feels. Roll the tape, Furry.

Video Recap of DX Tormenting the McMahon Family. Cocks, Dicks, and Hunter - oh my!

Back in the greeting recording center, the Degenerates are fake crying over the sad trip down memory lane. Helmsley tries to lighten the mood with a poem he wrote. Even though I find these cutsie pootsie little DX pre-written speeches to be corny as hell, I know people out there are going to want a transcription of it, so here goes.

“Vince, we know you’re angry.
Your concern is valid.
After all, last night, you tossed Big Show’s salad.
We beat you up.
You almost kicked the bucket.
If you’re not down with that,
Then we just got two words for you.
Suck it.”
- Triple H, 10:34pm

After that, the DeGens spray painted their letters on the TV Screen and grinned before scampering off.

4) Candice Michele pinned Lita after interference from Mickie James

They’ve really been working on turning Candice Michele into the new Trish these last few weeks. She’s the former heel eye candy that’s now working to be a tough good girl. Unfortunately, I think she’s better suited to be a rule breaker. There’s just a bad girl quality about her that gets lost when you try to make her a grinning goodie two shoes. Heck, she’s the GoDaddy girl, for crying out loud. The other thing that this match illustrated was that WWE isn’t putting all their eggs in one girl’s basket, so to speak. It looks like the battle for the women’s title will have a few names tossed in there. This one came to a close with a win for Candy, thanks to interference from…you guessed it, Frank Stallone. No. Sorry. Actually it was Mickie James. Mickie James.

In the backstage area, Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade are chatting away with their R-Rated partner Edge. Yo, Canada Dry, do you know why Trev and Lance have the advantage tonight? It’s because they weren’t in a TLC or Hell in a Cell match last night! Everyone else in this match was. Not them. Nah ah. They’re fresh like Subway, baby. You can count on the Sunday Night Heaters to get your back, champ. After one final inspirational rally of the troops, Copeland leads Boxcar and Murdoch to the ring. Wagons East!

Commercial Break. Pssst…Wanna buy a book?

5) Edge, Trevor Murdoch, and Lance Cade defeated Degeneration X and John Cena when Michaels was disqualified.

Holy God is Trevor Murdoch ever pale. He’s practically see-through. While I’m glad that Trevor and Lance are being showcased more, I can’t help but think that WWE has really rushed it. They went from nothing to main eventing in like a week. It just seems very quick. The crowd didn’t seem so into them either. They were just sort of indifferent to it and popped for the stars they liked…and chanted “You Screwed Bret” at the one they didn’t. The longer the match went on, the more apparent it became that Garrison and Murdoch needed more exposure prior to this. When you factor in that the audience didn’t like Shawn Michaels all that much, begrudgingly liked John Cena slightly, and wanted to like Edge but couldn’t, it made for almost schizophrenic crowd reactions throughout the match. They booed one guy one minute and cheered him the next. In the end, the fans seemed pretty burnt out as the match came to a close. Who could blame them? It was the exact same ending they had seen in the first match. Oh. Look. Another intentional chairshot DQ. Can’t get enough of those…in the same show. HBK plays the role of Kane and Trevor is Umurdoch. One swoop of the seat earns DX a DQ.

Grand. After the bell, Cena hit Garrison Cade with an F-U and left Edge all alone in the ring. The three baby faces circled him and looked ready to drop the boom. The Boy Toy quietly tuned up his foot and hit the Sweet Chin Music. The R-Rated Superstar stumbled into Hunter Hearst Helmsley’s waiting arms and ate a Pedigree…then, well nothing.

You would think that the WWE Champion would then hit the F-U, right? Right? Yeah. No. It didn’t happen. They played DX’s music. HHH and HBK celebrated while The Marine just sort of walked around the ring like a doof. The three then gave the suck it crotch-chops, cued the DX pyro, and we fade to black.

All in all… Blah.

I say blah because I actually enjoyed last night’s pay-per-view. I was hoping they could take things in a new direction tonight. Nope. Instead we went in the same direction. Not only are we going in the same direction, but we’re jogging in place now. Nothing’s moving forward. It’s just stagnant.

Edge and Cena continue on. McMahons-DX is still alive. Kane-Umaga. Hardy, Nitro, Masters, Crazy, Orton, Carlito. Ah! It’s exactly where we left off.

I really hate no-selling major matches.  If the McMahons are in the hospital after the HIAC, why don't Edge or Cena have a scratch on them after the TLC.  I understand not wanting to keep them off of TV, but would it kill them to wear a gimmicked bandage or something?

As I mentioned, I’m glad that Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade are being featured, but it’s too much too quickly. They needed more of a reintroduction before maineventing Raw. The crowd showed that in their reactions.

Speaking of the main event, I love the little things. Sure, there’s huge political moves by the powers-that-be now and then, but true politics are played out in small doses. What small doses? How about the final move hit on Edge in the main event coming from Triple H? Reading too into it? OK. Fine. How about John Cena closing out Night One of his new title reign by doing the gimmick and pyro of Hunter and Michaels? How about that? If anything, DX should be emulating John’s moves in a show of respect to the new champion. As I said though, it’s a little thing. But sometimes, the less in-your-face the politics are, the more effective they become.

I also can’t complain enough about having two matches feature the same  finish in one night. It’s just lazy. You can’t be bothered to write two separate match endings? If it'snot laziness, then why?

Also, this is just something I've noticed.  How many people named "John" are on this brand?  John Cena, John Coachman, Johnny Nitro, and Johnny of the Spirit Squad.  Seems like a bit much, right?  I'm not even counting John Layfield on Smackdown.  We can't make one of them a Garrison?

As for Shelton Benjamin, I'm still not sure if that's a short term thing or a long term thing.  I can see it becoming a major racism angle.  Then again, I can also see it never being mentioned again.  It just depends on which way the wind blows this week.

So there you go. It was a let-down on a number of levels. It all went downhill once they had Edge insult the crowd and take away the only person they all really wanted to cheer for. Just a blah night. The end.

While I have your ear…or eyes, I should say. Be sure to check out the new audios up at ClubWWI.com. Canadian Bulldog’s live audio on-the-scene at Unforgiven is up and ready for you to listen to. It’s like being there…with a crazy man who calls himself a Bulldog!

You can also listen to the full audio interview Tom Prichard and I conducted with Beautiful Bobby Eaton about his health. Bobby and Tom share some stories and talk about everything from Jim Cornette to the infamous Scaffold Match. Don’t forget that you can access all the uncut interviews over at ClubWWI.com including one hour with Bobby Heenan, Orlando Jordan’s first post WWE interview and the complete archives of Radio Free Insanity. It’s more audio than you can shake a stick at! Hey. Why are you shaking a stick at audio, anyway? What the hell is wrong with you?

One last plug and I’ll let you go. Check out WorldWrestlingInsanity.com’s own “BlackFrancisFan” Michael Da Silva who recently caught up with Colt Cabana in an all new installment of his Indy Interviews. Mike has been churning out some great guests and great questions. Give it a look. You won’t be disappointed.

See you all during the week! Be Well and thanks for sharing my Insanity!