
Still better than Tori.
We experimented with the idea of a With Leather open discussion thread for Friday’s UFC 141 pay-per-view, so I’m opening up the concept to fake fighting. Two very important reasons:
1. Tonight is the payoff for the mysterious “It Begins” videos that’ve been playing on and around Raw over the last couple of months. We’ve gotten a few definite answers on who it’s gonna be, but nothing definite definite, so we want to know what you think. Who is it Beginning for on tonight’s show?
2. “It Begins” could be hype videos for Rod Belding. By way of The John Report comes the hilarious, amazing news that Rod’s square brother Richie, former principal of Bayside High School (aka ‘Saved by the Bell’ star and comedic genius turned lecherous, drunken appearance hound Dennis Haskins) wants a regular, on-camera role as WWE Raw’s General Manager. This may be too wonderful to be true:
Actor Dennis Haskins, better known as Mr. Belding from Saved By The Bell, recently spoke with MemphiSport.com about his quest to become WWE’s RAW General Manager.
There is a petition going around on Twitter to get Haskins hired by WWE as the RAW General Manager. Haskins has appeared on Zack Ryder’s YouTube show and is a known wrestling fan. There was talk months back of Haskins hosting RAW but it never happened.
The petition currently has less than 400 signatures. Haskins is asking fans to bring “Belding for GM” signs to Monday’s RAW Supershow in Memphis. He has received the support from guys like Ryder, The Miz, CM Punk, Diamond Dallas Page and others.
This would be amazing, but I don’t think he’d do a good job. I mean, look at what happened the last time he was in charge of wrestling:
So tell us … what’s going to happen on tonight’s show? Will an earthquake accidentally lock Mr. Belding and Santino Marella in the GM’s office together? Will Brock Lesnar show up and lose in about a minute when Jinder Mahal knees him in the stomach? Will the Undertaker and Chris Jericho re-debut simultaneously, assuming those videos were for them? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
See you during the show.


OMG. Belding on Raw would be the best thing ever.
Chances of him being made to hook up with Vickie Guerrero are nearly 100%.
Someone already tweeted a picture of Jericho at the Memphis airport. *sad trombone.
“I’m so excited… I’m so exciteeeed!… I’m so… SCARED!”
If it doesn’t end up being Doink the Clown, then why bother watching? All the clues were there (no they weren’t)
There should be an option for Kharna’s baby, ‘cuz there’s a realistic chance that kidfs gonna come out at 6’7′, 350 lbs.
that could qualify as “other”
Favorite Saved by the Bell moments, anyone?
My favorite is the earthquake episode, specifically when Mr. Belding and Screech are stuck in Belding’s office, and they try to open the door, but the knob falls off, and then he tries the phone and he hits the numbers frantically and goes…. “ITS DEAD” and just throws it. It makes me laugh every time.
Also in that episode, Slater goes “JUST KEEP PUSHING” to Mrs. B, and it sounds soooo dumb. LOVE! So many awesome moments in Saved by the Bell.
I’m so excited…I’m so excited…I’m so…scarrrrred…
Which isn’t such a funny moment, but made even funnier when TBS uses it as a commercial bump.
“Friends Forever”, the entire “We all managed to get summer jobs at the same swanky resort, even though none of us have any connections whatsoever” season, and the oil spill episode, where Zack goes all vigilante on the presentation guy.
I agree with GSB, when the chick from Striptease took too much definitely not speed pills and started singing I’m so excited in the most comically dark way I’ve ever witnessed.
well your girlfriend stole mine but whatever. That episode had Slater karate kicking doors and he was in the shower when the quake hit, so he was wearing a towel and one of Lisa’a awful jackets.
The episode where Screech fights Zack over Lisa. It promoted inter racial couples quite well.
Jesse Spano tweaked out on caffeine pills, Slater sitting backwards in his chair all the time, dubbing the act taking a dump facing the tank ‘Slatering’ , Lisa Turtle in a dance-off with an injury, naming her dance “The Sprain”. Brick cell phone sightings, Screech’s spaghetti sauce ( it’s no Chocolate Wonderfall ), anything Kelly Kapowski in a bathing suit.
Chris Jericho is looking like a pretty obvious choice right now. My only dark horses are Dean Ambrose and/or Seth Rollins.
Though I’m surprised I haven’t seen more mention of Batista on the interwebs. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if it was Batista.
There’s a picture of Undertaker and McCool supposedly in TN floating around too. Taker comes back first tonight, making everyone think it’s him and then Y2J interrupts Punk/Ziggler at the end of the night.
Holy Cow! I’m going to Raw tonight.Making my sign now.Look for a bright green one with black writing
You get brownie points for an @MrBrandonStroud sign, but the big winner would be an @JoelVinson sign. At least, that’s what I was told.
I think the swerve that nobody has picked up on is that this is a promo hyping the return of Marty Janetty. It just makes sense. Think about it, he’s had decades to stew over that kick through the barbershop window. HBK is retired and killing all the animals for a TV show, and Miz just got Janetty’d by Cena last week. It’s all so clear to me.
