Old School Raw & Aksana Eliminated

On Monday night we got treated to a special 3-hour Raw dubbed "WWE Old School." They even rolled out the old WWF logo for it along with a whole bunch of former WWE legends. It was surprising to see who showed up and who didn't. The usual suspects were there including Gerald Briscoe, Sgt. Slaughter, Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes and Arn Anderson. Also on hand were some surprises including Brooklyn Brawler, Harvey Whippleman, George "The Animal" Steele and Slick. Million Dollar Man, IRS, Hacksaw, Superfly Snuka and Mean Gene were all there to reminisce as well. Guys like The Rock and Stone Cold weren't on hand, but neither were really part of the WWF Old School. Bret Hart was though, and he was clearly missing in action. No Ricky Steamboat either which was strange.

Also strange, and maybe winning award for the worst segment of the year was the whole Aksana Goldust Dusty Rhodes trainwreck backstage. It went from tricking Aksana into thinking her mom was nearby, to Goldust yanking the Million Dollar Belt away, to Million Dollar Man getting it back, giving it to his son, to his son giving it back, to a dance party feature Hacksaw, IRS, Kelly Kelly, Aksana and Million Dollar Man. Talk about a fiasco. It may have saved NXT Season 3 from winning the title of "Worst Segment of the Year."

Speaking of NXT, the latest casualty to be sent home was Aksana, the gold-digging wifey of Goldust. She was saved from deportation for a whole 2 weeks. Not gonna lie, her "Diss the Diva" attempts were hysterical, because she was making no sense whatsoever. For that, she had to go. Now she claims she'll be going to visit Mr. McMahon to petition her elimination. Isn't Mr. McMahon still in a coma though? Good luck with that Aksana!

Anyways, we're getting real close to what should be one of the most riveting PPV's of the year, Survivor Series 2010. Cena's job is on the line and Orton's title is on the line in what could be one of the most interesting matches of 2010. There's also been several more matches added including Sheamus vs Morrison (finally) and a traditional elimination tag team match involving Smackdown stars. Plenty to look forward to on Sunday!

Jericho's Legends & Tag Title Unifiication

Between the Raw and ECW shows this past week, three new matches were added in to the Wrestlemania 25 card which may have received mixed criticism. First off, WWE Raw saw Jericho call out Hall of Famer Ric Flair to come out of retirement and return to the ring. Flair made a honorable speech defending his career and the send-off he received from the WWE Universe last year. Flair announced he had replacements lined up, and we then learned it takes 3 Hall of Fame caliber superstars to do the job of the Nature Boy. The three legends Jericho had previously bashed in the ring, Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat. From there, the three wrestlers managed to take Jericho down in the ring, and Flair caught him with a solid punch outside the ring. Later, a fuming Jericho said it was intention to embarass these hall of famers in one single match, at Wrestlemania 25. It fits the storyline, but t was a bit surprising to see this outcome rather than a one-on-one situation. Flair announced that he'll be ringside along with Mickey Rourke who will also be in attendance. So now everyone in the Jericho storyline gets some sort of involvement and most likely, a satisfying finish to Jericho's big-mouth antics about the legends. Unfortunate that WWE couldn't reel in either Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold Steve Austin for this huge Wrestlemania 25, but there's still that possibility of either or both showing up at some point.

Alfonso Castillo and Seth Mates have more discussion of these WM25 happenings over at Newsday.com. Read Thoughts on Wrestlemania Developments at Newsday.com

Rey Mysterio issued an open challenge to JBL for the Intercontinental Title. JBL most likely will accept against the smaller opponent who he's faced before back in his Smackdown days. After all, Mysterio had no other plans for Wrestlemania 25, and the powers that be allow guys like Mysterio to make their own title matches for Wrestlemania. Strangely, CM Punk must have given up wanting that title back since he's in the MITB match.

Another title match we learned about came on ECW this past Tuesday. Carlito and Primo Colon challenged The Miz and John Morrison to a match to unify the tag team titles. It's winner takes all, and after Mania we'll see just one set of tag team titles in the WWE. My early prediction here is The Miz and Morrison win it to further solidify all their bold claims as the best tag team of all time. As for their arm candy divas, it seems as if the Bella Twins are divided on which team to back. The Bellas started out with Miz and Morrison in the ring, with Nikki claiming they like to be with "winners". Her sister Brie wasn't on board from the looks of things. After The Miz and Morrison tried to taunt the Colons, we saw some good ol' fashioned Carlito apple spitting. Unfortunately for Brie Bella, Miz and Morrison ducked and the apple was spit onto her accidentally. The two twins then got into a catfight in the ring after Nikki laughed at her sister. The tag teams seperated them and Nikki left with Miz and Morrison, while Brie remained in the ring with the Colons. These two can most likely settle things in the ring at the WWE Divas Battle Royal.

The card seems almost complete, with many names still having no involvement in the event. WWE can likely work them in via skits or a huge battle royal for a change at Jack Swagger's ECW title, just like last year. Now the only titles not being defended on the Wrestlemania 25 card are the ECW Title, WWE Divas Championship, the Womens Championship and the United States Championship. With Wrestlemania 25 just a few weeks away, there's still time for business to pick up.