So once again I didn’t get invited to that barbecue. Luckily we were able to tape and transcribe it for the Raw Insanity. So enough about them, let’s talk about you. How was your Memorial Day? Did you have a cookout? Did you light fireworks? Did you send in your application to be Raw’s new GM? No? Well then you missed the boat, cause tonight Mr. McMahon is going to name a new leader of the Monday Night Brand? Who will it be? Dusty Rhodes? Shane McMahon? Lou Gossett Jr? Cheech Marin? Emmanuel Lewis? Ricki Lake? Hillbilly Jim? The drummer from Flock of Seagulls? Elmo? Lizzie Grubman? Bea Arthur? Who knows? We’re all going to have to be surprised. Lucky for you, we don’t have much longer to wait. It’s Monday Night. It’s 9 o’clock. So Rose, Blanche, and Ma, you best get that cheesecake ready, we’re gonna eat it Raw!

WWE dedicates tonight’s Memorial Day show to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler both have seats at ringside and they're ready to call all the action…or non-action, whatever the case may be. Both are stoked as a joke about tonight’s card. We have Triple H facing off with Kenny of the Spirit Squad. Lawler wonders if Hunter will "try to kill Kenny" tonight. I laughed. (JG Note: The first time. He said it like four more times. Needless to say, it lost it’s humor fairly quickly.) Then we learned that in the tradition of Lincoln-Douglas, Nixon-Kennedy, and Nowinski-Steiner, Paul E. Heyman will go face-to-crazy-beard with Mick Foley for a live debate. Put on your debate hats, kids. We’re gonna do some debatin’! Now let’s bring out the swinging cat that runs this crazy joint. Vinnie Mac, shake a leg, daddio!

The show starts off with Vince McMahon’s theme song. The chairman is all smiles as he swaggers his way to the ring and takes a microphone. Now listen here, folks. Vinnie Mac may be cheery tonight, but it wasn’t like that a few weeks ago. Know why? Well, VKM had to bare witness to something disturbing. He had to sit back and watch Triple H "accidentally" bash in the head of his son Shane with a sledgehammer. Oh the horror. Shane-o Mac ended up on his Shane-o back and Hunter Hearst Ooopsie claimed it wasn’t done on purpose. The crowd responds to all this by chanting obscenities at the chairman. Big Mac demands that they "shudup" and then tells his son, Shane, that he loves him. Get over those migraines soon, kiddo. We’re all pulling for you. Don’t ask what we’re pulling. Just know that we’re pulling.

Then from there, we have the Shane Michaels situation. That’s the reason for Big Daddy Mac’s jovial nature here tonight. Vinnie says that HBK is "no more." Then he makes a slashing motion on his throat and makes the sound of a dying seal. For a second, I thought he was having a seizure. Luckily, he was just being over-dramatic for effect. What could make him so giddy that he’d imitate a terminally ill animal? Why it was the Boy Toy’s dismantling at the hands of the Spirit Squad last week. That’s what. Vincenzo gave the order and the boys in green took care of business. Thanks to a steel chair, The Heartbreak Kid became the Kneebreak Kid and found himself on the shelf thanks to the Cheerleading World Order.

On that note, the owner asks for a word with the surgery-needing Michaels. At this point, things seem to really drag. Vince offers the injured Rocker a job setting up the ring. Why not, Shawn? Be a ring boy. Nothing to worry about. Pat Patterson doesn’t work here anymore. It’s all good. Know what’s not all good, though? Triple H. That’s what. Sideburns McGameface had a job last week. He was supposed to slam his sledgehammer into the rapidly growing forehead of Shawn Michaels. Instead, he chose to turn his violence towards the Spirit Boys instead. What the frig?! Vince can’t believe that one of his superstars would defy his orders right in his very own ring…even though, you know, it’s pretty much been the basis of every feud he’s had for the last eight years.

