AllHailSmyl

Last year the Canucks had Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo, one could say the best 1 - 2 combo any NHL team could have in net. Great yes. But a distraction and overly expensive - yes. Everyone knew 1 of these goalies would have to be moved for something, anything to end this fiasco and let them both play. Fast forward to today, and not Cory Schneider, not Roberto Luongo, but Eddie Lack is the winner in the starting goalie saga from last year. No offence to Eddie Lack but.....

Gotta actually say a pretty decent Raw tonight, but that should be expected heading into Wrestlemania. Still think the Orton/Batista match the way it stands is a bad idea, but man are they heading for a big make or break moment with the fans in regards to Daniel Bryan. If Triple H beats him in any way at Wrestlemania, it could be worse than the time Nash lost to Hogan via the fingerpoke of doom in terms of fan reaction. Great match though between The Shield and The Wyatt Family. Not sure how it rated compared to their Elimination Chamber match, but lots of great spots in that match. As much as the storylines have sagged recently on Raw, the match quality has been great. Too bad though the teasing of the Shield breakup seems to be confirmed now. Fans in Chicago sure loved them. I usually skip through Diva matches, but did I see Emma do the Tarantula in her match? Tajiri is probably weeping somewhere...

The problem being historically the Canucks have done a very poor job of developing from within, and this goes beyond Gillis.

This makes the most sense, but I wouldn't even open with it. Have Triple H try to further screw Bryan by putting the match 3rd last (before Lesnar/Taker) and have Bryan dead tired in case he wins the match, making the payoff that much sweeter when he wins. If they don't add a stipulation like this, then I vote for having Triple H winning the match and having the fans litter the ring with trash like how every WCW Nitro and PPV from 1999 ended. If Cena is legit hurt with the knee that isn't good. As much as I hate on Cena, not having him at Wrestlemania this year would further weaken an already weak looking card. The only way a straight up Orton/Bootista match would be great is if Steve Austin came out and gave a stunner to both, Hogan comes out and sacrifices his back and gives a leg drop to both, Ric Flair struts to the ring and puts Orton in a figure four leg-lock and Warrior runs out and starts shaking the ropes. If that all happened, they may be able to save the main event.

Let's all pray that another match ends the show. Maybe the Undertaker has one more good Wrestlemania match left in him....

Hopefully it's not Hogan

Maybe he can become a rouge lawyer and be paired up with JTG as Cryme Tyme 2014

Since we're on the road to Wrestlemania, I guess this image is appropriate again:

I've read that Hogan is due to appear the Raw following Elimination Chamber. Don't know if it's true or not, but hopefully he's only going to appear heading into Wrestlemania 30, then be off camera on a Legends Contract following this, or involved in hosting WWE Network programing. I like the guy, but he doesn't need to be involved week-to-week. People are also debating if the latest CM Punk walkout is legit or a work. I can see it legit if the WWE really was serious about him doing another program with Triple H for WM 30 after he expected the main event. In reality, WWE should've given Punk/Bryan the spotlight at WM, their matches a few years ago were great. Punk probably would've been canned for finally doing the Pepsi Plunge, a move I'm sure WWE has banned him from doing.

Sting coming would be a signing 10+ years too late for WWE, but I really believe if they did sign him, Sting would probably have enough in the tank for a short Wrestlemania run. For a guy who has nothing left to prove, to go out with a big match at Wrestlemania would probably be a great way to go. Nevermind that right now he's probably a rare candidate for the WWE HoF and yet has never worked a match with the WWE.

My Royal Rumble reaction: And my Raw reaction from tonight:

I loved Mae Young because she seemed up to do anything her body was capable of doing. I still remember being just shocked out of my mind when Bubba powerbombed her through a table. The whole time I was waiting for someone to come out for the save as I was sure no one that age would go through a table. When it happened, I just about freaked. Her backstage antics of being the horny old grandma were always priceless, and her segment a few years ago when she called Lay-Cool sluts was awesome. I just hope one day I can get that image of her and Mark Henry in bed together out of my head.

Awesome, I'd be interested to see how they plan to lay out the Commodore for a wrestling show. Seen many concerts there, seems like an interesting idea. Anyone ever seen Scotty Mac? Seems like he's been with ECCW for a long time, so either he's good and wants to be here or he's just not good enough to go that next step? Good to also see Nichole Mattews (local, half of the Canadian Ninja's tag team) is the lone female in a triple tag match. +1 for wanting to see Peter Chao go through a table.

