theFRANCHISE

It started on RAW when Nexus chose not to attack him, and they said during a promo that they'd consider having him join Nexus instead. I think that's where it started, I forgot.

Spoiler tags are fine. It's "Spoiler" and "/spoiler" (replace the quotation marks with brackets)

That's why I put the spoiler tags there. From now on, NO SPOILERS for shows that have yet to air! Granted, I know FF is behind on some weeks because he watches the shows on DVR, but it's much worse to ruin a show that has yet to air than a show that has already aired but someone isn't caught up on yet.

Anyone else bothered by Kane's entrance theme? I'm confused when the pyro hits and then the intro starts, rather than the old days when there'd be the intro and then the pyro when the percussion hits. The familiar riffs of Kane's old themes are absent and I'm never really sure where the theme picks up. It's like they got lazy in re-working his theme after the license ran up for the Finger Eleven-performed rendition.

Last night's show was a waste of two hours. I'm not excited for SummerSlam at all. Not even worth watching, if you didn't see it; just read the recaps.

They found better things to do than watch wrasslin' along with us.

I'll be tweeting my thoughts on the show in-progress rather than hitting up this thread regularly. I'll still stop in, but i'll likely be back at the end of the show with my final thoughts.

Damn, you got me.

I don't think it's true since MVP and Rey Mysterio are still wearing gloves. If it's true, though, this should only affect a handful of guys (no pun intended). We'll see tonight if it's true if Michael Tarver, Goldust, or R-Truth aren't wearing their gloves (they're the only RAW superstars I can think of that wear gloves.)

That serves no purpose in further the storyline, though, if Bret isn't even guaranteed to stay with the company for the duration of the angle. Plus, as much as there'd be lapses in logic for Cena turning heel and being revealed as the mastermind behind Nexus, there'd be an even bigger gap in logic for Bret to be the mastermind or leader of Nexus after their assault on him and the incident with the car.

I didn't catch SmackDown (didn't really care to), but I watched Kane's promo from last week...mannnn, that was probably the best promo of his career. Sure, that's not saying much for a guy who didn't do much talking with his gimmick, but it was simply captivating. The intensity had me sold and showed me that Kane has some acting chops if he really was given a chance. Now that he's champ, he'll have to prove that he's not a fluke on the mic.

I can see three men winning the Rumble: Kofi Kingston, The Miz, and Chris Jericho, for all the reasons listed above. However, I'd rather not see The Miz be the first guy to fail to cash in his briefcase; rather, I want him to become champion ASAP because I think the kid is that ready for the big time. Going a little outside the box, I'd still like to see Christian finally get over the hump in WWE and win a world title in the company, so having him win the Rumble and go on to face Edge in an epic encounter at WrestleMania would make sense, too. Even though a lot of the younger fans don't know about their past, there could be things in the coming months that could help them get up to speed...like an E&C reunion! (Yes, wishful thinking, I know...)

The only problem is, with so many established big names, there'd be no room for the young guys to rub elbows with the champions and ever be built up as legitimate world title contenders. The purpose of the brand split was to allow more TV time for the younger guys because there were just too many big names under one roof after WCW and ECW were both acquired. Though there was much early criticism (and rightfully so) that the brand split only diluted the product, I think both brands have been built up enough to where they have their own followings and have many more legitimate contenders from both brands COMBINED than if there were a unified champion.

So, I'm a little disappointed they cut the on-air debut of new SmackDown Diva AJ Lee (formerly April Jeanette) -- I looked her up and I was floored. She may be my new favorite Diva...seems like she can wrestle, too, since her finisher is the Shining Wizard, which isn't the easiest of strike-based moves to pull off. Just the pure fact that she's a 5'2" cutie with a great smile won me over, though. More importantly than that, we need Divas that can wrestle!

I'm not sure they can stretch it past September. That might explain why they're keeping it exclusively on RAW, as having Nexus do a beatdown 2-3 shows a week would make the angle run its course faster. Limiting it to just one show (and the occasional NXT appearance) helps to stretch it out.

Even though there is still the possibility of a good payoff at SummerSlam, last night's angle was still extremely lacking. Team Cena was largely lackluster and disappointing beyond belief. Bret Hart's return got no reaction out of me at all. Cena's acting was atrocious and his mic delivery was less than effective. I'm just hoping that the obviousness of the angle was intentional, and that the payoff will be worth it. Anything less than a Cena heel turn or a Triple H return would be disappointing. I feel as if last night was one of those nights, however, where WWE should've gambled by living up to the hype of the "big surprise;" the temporary boost in ratings would allow WWE to drum up additional interest in SummerSlam, giving them a platform on which they could pull out all the stops in the build before the PPV with more eyes glued to the set.

That was disappointing as hell...more thoughts after I get home from work.

Even though the question was verbally raised by Lawler on commentary (making it almost obvious that he WON'T be turning heel), I think that it'd still be great shock value to make it happen anyway. It's the symbolism of the moment that would make it shocking, rather than the actual result itself. But, I can see Cena punking out and doing his whole "I never give up and I never back down" spiel and going ape in the ring, blah blah blah. Boring.

I have to admit, I LOL'ed at the viral Gilette commercial with Cena jumping out of the bathroom stall and yelling "THE CHAMP IS HERE!"

Looks like Zack Ryder started wearing regular trunks instead of that stupid thing with the one pant-leg. Still doesn't change the fact that he's done nothing significant since breaking away from Curt Hawkins.

Nahhhh, I won't admit that. Every time I see him on my TV, I'm screaming for him to get off my TV. Interesting how they're showing a SummerSlam rewind of SummerSlam 1998...the same event I referenced last night that began the star-making push for both The Rock and Triple H, just as last night's match was the star-making push for The Miz.

I normally don't mind R-Truth, but I'm mad at him for ruining what could've been a great moment, having Miz be a double-champion! Dammit! On a related note, I love the crowd reaction for Miz attempting to cash in the briefcase. 1) It demonstrates how over Miz is; and 2) it shows how little the crowd cares for Sheamus. That's not heel heat on Sheamus, that's go-away heat.

Miz is ready, regardless of when he cashes in that briefcase. He's already got the total package as a performer, and he can only get better.

I would be beyond ECSTATIC if that scenario plays out. But, as much as I love The Rock, the more important thing for the company right now is turning Cena heel to refresh his character. He can go back to being face after WrestleMania or even after Royal Rumble, but he needs a change of pace. It's similar to how fans got bored of The Rock as a face after the second half of 2001 and throughout 2002, eventually bringing about his gradual heel turn in 2003. That was arguably Rock's best work of his career, playing the Hollywood heel. Cena needs something similar to happen.

If Cena turns heel tonight, I'm temporarily a fan of his again by default, even if I think his ring work the past three years has been largely inconsistent.