Who do you think you are, Trippie? You think you’re super-awesome? Huh? Well, due to all your mishaps, you’ve been put into a position to prove it. Tonight your gamy ass is heading into the ring with the 20 year old French Phenom…Kenny Doane of the Spirit Squad. With that, Linda’s old man starts to leave the ring. Suddenly, he realizes that he’s had what we call "a senior moment." He’s nearly forgotten to name a new General Manager. Who might that new GM be? Well…it’s….

No one. Yup. No one. Even though they said we’d have one, we don’t yet. Instead the chairman chooses to name a new "Executive Assistant." Who is it?

The Coach.

Yeah. The Coach.  No GM announcment.  Great. The only notable thing from his appearance here is that he’s playing his role less goofy now. He’s dressed in a suit and isn’t wearing a Kango or pair of sunglasses. Instead, the Montel Williams-looking Coach handles himself in a more respectable way. Rather than hurling insults, he makes matches. You want to know what those matches are? Well, John Cena is going to face "a man he’s never faced before." Coachman leaves it to us to "speculate." (JG Note: Bea Arthur.) In addition to that coolness, Johnny Coachface declares that there’s a pay-per-view after the ECW One. That pay-per-view is called "Vengeance" and it costs $800. We’re going to need a #1 contender for that event, right? Well how’s about if we name that contender tonight? How’s about if that contender wins a – wait for it - #1 contender match? Sounds good to me and the new EA to VKM. He makes the match. It’s going to be Edge versus Big Show. The winner goes on to face the WWE Champion at Vengeance. You know what Vengeance is, right? It’s the pay-per-view that has a big picture of Edge and John Cena on the poster. Yeah. That one. One last match is made between Kane and Shelton Benjamin before Coachly gives Vince a heartfelt "thank you" for the opportunity he’s been given. His boss responds by screwing up Coachman’s name and sending him backstage to fetch Triple H. Once Montel spins around and goes off to do his errands, The Daddy of the Mac takes over the floor and announces that the night’s festivities will begin now. He says we’re going to start the show with "a big bang."

Kane, Mr., McMahon just cued you. He said "Big Bang."

Oh…you sure you don’t need me to rape anyone, because, you know, I’m down.

1) Kane vs. Shelton Benjamin was declared a no contest

This match only served to continue a problem with Shelton Benjamin for the last few weeks. He’s being pushed as the Intercontinental Champion, yet he has no real conflict of his own. He got plenty of TV time when his "momma" was being featured, yet they let him slide when she left. Rather than capitalize on the initial interest she drew to his new character, WWE allowed him to become worse than an afterthought. He became an afterthought with a title belt. It makes no sense. He could still work matches like this. I’m not saying he can’t be instrumental in advancing other people’s storylines. I’m saying that he should still have issues of his own. It cheapens the title not to. Even his title win was done in a way that it served to further Triple H’s storylines more than any of his own.  As for this match, it actually looked as though The Big Red Machine had Shelly B. primed for a pin when all went awry. He stalked the young champion and went for his (and lots of other people’s) patented chokeslam. Then the May 19^th Megamix played on the PA system.

The Kane mask appeared on the Titan Tron. Then…Kane appeared on the ramp. What, what, what?  It was the masked Kane from 1997, right down to the full-body Big Red suit. It was pretty surprising and cool, except for the fact that the Kane mask was complete with a long, black, curly wig. It was about twice the size that the Monster’s hair ever was. It looked like Gene Simmons’s hair. Anyway, the Big Red Clone confronted his bald counterpart in the ring. Bald Movie Star Kane seemed to not believe his own eyes. To prove he was real, Kane II hit Kane I with a chokeslam and left him laying in the ring while his music played. The segment was OK, but the big wig kinda made it look like the Fake Kane seem like a guy in a Halloween costume.

Commercial Break. Note to Burger King – I don’t like to picture my Whopper Junior with a family. I’m just funny that way. I like my food to be food. I don’t want to kill someone’s son all for the sake of lunch.

