After scores are settled and titles were decided at Armageddon, our Superstars will “wing” it to Buffalo, N.Y., and the HSBC Arena for Monday Night Raw.

WWE Champion Randy Orton almost failed to weather the assault from challenger Chris Jericho. It took the surprising interference from SmackDown commentator John Bradshaw Layfield to allow Orton to escape with his gold via disqualification. Why did JBL attack Jericho? Will the self-proclaimed “wrestling god” appear on Raw and address the controversial ending to the WWE Championship Match?

And what does Jericho have to say about all of this? Will Y2J seek revenge on the Legend Killer and/or JBL on the shores of Lake Erie?

Orton already knows who he’ll defend his WWE Championship against at the Royal Rumble in January. Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy stunned the Mellon Arena crowd with a victory over Triple H to earn a WWE Championship opportunity at the Rumble next month. What does Orton have to say about his upcoming challenge? How will Triple H react to Hardy’s upset win? Will he want a rematch from the “Rainbow-Haired Warrior?”

And the title train keeps on rolling for Women’s Champion Beth Phoenix. Can anyone in the Divas locker room rise up and upset the Glamazon to take her gold?

Find out as Monday Night Raw airs from Buffalo, N.Y., at 9/8 CT, live on USA Network.

Labels: beth phoenix, jbl, jeff hardy, wwe raw, y2j

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well, Armageddon is now just three days away, and the two big matches a lot of focus is being paid to are the two title matches. For the WWE Title you have Chris Jericho vs Randy Orton, and on the SmackDown side you have Batista vs Edge vs Undertaker in a triple threat.

While you never see two big title changes in the same night anymore, I am fairly certain you will see one, and that one title change will be on the SmackDown side. Yes, the second title reign of Batista will come to a close, and Edge, the man who very well may still have had the title if it were not for his injury, will get the strap back. From reports we hear, this will set up the match for Mania with Taker and Edge, and then we'll have Taker's second reign when he wins it back in Orlando.

On the RAW side, I can't see them hot shotting the strap on to Jericho just a month after he gets back. I know that some are talking about doing it, but I can't see it. I am not all in favor of the Randy Orton title run going on, but at the same time, I think he'll keep it here and then at the Rumble lose it to HHH. It will be interesting to see the Y2J and Orton match in terms of seeing how good or bad the match is since it's really Y2J's first really big match back with the company.

Don't forget we will be doing our Let's Wrestle Pre and Post match Armageddon audio podcast shows on Saturday and Sunday. Tune into the site to hear John Sefcik and I break down the card, go over the matches, and give our predictions for the show!

Labels: armageddon, hhh, john sefcik, randy orton, y2j

Posted by Matt Loede at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – North Charleston, S.C., will be Jericho tonight when Chris Jericho kicks off Raw. After helping cost Randy Orton his chance to put Ric Flair into retirement last week, Y2J was granted a WWE Championship Match against the Legend Killer at Armageddon.

What will Jericho have to say about his upcoming title match? He has said since his second coming that he has returned to “save us” from Orton and his WWE Championship reign and will now get that opportunity on Dec. 16.

And does Orton have revenge in mind for Jericho just weeks before Armageddon? The Legend Killer does not take kindly to being upstaged, and he believes Y2J has stolen his spotlight for two consecutive weeks. Orton is determined to prove a point and show that Jericho is the one who will really need saving at Armageddon.

The only way to find out the answers to these questions and more is to tune into Monday Night Raw, live on USA Network at 9/8 CT.

Labels: randy orton, RAW, y2j

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments

There has been plenty of talk as of late about Randy Orton and his title regin as WWE Champion. The talk has been about if Orton has been a good champion, or if he's lost his edge (no pun intended) since gaining the belt about two months ago. Well, I would have to say that based on Monday night, and what we saw at Survivor Series, the title regin has so far not lived up to what the company thought it would.

Orton was on a roll when chasing the belt, and he and John Cena were having a solid program before Cena went down with the injury that put him on the shelf of where he is now. Orton since has had his program with HHH at the PPV where he won the belt, then the program he just went through with Shawn Michaels.

Now we have the go-around with Chris Jericho, which should lead to the next PPV at Armageddon in Pittsburgh in a few weeks. The promo with Y2J on Monday night was not very good, and the reason why is because Orton didn't sell it one bit. Jericho was on, but the promo was not becuase Orton was basically a robot in the ring.

So for now, Orton's current run as champion has not been all that memorable. Does it have a chance? Sure. Will it go down as a bust? That's where I'd put my money on right now if I was a betting man.

Labels: hhh, randy orton, shawn michaels, y2j

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:35 PM | Permalink | Comments

Lots of news and notes to get to for a Tuesday - so here we go!

* Chris Jericho is back (no duh) and his profile is back up on WWE.com. Here is the link: http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/chrisjericho/ The first order of business based on last night seems to be an immediate title program with Randy Orton, so I would not be stunned to see Y2J and Randy do battle at the upcoming PPV, Armageddon in Pittsbugh on 12/16.

