The Russ Says...

People gripe about referees getting involved in storylines, but let's face it... they sometimes get called out in real life as well. NFL referee Ed Hochuli became famous for blowing a call a few years ago. NBA referee Joey Crawford became famous for gambling on games that he officiated. Shannon Eastin and Violet Palmer became famous for being the first female officials at the top of their respective sports, football and basketball. MLB umpire Jim Joyce became famous for blowing a call a couple of years ago that spoiled a perfect game.

So, yes... I think it's okay to call out referee Chad Patten by name, because it happens in pro sports. In this situation, they did it to reinforce the fact that he made a good call (even though it was bad booking), but really, yeah... in general, referees shouldn't get involved in storylines beyond this. We don't need to revisit Dangerous Danny Davis. I don't think that was what they were trying for in the main event, but once is okay when not over used - two nights in a row is dumb and lazy scripting.


What a difference 2 months makes... AJ Lee used to be one of the top characters of the company. Once they hotshotted her into the Raw GM position, her character has floundered and she appears out of her element now. It's so obvious now it was a hotshot move. If she had stayed where she was, we could be talking a Divas championship and finally somebody interesting in that division. Instead, we have a girl who gets blown up in interviews after she skips to the ring, and she really isn't even using her position to get back at Daniel Bryan or CM Punk, which you would think she would do character-wise.

Then again, since we're not really recognizing the brand split anymore, why is there a need to have a GM anyway? Wasn't the purpose of it originally to put over the fact that there were competing brands that annually had a draft every year? The concept is outdated, and with WWE's reliance on social media, you would think that they would declare the fans the new GM of Raw and Smackdown to put that over.

Of the new feuds they appeared to kick off, the Prime Time Players look interesting with Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara. However, after the lucha-style match with Epico & Primo ended up being the best of the night (15 minutes into the show), I'd rather more of those 4 instead. I guess it gives everyone something to do after the oddly-timed reboot last week.

On the other hand, I have no interest in seeing Ryback against Intercontinental Champion The Miz. WWE claims they listen to their fans, but if they can't even hear some random fan grabbing one of the live mics and chanting "Goldberg", they will have serious issues trying to put a title onto this guy. After Wade Barrett's bare-knuckle reboot got fans to chant "Bring back Nexus", I wonder if that will catch on in the coming weeks as well when he works. He certainly seemed to get over better as the arrogant young Brit than as a bullying fighter, even though we all knew he had those skills.

Finally, was last night Groundhog Day? 6 more weeks of Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio. *yawn*