Backstage, Executive Assistant John Coachman is on a Colombo kick. He’s searching the scene for Triple H and can’t seem to find him anywhere. Carlito swears that he’s unaware of Hunter’s whereabouts and John accepts that. Apparently Coach is in the broken English section of the building because as soon as Carly walks off, Armando Alesandro Estrada walks in. He rolls the r’s for the new EA and offers his support to Mister McMahon. J.C. appreciates that, Savio, but he’s got bigger fish to fry. He needs to find Mr. H and he needs to do it now! Coach runs off and all appears to be OK. Everyone’s fine. No big huge men in pajamas looking to thrust into anyone’s ass…

Uh oh. Spoke too soon. Viscera grabs AAE by the collar and pushes him against the wall. He leans into him Hedienreich-style and delivers a message. You sent Umaga into Mabel’s business, bee-otch?! Well, tonight the World’s Largest Love Machine is calling out your Samoan Bulldozer. Send Samu to that ring and watch the Man on a Mission make an example out of him!

From one butt-lover to another, we leave Vis for Vince and join the chairman in his "office." Big Daddy welcomes Triple H into the room and shakes hands with the King of Kings. Helmsley asks his wife’s pop if there’s a problem. What up, Vincenzo? You got ish with Hunter? Seems like you do. After all, you made Big Show and Edge the top two contenders, right? That’s like – whoa. Not cool. McMahon claims that he did that because of Triple’s problems with the Spirit Squad recently. Gameboy is having none of it, though. He tells his boss that he has no problem taking out the Spiriters. He’ll do it again if he has to. This intrigues VKM. How’s about if we make your match special tonight? How about if we put a Squad member in every corner? Hunt looks surprised and asks, "A Lumberjack match?" (JG Note: For some reason, one guy in the arena laughs really hard. It’s like a hacking wheezy coughing laugh that must have been pretty loud to be picked up as clearly as it is on audio.) The evil owner corrects his evil son-in-law. It’s not a "lumberjack match." It’s a "Spirit Jack Match." HHH professes that he’ll destroy all of the "Spirit Jack…Offs." (JG Note: . Triple H likes to say "Jack-Off." That’s his thing. I still remember that promo he did with DX long ago where they all said "Jack-Off" about fifteen times each ) Before leaving the room, the K.o.K. threatens to bring a sledgehammer to the ring with him tonight. Vince stares at him as he strolls off. Uh oh.  If I were Kenny, I’d bring a big railroad spike to the ring with me. Then, maybe Hunter might get confused and forget why he brought the sledgehammer. Hey, it’s worth a shot.

Commercial Break. Robot Slaves have arrived. They’re at Radio Shack.

2) Umaga pinned Viscera after a Samoan Spike

Jim Ross says that Umaga’s reputation is getting "larger than Barry Bonds’ cap size."  Nice.  You know, I don’t care what anyone says. Maga is money. He’s big. He’s different. He’s an ass-kisser. His name is fun to say. What more could you want? If his name was "Charlie," you probably wouldn’t care as much. It’s not. His name is Umaga. He has a big design on his face and metal balls sticking out of his nose. Even better, he named his thumb. He calls it "The Samoan Spike" and uses it to beat people like Viscera….like he did here. Oooooooooomaga. Namaste.

Recap of See No Evil starring Kane - not the masked one, the bald one.

Torrie Wilson, her dog, Beth Phoenix, and Trish Stratus are headed to the ring in search of a fight. Good luck, girls. 1,2,3…Team Punishment!

Commercial Break. You know what I heard? I head that Tinactin isn’t really tough. It’s just tough-acting. John Madden told me. Yeah. "Tough-acting." What a poser.

