Raw's Revelations 1.12.09

The Raw show provided several interesting surprises and teasers on its January 12th edition. Fans were already made privy to the fact that the head honcho, chairman Vince McMahon will be arriving back to the show next week. What fans don't know is if he's going to be staying as GM, or just passing through to promote something such as Wrestlemania 25. He also may be gearing up for some sort of match or storyling tied into the event, so stay tuned on that front.

Raw also saw the firing of Chris Jericho by Stephanie McMahon. Jericho pushed her too much, indicating nothing she said would matter because Vince is returning. Possibly we see Jericho show up yet again to plead his case with Vince McMahon, but likely the decision will stand, and maybe Jericho heads to Smackdown or ECW?

It was revealed last night that Stone Cold Steve Austin will receive his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 4th, 2009. This comes a night ahead of Wrestlemania 25, and makes it look like Austin may be involved in the Pay-Per-View. Will it be another guest referee spot as he's done at a previous Wrestlemania and Cyber Sunday? Or will Austin get involved in the action this time?

CM Punk lost round 2 to William Regal in their Intercontinental Title series. It's now become a best of 3, with the final and deciding match in Punk's hometown of Chicago next week. Is there any reason not to believe Punk becomes the new champ in his hometown? Also, the brief interaction involving he and Candice prior to the match might spell a future mixed tag situation, with Punk/Candice vs. Regal/Layla. Layla hasn't seen a lot of in-ring action or speaking for that matter since she's saddled up with King Regal.

Several other interesting situations are the Kane storyline, as well as Randy Orton's "Legacy" team. Last night we saw that Ted Dibiase has returned, but not to help out Manu and Sim Snuka in their quest to beat down Orton. Instead, Dibiase sided up with Rhodes and Orton to form the 3 man faction. Orton had beat Kane in a match prior to that, with the referee making a bad call for the pin. Is this some sort of new storyline where the refs will be under scrutiny, or is WWE going to institute "Instant Replay"? Also, Kane seemed to leave the scene promptly after losing, obviously turning his attention towards the ref and not Randy Orton who he was angry with other Kelly Kelly. It makes the Kelly Kelly storyline seem strange, unless she'll be becoming Kane's valet.

Finally, the JBL vs. Shawn Michaels situation continues to look like it's setting up either a Triple Threat title match at some point (Michaels vs. JBL vs. Cena), an Elimination Chamber involving at least those 3, and most likely Shawn Michaels vs. JBL at Wrestlemania 25. JBL's already indicated Michaels wont be in the Royal Rumble, but it's possible we see him in it anyways, just to spite his employer. Michaels is clearly unhappy with the situation but is doing it because he has to. After beating Cena in a hard-fought match, Michaels has a strong case for being a title contender and Royal Rumble participant.

And one parting shot, does anyone thing Dolph Ziggler's gimmick will stand the test of time? He seems more geared towards Smackdown at this point.