Jack Swagger, new ECW Champion, (c) WWE.com
Sure, it’s “just” the ECW Championship, but what did I say about Jack Swagger?

The kid’s got talent; Vince loves him because he’s big and athletic. His mic skills are likely to just get better – he seems to have that charisma that is needed to get to the top. Right now, he’s got the silver belt – look to see him wearing gold in due time..

Victoria, (c) WWE.com
Also, I just noticed that WWE.com is promoting Victoria’s matchup tonight as her retirement match.

I haven’t done my research, and therefore I do hope this is kayfabe. It could be one of those storyline elements that leads her to a title match down the line – the title she has been deserving for quite some time now.

If you can’t tell, my vote for most underrated/underutilized female talent: Victoria, by a longshot.

Update (1/19/09): According to Lisa Marie Varon’s latest MySpace blog entry, she is indeed retiring… from WWE. It sounds like she had grown tired with being so underutilized, and has decided to move on with her life. Be it a jump to TNA or a true pursuit of her other passions in life, I wish her the best!

Joshua Schlag

For most of the last 30+ years of my life, I've been watching WWE. As a kid, Monday Night Raw hooked me from the start. From Bret Hart and Razor Ramon, to Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, to CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.. I've witnessed the ups and downs and I'm proud to have enjoyed pro wrestling through the years.

Though I now watch in a much different fashion than I did when I was a kid (finding out Vince McMahon was the owner and Jack Tunney no more than a figurehead was like finding out Santa Claus did not exist), I feel like I have a much greater appreciation for the hard work pro wrestlers do and the things they sacrifice to entertain us.

It's still real to me, dammit!