3) Torrie Wilson and Beth Phoenix defeated Candice Michele and Victoria when Beth pinned Candice

People have been asking me if there’s anything I think WWE has done well recently. After all, I’m the guy that bitches and moans all the time. You wanna know what I think they’ve done well? The women’s division. Ever since that mass termination after the initial Diva Search, WWE has focused much more strongly on the Diva-ision. That’s not to say that the crowd has loved everything that they’ve done. It just means that, unlike many other stories, WWE has followed most of these conflicts all the way through. Also, they’ve finally identified gimmicks for most of the girls on the roster. The beginning of this contest proved that. Each girl did their schtick and they all played off of each other. Candy dropped her robe and kissed Victoria. Vickie then turned and kissed Mickie, who fell to the ground maniacally giggling. It was a nice touch and a reminder of how these women have gone from generic names to actual characters. If they’d mix them in with the men a bit more, it could really be profitable. They’ve done a stellar job of creating personas for everyone involved. What’s more, the women have picked up their game in the ring too. The final kicker is that this match helped to boost a newcomer. Beth Phoenix scored the upset pin on Candice after a sit-down slam. Smart move. Good match.

Still to come: The Champ versus a big black blob with question marks on his chest. Then we get Triple H against Kenny with all of O-Town at ringside serving as Apple Spirit Jacks. Mmmm. Now I’m in the mood for Apple Jacks. Watch this commercial.

Commercial Break. "With Herculiner – The Tough Come Easy." So drink it and ace your finals.

WWE dedicates the second hour of their show to the men and women in the US Armed Forces too.

Back in the arena, Jerry Lawler is badmouthing ECW on the house mic. It wasn’t the most biting "shoot" of all time. He called them "wanna-bes." Yeah – like the Spice Girl song. There was one guy in the crowd who really seemed to like The King’s rant. Then again, he was also seated right behind Jerry and pretty sure that he was going to be on camera. Once the speech ended, Rob Van Dam came out to sit alongside the announcers and call commentary. He wasn’t pleased with Lawler’s comments and let him know it. Rob even raises his voice a little.

Hey there, Johnny Nitro.

HELP!

4) WWE Champion John Cena defeated Johnny Nitro via STFU submission

The big surprise here tonight is that Nitro is now on Raw. The other surprise is that the crowd was really behind John Cena. I think the cooldown of Cena-hatred is on its way. After a while, enough is enough. Making matters worse for the situation is that WWE isn’t featuring him on TV as much. The real reason why people are sick of the Champ is because his overscripted silliness is overdone each week. When he’s not featured prominently, he’s less annoying. If the company is trying to get him over as a hated hero, the new approach may be too low key for the masses. Melina and Johnny had a pretty high profile debut here against the Champion. The only drawback is that it involved a tap-out in his first match. How J.N.’s booked after this will really tell the tale of how he ends up in the end. Right now, the future's wide open.

After the official word, Rob Van Dam climbed to the apron to confront Cena. His attention diverted. Van Dam seemed easy prey for a Nitro attack. Not so fast, Tough Enough Boy. The Doctor of Thuganomics sidestepped his charge and sent the former M-n-Mer barreling into Mr. Money in the Bank. The crowd cheered and the segment ended. The whole thing was good to see, but played out strangely. When it was over, Rob seemed more like a heel than I thought they’d want him to. Ouch. Good one, Robby. Dude…like whoa - you got totally bitched out. Man. What a buzzkill.

Commercial Break. The Omen is coming to theaters. It’s just like the first one except that the original didn’t cost you $75 to bring your family to see.