* There is some rumbling backstage that Carlito may be on his way out of the WWE. There was a report in Wrestling Observer that Carlito recently gave the company his notice. If that's the case, it's being kept pretty hush, hush and of course we did see him in action last night against the fierce Hornswoggle.

* Speaking of which, I don't like the move to try and turn Finley in this saga with Mr.McMahon's little son. Bad move in my opinion. I know that they had talked time after time about turning Finley, but in the end, he is about as good a heel as anyone in the company. Let's hope they think this one through before they do something they will regret.

* Harry "DH" Smith will be back from his 30-day suspension at the 12/2 house show in Georgia. The son of the late Davey Boy Smith was suspended for steroids back on September 13th, but they allowed him to come to the main roster before he was made an example out of as one of the first two suspensions that they made public back on 11/1 along with the now released Chris Masters.

* ECW's main event for tonight is a 2-on-1 match with Matt Striker and Big Daddy V taking on Kane.

Labels: big daddy V, ecw, finley, kane, y2j

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

From PRO WRESTLING INSIDER:

So before Chris Jericho even debuts, I got my hands on the WWE magazine with him on the cover and interview inside. Some interesting notes from the short interview:

*Chris left in 2005 b/c he was burned out and needed to spend more time with his family.

*He and his wife had twin daughters in July 2006.

*The Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena one hour match from England, made Chris really love the business again.

*Jericho wants to work with John Cena, Shawn Michaels, HHH, The Undertaker (whom he's never had a one-on-one match with), Ken. Kennedy, and MVP.

*Jericho went to Lance Storm's wrestling school and started from scratch with his students in order to get back in ring shape.

*Jericho has been working with a personal trainer to get in good physical shape, something he has never done before.

*Jericho says he has a new finisher and some new moves to show off.

*Jericho says it took him 18 months to write his book. Mick Foley really helped him along the way with his book.

Labels: chris jericho, wwe magazine, y2j

Posted by Matt Loede at 5:21 PM | Permalink | Comments

* While RAW, SmackDown and ECW start to look ahead to the returns of those that were suspended late last month, you can expect most of them to be at TV this next week. One return that is sure to happen asap is that of Ken Kennedy, who is expected to be involved with the program that is going on with Mr.McMahon and Triple H. As a matter a fact, many are speculating that he will be involved in their match on RAW on Monday, and that it is still going to happen where Kennedy ends up being McMahons kid.

ECW is expected to have John Morrison back on TV next week as well. Where they go with him right away is going to be interesting, as C.M. Punk has done more than enough with the ECW title that they would be making a mistake to put it back on Morrison within a few weeks of his return. Punk is a gifted wrestler, and the belt on him makes total sense. He and Morrison have had plenty of matches, and they can save that feud for down the road. For now, my plea is to keep the strap on Punk, and let Morrison get in a program with someone else upon his return.

* The WWE is going to be pushing for more exposure overseas, and put out a press release talking about its plans for international expansion. Look for branches to be open in places like Europe, Africa, China, Latin America, and Australia. This story has been talked about for sometime, so this is not that much of a shock. The company has great success across the border, so to try and cash in on that is not a surprise at all. The interesting thing to watch is to see any sort of roster tweaking in order to make fans crave wanting to go see the stars when they come to their towns, and if that roster tweaking huts the current state of the WWE at all here in the US.

* The Chris Jericho rumor mill continues to get hotter, as now his complete book signing dates are out and through October there are no October dates scheduled. It basically means that he will be on RAW, which is the obvious choice since it's the franchise show, and your not going to waste a huge comeback for a guy to go to a lesser brand. The most interesting thing about Y2J's return is that he had stated several times about not really missing wrestling. He seems to be a smart enough person to have saved his cash over the years, plus he does stay active with other outside projects. Why the time is right now for Jericho is beyond me, other than he wants the hype vehicle known as the WWE to push his book. I am excited and perplexed at this return and how it will play out.

* The date for the on-sale for WrestleMania 24 tickets is November 3rd, but like last year at Ford Field, they will have a large presale. Last year you were able to get solid seats during the Lions season ticket holder presale, and then good seats as well for the public on sale. One thing though last year that drove everyone nuts was Ticketmaster didn't have a seating chart till AFTER the presale, so in effect you didn't really know what you were buying till after you brought it. I expect the pull to be somewhat easy with the size of the Citrus Bowl. One also has to wonder if now other cities see the way Orlando is handling the event and the money brought in, if other cities will start to try and land the event. You can bet though that WrestleMania 25 will likely be at Madison Square Garden.

* Batista's new book - "Batista Unleashed" comes out on October 16th, and he will be having a tour of book signings as well. You can preorder the book at most book outlets on the web as well as on WWE.com.

Labels: batista, cm punk, jericho, wrestlemania 24 tickets, y2j

Posted by Matt Loede at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments