Breaking News

A little breaking news for you on a Friday afternoon. Hulk Hogan appeared in a courtroom in Florida moments ago to testify at his son's Nick reckless driving hearing. MSNBC carried the proceedings live. Hmm. Must be a slow news day.

Anyway, Nick faced up to five years in prison for causing an accident that has left his best friend, John Graziano, brain damaged. The Hulkster read a statement that talked about how clos e his son and friend were, and how remorseful Nick has been about the accident. Then, Hulk's now ex-wife Linda briefly spoke. She didn't last long, however, as she broke down while giving her remarks.

Apparently their words fell on somewhat deaf ears as the judge in the case sentenced Nick Bollea to eight months in prison and five years probation, but no prison time. Let's hope Nick is able to keep on the straight and narrow and straighten out his life and that John is able to at least somewhat recover from his serious injuries.

Raw Is Regal

Welcome back...I apologize for the delayed posting...better late than never.

Time again for our weekly disection of Raw, and it's safe to say that our latest edition was dominated by our one and only lord and king William Regal. First...to punish his unruly subjects, HHH and Mr. Kennedy, Regal orders a 14-2 handicap match against a good chunk of the ECW roster. Needless to say, things didn't go well for the outnumbered duo. HHH did almost manage to escape the match unscathed until Randy Orton slithered in for a thunderous RKO.

But Regal's tinkering didn't end there. Just as we were settling in for an interesting finish to the Randy Orton, CM Punk match, Regal once again steps in and orders the light out. Sorry fans. King Regal once again feels besmirched, so we don't get to see the ending of this match. What a pompous British bastard he is!

But wait, there's more! Lord Regal orders JR to take a break so Mike Adamle can get a shot at calling a match. This, of course, sends Lawler into a complete convulsion. Lawler is about to jump off a bridge when fortunately the match ends. Where is this storyline going? Who the hell knows.

In other developments, the unwilling duo of Chris Jericho and HBK are forced to team up against The Miz and John Morrison of ECW fame. HBK is rendered useless for the entire match because of his "bum" knee until the very end of the match when the good Lord magically heals the Heartbreak Kid and Sweet Chin Music is delivered. Again, this was a nice advancement in this storyline. Is Shawn truly injured? Is Jericho simply a jerk? We'll find out at the next PPV, AKA Judgement Day, as the match between these two has been signed and sealed. That should be a dandy.

Also at the next PPV, Cena takes on JBL...Cena has been out since getting punted at the last PPV by Orton. Meanwhile, JBL has been destroying WWE bottom fodder. His latest victim is none other than Harry Smith, the son of the now-departed Davey Boy Smith. I'm assuming the winner of that match gets the winner of HHH-Orton at the PPV after Judgement Day.

And to wrap things up, another shout out to Carlito, Santino, and Rowdy Roddy Piper for another thoroughly entertaining segment. Apparently the OUI hasn't derailed Santino, at least not yet. There's nothing wrong with some entertaining fluff to break up a couple of hours or rassling each week, and these are the guys to do it. However, Cody Rhodes trying to rap should be kept to a minimum.

That's it for now. A Smackdown! recap is in the works for this weekend, but until the, referee Mike Chioda is calling for the bell.

Title Turmoil!

I know it's late, but an abbreviated Smackdown! recap is better than none at all, right?

Three major developments to talk about, starting with the World Title. Apparently, Undertaker has been stripped by his triangle submission hold has been ruled illegal by GM Vicki Guerrero. Since it is technically a choke hold, that's hard to argue with. Anyway, the Great Khali was used as a distraction to get the belt as Edge snuck into the ring as Khali was being choked out. Now the title is in limbo, and who knows what happens next. I've never been a huge undertaker fan so I have a question. Has anyone been stripped of a title belt more than the Undertaker? Perhaps his unwillingness to do a clean job has something to do with it. I mean, would it kill him to give the rub to a younger superstar? The WWE hasn't developed a mega-star in quite some time. Maybe if the old timers chipped in, that trend would change. Is Undertaker still a big draw? You bet he is. But, he doesn't need a belt to cement his legacy. Let the younger guys shine.

Second on the Smackdown! list, a great US Title match between Jeff Hardy and MVP. Here's a case where both guys are elevated and where the belt actually ends up really doesn't matter. Great twenty minute match which featured some good mat action to start things off, and built to a dramatic and satisfying win for Jeff. I haven't been really sold on MVP, but lately I have to tip my hat to the guy...he's raised the bar. Here's to hoping that injuries don't derail the momemtum both guys have built up and that maybe this will push both MVP and Matt well above their current midcard status.

Finally, more developments in the HBK, Batista, Jericho storyline. In this case, Mick Foley chips in by interviewing Batista. Remember in my last post how I mentioned this is a rare storyline that involves babyfaces only? Well, that continued on Smackdown! Now, we've injected to ultimate babyface, Mick Foley. Even he felt as though he had to ask Batista about HBK's claims that his injury is legit. Batista's answer was simple, but effective. If he is faking the knee injury, he'll be sorry he did. Again, shades of gray. I'm really curious to see how this will play out. Will somebody go full-bore heel, or will the WWE just keep riding the fence, especially with Jericho? Only time will tell.

Next up, a full-blown RAW recap, but for now, referee Mike Chioda is calling for the bell.