Back from the break, Paul Heyman and Mick Foley are already in the ring. They have face-to-face podiums, each with their respective company’s logo. Mick is adorned by WWE letters while Paul E. is sporting the Extreme Championship Wrestling banner. After his obligatory Melina mention, Mankind tears into Heyman. You know, Paul, you got this One Night Stand thing coming up and you’re spending ample time doing PR work for Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk. You call them hardcore, but you call Foley a whore? Hey man, you can’t call Dude Love a prostitute. Sure he sold out, but everyone does. The only thing that Cactus Jack did was go from a small time pimp like you to a big time pimp like Vince McMahon. That's it.  It’s like going from Eddie Arcadian to Don King.  Nothing more, nothing less. You’re just S.O.L., as Mike Sanders would say. That doesn’t mean that Mr. Bang Bang doesn’t have well wishes for your new ECW, though. Au contraire:

"Other than that, Paul. I wish you luck with your charming little band of pot-smoking, porn addicted, cheap, second rate Mick Foley rip-offs. Best of luck to you!"
                             - 10:13pm, Mick Foley

Paul Heyman says that he misses that locker room and then turns the tables, so to speak, on Mankind. Biting words, Foley…from a Terry Funk impersonator. Snap. Cactus gives the speech about respecting Funk. (JG Note: You know, the thing that the hot-dog bit was meant to parody.) He loves Terrible Terry and Tommy Dreamer! Terry’s a legend, but he, Tommy, and all the rest didn’t have the nutballs to do with his Mickship did. To this, Paul E. asks what he could mean. Do you mean that they didn’t have the guts to pull a sock out of their crotch and make Vince McMahon laugh? Ooooo…double snap. Good Ol’ Sock-crotch gets even angrier, but is then caught off guard with this question:

"Tell me, Mick. How many shots did you get at the WWE title before you pulled the sock out of your pants for Vince McMahon?"
                                    - 10:14pm, Paul Heyman

Oof. Mickey replies that Heyman's heroes all had nothing more than "bingo hall balls." They didn’t have the guts to move on. Making things clearer, Mick explains that he became a legend by stepping out of his "comfort zone" into the great wide unknown WWE world where he become one of the biggest stars this business has ever seen. Then came the kicker line:

"You know why you hate me, Paul? You don’t hate me because I sold out because everyone left you eventually. You hate me because I had the audacity to realize on my own volition what everybody did sooner or later. The road from ECW went only one of four ways. You left there either a drunk, a drug addict, a criminal, or a corpse!"
                                          - 10:15pm, Mick Foley

Bam.  Stunned, Paul E. responds that M.F. doesn't get it.  Heyman hates Foley for selling out to Edge and Lita, not for selling out ECW. Keeping in the worked environment, Heyman goes on about "the new ECW." He says it’s "the new vision for ECW." He says it won’t just be about tables, piledriving women, and barbed wire. Paulie says, "Sure, we’ll still have that." But he says we’ll have something more. (JG Note: Already we’re getting the warning signs. I can’t even begin to imagine how this is all going to turn out.) It’ll be the new vision. You want an example? Well, how about this - Vince McMahon has granted his brand, ECW, one draft pick from both Raw and Smackdown. Yeah. That's right, Sockboy. Paul’s Dangerous Alliance gets one top "stud," as the announcers all call them, from each brand. To this, Cactus lets out a big cactusy laugh.

He knows who you’re taking from Raw, RuPaul. You’re taking Rob Van Dam, right? After all he was always a "high flier." With that, Foley makes a pot smoking motion with his lips. Of course, he loved ECDub. He got to do a little puff-puff-give up in that mother and you didn’t stop him, Paulio. In response, Heyman says that Van Dam will defeat John Cena for the WWE title at ECW One Night Stand. Then, he’ll redo the Shane Douglas-Dennis Carluzzo thing and rename the title the "ECW World Title." Vengeance poster or no Vengeance poster, you can bank on it! Paulie says that’s nothing compared to the goals of his Smackdown draft. Again, Mankind cuts off his former pimp. He asks if it’s some psychotic chair-wielding maniac. To this, Paul Kennedy Heyman tells Mick that he’s wrong. This draft pick is someone who epitomizes the "new ECW." He’s a former World Champion. He’s an Olympic Gold Medallist. He hates in-ring crucifixions. He’s Kurt Angle! It’s true. It’s extremely true!

