The Steel Cage

Six days removed from the 2008 WWE Draft Lottery (which is neither a draft, nor a lottery -- discuss) is the second-annual Night of Champions Pay-Per-View, the first of which was more memorable for what happened in a house down in Atlanta while the show was going on than it was for anything that happened at the actual show.

This year's show actually has some potential to build on the draft and set up some interesting stories for the coming year. Here's my thoughts and predictions.

The draft is one of the more fun nights of the year on Raw, as it (along with the Royal Rumble match) is one of WWE's few events where it seems like anything can happen.

While the draft has lost much of its oomph in recent years with the increase in cross-branded Pay-Per-Views and TVs, it'll still be interesting to see what happens tonight.

That being said, here's a few quick thoughts as to what might go down, and then I'd like to hear yours.

I know WWE has gone out of their way this year not to promote One Night Stand as an ECW show, but given the emphasis on extreme matches and given the show's history, the fact that ECW Champion Kane isn't in a match is a little ludicrous to me.

And the fact that WWE seems to think that the ECW brand and fans are just interested in crazy match stipulations and violence alone shows exactly why their version of the ECW brand has failed so spectacularly.

And shows like this do nothing but raise the violence bar to such unsafe and career-shortening levels that ultimately, the guys who take part in this "fake violence" drop dead at 40 because their bodies just can't handle the years of physical and chemical abuse.

But that's a rant for another time. For now, on with the predictions!

One of my favorites wrestling television series returns Wednesday night as MSG presents WWE's At The Garden. I'm especially psyched because tonight's installment features what I believe was the very first wrestling event I ever attended at the Garden.

Ahh, I can remember it like it was yesterday (insert harp music.)

It was July 1, 1991 and I was just 13 years old. Back then, WWE played the Garden about every other month. With WWE only offering four pay per views a year back then, the Garden shows were pretty big deals, with angles taking places, feuds being established and blown off, and, occasionally, titles changing hands.

And although I had already been a fan of wrestling for about 10 years and had attended a few shows at the Nassau Coliseum, I had never begged my dad much to take me to a Garden Show. That was until this night - because on this night The Ultimate Warrior was taking on the Undertaker in a body bag match.

So ECW is celebrating its 100th episode on the Sci Fi network tonight. Less than two years ago, ECW debuted with what many people considered the worst hour of televised wrestling in the sport's history. We all complained at the time about how the new WWE-era ECW had little resemblance to the cutting edge, exciting, and charming brand we watched a decade earlier.

Yet, compared to the 2008 version of ECW, the 2006 version was as hardcore as it came. Little by little, the new ECW has lost nearly every link to the past. Let's look at some of the extreme staples that have fallen by the wayside over the last 100 weeks of the new ECW.

1. Paul Heyman - The architect of extreme was dumped at the end of 2006, reportedly after butting heads with management over their polar opposite visions for the brand. More than anything, this was the beginning of the end of the new ECW. Even when he was offering very little creative input, Heyman's on-air role gave the product the stamp of approval that kept some fans coming back each week.

2. Rob Van Dam - Possibly the biggest lost the ECW brand has suffered to date. Let's not forget that when the ECW brand was launched in 2006, not only was Van Dam the centerpiece of the brand and its champion, but he was the WWE champion, having defeated John Cena at One Night Stand. I always thought he was a bit over rated, but he was one of the few things keeping some traditional ECW fans watching in the brand's earliest days.

3. The Sandman - Strangely, before WWE made the decision to cut the beer drinking, chain smoking, cane-swinging icon, they moved him to Raw. Having the ECW brand around, why would you move one of the most recognizable characters in ECW's history to a different brand? There was no reason to have Sandman on the pay role, if not for his history with ECW.

UPDATE: Here's the video.

So the people in WWE's P.R. office are probably doing cartwheels right now, what with all three presidential candidates offering videos for tonight's Raw, to try and swing younger viewers to their side.

It's a huge moment for WWE, as they now have a big weapon in their back pocket for the next time a wrestler dies in his mid-30s.

Anyhoo, I'll be curious to see what each candidate offers -- and Obama's doing himself a disservice if he doesn't end his video with "If you smell what Barack is cooking" -- but I have a few topics I think the candidates should address on the show.

McCain should address why there aren't very many WWE wrestlers who are as old as him. This guy was a PRISONER OF WAR and yet he's lived a rich, fulfilling life. And yet there's guys half as old as him whose job it is to pretend to punch and kick each other, and these men -- role models for America's youth -- are dying young as WWE sits back and profits off their lives and their deaths.

Clinton should address why WWE continues to portray women as nothing but objects to be glorified for men, only to be valued for their bodies, as victims of violence whenever men feel like it. Also, I'd be curious why someone who touts health care as a top priority would be so quick to appear on a show for a company that doesn't offer health care to the people who put their bodies through hell for them.

Obama should address why WWE continues to portray minorities as bumbling fools, often as "bad guys" to incur the wrath of crowds. And for someone who went to such lengths to distance himself from a former pastor who preached such hate, it's amazing that Obama would appear on a program that encourages such violence and hatred.

(And P.S., while Obama's at it, he should apologize to The Rock for stealing his gimmick!)