Apparently Mae Young has been taken off life support. Sad to see a legend go, she always seemed eager to be a part of the show even though she was mainly just comic relief the past 15 years.

I'd say Rumble return, but I can't see Hogan going over the top rope given his fragile state. If they induct Savage into the HoF I'd like to see Hogan induct him in and have his brother accept for him.

First post as well for me in a while here. Kind of got pissed off enough over the whole Bryan/Orton angle and how unwilling they were to strap Bryan for more than a day even though he was uber-over with the crowds and had the in ring skills to back it up. Kind of disapointed it doesn't seem like they'll fix it either with a Wrestlemania payday, but nonetheless... Always tape the Old School Raw's as I get a kick seeing a lot of the guys I grew up watching. Piper was on this time around compared to the last few where he seemed drunk and could care less about what he said. Always great to see The Million Dollar Man, and I didn't even mind the Too Cool/Rikishi reunion (Scotty didn't do too bad). But like you all, great to see Jake Roberts get a small reward for the hard work he's put in to turning his life around. Credit to DDP for helping him out, and even though we didn't get a DDT (I'm sure that would've put Ambrose into a full boner) it was nice to see him. Probably best he doesn't compete at the Rumble but at least he can go out on a high note now compared to his indy appearances. Hope we see a few more legends return for the Rumble. No matter how bad the WWE is, that has to be my favorite match of the year.

A: Brazil, Croatia, Cameroon, Mexico B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras F: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea

That should be great. It's really a sad story with the Von Erich's, lots of promise from many members of that family - David had a shot at the NWA title before he died while Kerry had a run as Intercontinental Champion in the WWE with an amputated foot. Should be a good watch, the 30 for 30 series is pretty interesting!

The Commodore is a great venue for concerts, but I'm not sure if the layout would work for a wrestling event no matter what the size. Hope Nicole Mattews is involved!

Incorrect. Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase was the main event of Wrestlemania 4.

As per my post about the idea of a WWE Championship tournament, here's Wrestlemania 4 and Survivor Series 98 if you haven't seen them already: Wrestlemania 4 also starts with a battle royale that features Bret Hart turning face after the match. Besides the tournament and opening battle royale, it also features The Ultimate Warrior vs. Hercules, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. The Honky Tonk Man for the IC Title, The Islanders and Bobby Heenan vs. The British Bulldogs and Koko B. Ware & Demolition vs. Strike Force for the Tag Belts. Wrestlemania 4 is also the longest Wrestlemania to date, running at about 3 and a half hours. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv-ey-AUMM4 Survivor Series 98 runs at a normal time for a PPV, so there are only 2 non tournmanet matches on the card. The first is Sable vs. Jacqueline for the Woman's Championship, the other is a Triple Threat Tag Match featuring The New Age Outlaws, The Headbangers and Mark Henry & D'Lo Brown for the Tag Titles.

Wow, the last time I went to a house show it was at the Agrodome, all they had was a curtain. Mind you, last time I went to a house show Diesel was WWF champion and defended the title against Yokozuna and the main event was Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall against The British Bulldog. No Bret Hart, no Shawn Michaels, no Owen Hart. Haven't been to a WWE event since Raw was last here in 03/04.

Some thoughts: Odd how when they have Cena coming back they have him going for the World Title...I guess they want to elevate that title up again, or they're pushing him back too soon and are concerned he can't go full time yet. Something tells me that if the WWE Title situation isn't resolved by the next PPV, a good old fashioned tournament will be coming up at Survivor Series this year for the belt. I can only recall 2 full tournaments for the WWE Title (see Wrestlemania 4 & Survivor Series 98) and I enjoyed watching both. Both times the heavy favorite didn't win (Hogan at WM 4 was knocked out in his first match, Austin at SS 98 was defeated in the Semi-Finals). It's also a fun way to give mid-card guys a "shot" at the title when they really wouldn't get any other chance at a title match. If they do this though, I'd expect Orton or Bryan to make the finals, but not against each other. Loving the Rhodes family segments right now, really hoping they eventually build this to have a Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust match that is years overdue. I think it would be a great way for Dustin to cap off his career to have a meaningful fued with his younger brother and I'd expect it to bring the best out of both of them. Dad would probably love it! Am I wrong for hoping Bob Backlund is the special referee?

Botchamania 237 - Featuring Night of Champions, Armageddon 03 and some Raw for WWE, Wrestle War 89 and random WCW, some TNA and indies... Dailymotion link as the Youtube version was pulled after a few hours http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x157mmp_botchamania-237_sport?search_algo=2