Kurt Angle shows up and everyone cheers. He tears right into Mick Foley with punches. When he gets tired of punching, he starts to squish Foley’s nose. After he gets tired of the nose-squishing, he picks up his hardcore foe and lands an Angle Slam. Well, actually, I guess I should say he landed an EXTREME Angle slam. The Patriot’s theme song rings over the loudspeaker while Kurt and his blue teeth scream in the ring.

After the break, it’s Big Show against Edge. The winner gets to be the #1 contender at the pay-per-view with Edge and John Cena on its poster. Good luck, Big Show.

Commercial Break. Date Movie comes out on DVD tomorrow. Be bored in your own home. What fun.

5) Number One Contender Match: Edge pinned Big Show after a Spear

This match was pretty blah. With the prize of a title match hanging in the balance, you’d expect it to have more "oomph" than it did. Then again, I felt as if they’d really given the audience a lot to digest tonight. They’ve jammed more info into tonight’s show than they have in a while. There were a few good spots here. One that stands out was when Leets grabbed Show’s big foot and tried to trip him. He yanked her back into the ring with a pull of his leg. That was pretty cool. Edgar sold as good as he always does and was flopping around in the corner when The Showster ran at him. Copeland ducked and hit a drop toe hold that was so powerful it made the whole screen turn purple for a few seconds. After the customary ref bump, AC retrieved a chair from ringside and Leetles hit a low blow. Tired of being hit in the privates, Biggie grabbed her by the throat and threatened a chokeslam. Edge rushed in with a chair and slammed it into B.S.’s jaw...all behind the official’s back. The Giant stumbled and found himself Speared for his trouble. 1,2,3…Team Copeland!

Christian Cage’s brother and his girlfriend backstep up the aisle while Big Show sits in the ring and sweats like a broken water fountain. Quick! Go to commercial before we have a Big Show Flood!

Retro-Commercial Break. I pity the fool that doesn’t play with my dolls.

Smackdown Rebound: JBL lost the US Title to Lashly and then quit the brand after failing to defeat Rey Mysterio. Bradshaw says he doesn't mind leaving his spot on Smackdown as he wants to focus more time on his first love – tormenting young performers until they quit the comapny.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley is trotting along backstage with his trusty sledgehammer in hand. Suddenly, his real-life father-in-law, Vince McMahon, stops him. Big Daddy Mac asks the Game if he can look at his hammer, which he refers to as his "friend." After trying to force some small talk, Vinnie tells his daughter’s muttonchopped husband that he has faith in him tonight against Spirit Squad Member Kenny. In fact, Vince thinks that you should leave your "friend" here with him. You’re not going to need it. After all, you're the Game and you're that damn good, no? Vinnie then takes the weapon and runs away.  Poor Trips can do nothing but watch sadly while his boss-in-law walks off with his stolen sledgehammer. It was like the scene in Mr. Mom where Michael Keaton takes away his son’s woobie.

Commercial Break. Who told USA Network that they should play the same movie three nights in a row? I can’t imagine an idea sounding worse than that. Why not just put on a loop of Growing Pains episodes and take a nap. No need to come up with ideas or even go to the office. People like TV, no matter what’s on it. Yay! TV!

WWE vs. ECW Head-to-Head is coming to USA on June 7^th. Our own Miss Mallory Mahling will be covering the show right here on the site. Mallory actually started her time writing as a reviewer of the "old ECW" on TNN. It’s like a homecoming for her, in some ways. Well, except that the millionaire that they stood against now owns the home. But, you know, other than that it’s like almost completely the same.

6) Triple H pinned Kenny Doane after a Pedigree

Triple H was far and away a babyface here. The crowd was really behind him and he held his own like a true good guy would, until the numbers advantage won out. The fivesome pounded away on the former DXer each time he fell from the ring. Even when he didn’t fall from the ring, they reached in and took shots at him. On numerous occasions, the Gamy One seemed dead in the water. However, he stopped all those thoughts with a well timed DDT that planted Kenny like a…well, a railroad spike (JG Note: As mentioned earlier.) The battle continued back and forth from there, but Hunter Hearst Husband eventually got the victory with his trademarked Pedigree. He gets the pinfall on Ken and stands tall as the winner. Bow down to the Game and suck it.