I can understand why the candidates jump at the chance to offer a free message to a live audience the day before a huge political moment.

But by connecting themselves to a product that in many ways goes against everything they claim to stand for, they do nothing but reinforce the stereotypes that many people have of politicians already.

WWE owes me a check for royalties.

Word is that presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain will be making appearances on tonight's Monday Night Raw. WWE has been promoting a wrestling match involving Obama and Clinton for a couple weeks now.

I first proposed a triple threat match involving the three candidates several weeks ago. However, rather than on Raw, I thought the match should take place at WrestleMania - you know, to help boost the buy rate. Nevertheless, I've been ripped off!

In all seriousness, I usually roll my eyes at WWE's publicity stunts, which tend to be rather corny and tasteless. But if McCain, Obama and Clinton actually taped footage for WWE, I think that's a terrific feather in the cap of the company, and a testament to pro wrestling's far reaching appeal. It can't be worse than the Trump vs. Rosie match last January.

Here's my prediction (Uh-oh, I got in trouble last time I made one of those) on how each candidate will come off.

McCain: He could be a pretty funny guy, and tends not to take himself seriously. I could see him having the most fun with this.

Obama: He also has a good sense of humor, but I could see him being a bit too careful about not saying or doing anything that his critics may find in bad taste. He'll probably smile, make a quick comment, and talk about how important it is for young people to come out and vote.

Clinton: She's not exactly a natural in the comedy department. I could see her trying to play along, but coming off a bit awkward and uncomfortable.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out. Between the candidates' appearances and the King of the Ring tournament, we should be in for a pretty memorable Raw tonight.

WWE hasn’t tipped its hand much regarding what’s on tap for the go-home edition of Raw before WrestleMania this coming Sunday.

John Cena will kick off the show, no doubt hyping the three-way main event at Mania.

The only match that has been leaked is a Money in the Bank preview pitting Carlito and MVP vs.Chris Jericho and C.M. Punk. I could see Mr. Kennedy involving himself in the match to cause the finish.

And with Raw emanating from Flair Country, in Columbia, SC, the Nature Boy is expected to give what may be the last great interview of his career. If it is really intended as such, WWE writers are best served putting their pencils away and letting Flair go at it alone.

I’ve been watching a lot of Flair’s interviews from over the last 20 years for another project I’m working on, and it’s worth noting that, even when WCW was at its absolute worst, Flair was still delivering money promos whenever given the opportunity. Does anybody remember the short-lived “Magnificent Seven” faction led by Flair in the waning months of WCW? I didn’t either. But go on youtube, and you’ll get a kick out of seeing Flair do his thing, even as many of his colleagues were phoning it in.

That’s what’s been missing from Flair’s current retirement angle. Whenever he’s been given the chance to speak, it hasn’t really been Flair behind the microphone. WWE writers feel the need to script every word of every wrestlers’ promo - effectively robbing all of them of their individual voices. It may be that Flair isn’t the talker that he used to be, but I’d rather see 50 percent of an authentic Flair promo, rather than a 100 percent manufactured one.

But I digress.

With only days to go before the biggest show of the year, fans should be expecting a lot out of tonight’s Raw. I think there’s a popular sentiment right now that WWE has done only an adequate at best - and lackluster at worst - job of building anticipation for the WrestleMania card.

With Smackdown and ECW not given nearly as much importance that WWE’s flagship show, tonight is the last real opportunity to do something to get fans buzzing about the big show on Sunday. Let’s cross our fingers.

With just over a week to go before WrestleMania XXIV, WWE's Friday night fixture needs to kick it into high gear, but don't get your hopes up too much.

I'm usually not one for spoilers, but I took a peak at the results of Tuesday's tapings for this show. Let's just say there's not much to give away.

Among the matches you'll see tonight: Batista taking on Deuce and Domino; Morrison & The Miz defending the tag titles against Jesse & Festus; The Big Show in a squash handicap match; Kane vs. Chuck Palumbo; Edge taking on Funaki; and Chavo Guerrero taking on the Undertaker.

There is also a segment hyping MVP's involvement in the Money in the Bank match.

I've really been taken aback by how little WWE has done to promote the blue brand's involvement in Mania - as little as it is. In fact, WrestleMania features exactly one Smackdown-exclusive match, that being the world title match between The Undertaker and Edge. Smackdowners Finlay, Batista and MVP are all involved in inter-brand matches.

But even with only one major storyline to build for WrestleMania, Smackdown has largely dropped the ball. The storyline between Edge and the Undertaker has been completely paint-by-numbers, with nothing special done to build anticipation for their showdown. WWE needs to give us something - anything - to make fans excited about this match, as well as the other Smackdown wrestlers' matches on the show.

As flat as the Taker-Edge storyline has been, it's McMahon-Austin circa 1998 compared to the "feud" between Umaga and Batista. Despite being one of Smackdown's top stars for the last year, the Animal found himself as the odd man out when WWE's matchmakers were putting together the WrestleMania line up. That said, more should have been done to give Batista a meaningful match on the show.

Smackdown still has next week to really sell WrestleMania, but I won't be holding my breath.