After the bell, the Squad beat up Triple H. They pounded away on the Cerebral Assassin and slammed his face into the announce table at ringside. As the clock ticked past the 11:05pm Tivo cutoff point, Hunter crawled to a spot at ringside where he had hidden his trusty pet Sledgehammer. He slammed his friend into all the cheerleaders and looked to be on top of the world. Well, until Daddy came home…

Vince McMahon arrives on the ramp and congratulates his son-in-law. Good deal, Buster Brown. McMahon is Mcproud of you. Now how’s about your assignment for next week? You wanna know what it is?  Well check this - How about making you a card-carrying member of a certain club? That’s right. Let’s put the King of Kings in the "Mr. McMahon Kiss My Ass Club!"  (JG Note:  Oh.  So that's how they do things in their family.)  Vinnie grins. Helmsley glares. The screen fades to black.

All in all…good show tonight. Packed. If anything, it may have offered too many angles given the uneventful episodes we’ve had for a while. Regardless, it’s better to have too many good things than none at all.

Johnny Nitro and Melina both had a mixed debut. On one hand, it was a high profile appearance against the WWE Champion. On the other hand, he tapped out in his first match. Long term, I think he’ll be OK, with his only really obstacle being Edge, who’s act with Lita is similar to MN. Then again, if Copeland plays in ECW for a while, the Raw spot would be wide open for Melina and Johnny to run with the ball. I’d love to see it happen. They both have a ton of potential.

I’m torn on the Kane-Kane thing. The obvious drawback is that it was already done with Undertaker-Undertaker. That turned out to be a monumental mistake that left the Summerslam 1994 crowd stunned and asleep. Although, Taker had been off TV for a while prior to this match. Kane-o hasn’t been. The audience may feel more connected with him and, I guess, care more. You know what I mean? I don’t know. I hope that the Big Red Faker ends up unmasked at some point to be revealed as a future foe, instead of a hokey gimmick that’s supposed to be an escaped part of Kane’s soul or something. That would really bite the big one. Given the past storyline history of Katie Vick’s prom date, I wouldn’t doubt it.

I thought the Heyman-Foley segment was done really well. It explained enough that a casual fan won’t be lost. The only scary thing is the way everyone is referring to the "new vision of ECW." Most people aren’t craving a "new vision" for ECW. If you have a "new vision," you should use it for, well, something new. Duh. ECW stood for something. It shouldn’t be redone any different than what worked for it the first time around. If you want an updated brand lead by Paul E, then that’s fine. Give him a brand and name it something new. It doesn’t make sense to introduce a product with name recognition and then turn it into something other than what it’s recognized for.

That being said, I’m glad to see Kurt Angle as a part of it. Angle needs ECW and the brand needs him. He’s a big name that will have the chance to work with some new people. If you're going to start a new brand, you can't get much better of a draft pick than Angle.

The GM thing felt like a bait-and-switch in some cases. I was looking forward to someone being named. A watered-down Coachman with a suit and made-up job title doesn’t really seem like a proper substitute for the promise of a new General Manager, does it?

Finally, we’re left with the wonder of Triple H joining the Butt Club next week. It’s another case of Vince McMahon basing his entire feud on the fact that he’s a d*ck for no reason. All his storylines tend to follow the same patterns and have the same themes. With this conflict, they could have done so much. There’s so many directions they could have taken Hunter-McMahon.  Instead, they do the same old same old. It feels like a mistake.

That does it for me. Good show tonight. If you caught it, you probably dug it. Thanks again for clicking, guys. Also, thanks for supporting the book and everything we do at the site. It’s much appreciated. Be well.

Contact James:  James @WorldWrestlingInsanty.com