Annnd the Undertaker’s in Tennessee now too. Shit.
It’s probably Jericho but it’s definitely Sting.
You’re wrong, it’s Lesnar disguised as the Brooklyn Brawler.
He definitely played the part last night.
er.. the other night. Stupid progression of time.
THESTINGER is in Washington DC tonight.
It’s McGuillicuty returning to take his travel mug back from Otunga
this would be more enjoyable to me than Taker OR Jericho.
My vote is for Brock Samson or Lesnar, whichever, as long as he comes out and punches the little kid in the face for speaking so many big words
Brock Samson! Man, when is the new season coming?
Clearly it is Chris Benoit’s reanimated corpse. Wait, too soon?
Truth wallops Miz with a chair. Belding walks in:
“Hey, hey, hey…WHAT is going ON here?”
I think belding could totally ace the Michael Cole Challenge. Side note: I hope this doesn’t seep into the hilarity that is the NHL Winter Classic. Every insane hockey personality in the same broadcast translates to concussed old people yelling at each other.
so, basically pro wrestling
TNA with sticks.
I read somewhere that it should be the Undertaker with the American Badass gimmick and Michelle McCool would be his “old lady.” This leads to a match with Clay Morrow at Wrestlemania with Half-Sack as the special guest referee.
I hope it’s for Husky Harris. Seriously. Why in the fuck is Husky Harris not on my TV (read: hard drive) every week?
OH YOU DIDN’T KNOW. Billy Gunn returns to reunite with Road Dogg and they take chairs to Air Boom for 20 minutes which includes 2 commercial breaks.
That would give me reason to wear my “24 Karat Ass” shirt!
I wear it under my shirt and tie every day at work.
I just want to state for the record that if Taker does return as the Bad Ass I am done with WWE. In my eyes that would make TNA look like WCW circa 1996-1997 in comparison.
I fully expect Jericho, obviously. I expect Punk to beat Ziggler and then be interrupted by a video package that ends with Jericho’s arrival. I thought for a brief moment Morrison getting future-endeavored was a work seeing as how they mentioned him by name repeatedly in the time since his contract was up. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’s a sloppy-drunk Scott Hall who falls face first on his way to the ring.
Take note–at 0:08, Zack Morris is the first person in history to give the “THIS fuckin’ guy” look.
Anyone else like Daniel Bryan’s smart ass comments to Big Show on Smackdown? For some reason, I think it was his most effective mic work in ages.
We’re all going to be eating a bunch of crow when the Shockmaster stumbles out and falls on the ramp tonight.
THESTINGER believes that no matter who it is that it will be disappointing. The only thing they can do is just have Jericho / Undertaker / Batista / Kharma / Brock return as a mega stable or something.
THESTINGER is a bit of a mark for Jericho but all the same THESTINGER is getting tired of his returning. This will have to be the last time he does it or else Cena will get pissed off that he doesn’t have perfect attendance this semester.
CM Punk just posted a pic of him backstage at RAW. This clearly means that he is the mystery man. You are all welcome, I have solved the mystery!
Clearly its the return of Mordecai.
Owen Hart returns to reveal his death was a work! OMFg!
But I’d put the smart money on Undertaker returning with an angelic blonde female who happens to be his mom. . . He will fight Kane at wrestlemania.
/1997 rumor is FINALLY going to come true.
That would make me extremely happy and mad at the same time
It’s Jackson Andrews….kinda obvious…
big daddy viscera or the boogeyman
Abe Knuckleball Schwartz
It’s D’Lo Brown or GTFO.
YES! Headshake into a leg drop on CM Punk. Punk v. Brown at Rumble. Brown v. Taker at Mania for the gold.
Think ‘Taker’s going to be mad when his “return” has some one else “returning” on the same night two years in a row?
It would be awesome if Jericho returned, and then Undertaker showed up and challenged him (maybe for Wrestlemania?) for taking his return time. (and then Brodus Clay showed up and challenged them both for getting to show up before he does)
The Sheepherders.
I got the new Stone Cold and the Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart dvd sets for Christmas ready to break open in case of emergency (the mystery guy is X-Pac)
I got that sinking X-pac feeling a couple times also. (Because there was an X on the dropped notebook in one of those promos).
I believe “It Begins” is Shane and Stephanie. Because there was a boy in a suit and a girl in the video. That’s all I got.
It’s actually X-Pac and Broadus Clay. You figure out which one’s the woman there.
It was going to be Brodus Clay, but they postponed it to 1/7/13
We’re all going to be real disappointed when Skip Sheffield comes out onto the stage dressed like a robot.
The humans are dead. /robotvoice’d
That would be goddamned amazing.
Kane really comes off as that one kid in High School that tried too hard to be dark and edgy.
John Cena is the mystery guy
It’s Tony Clifton, mos def.
Tony Clifton versus Jerry Lawler for Wrestlemania!
Cena got new jorts. There’s your surprise.
The transitional North Korean government has issues with the way the Kane promo footage was manipulated just now.
Cena died 3 days ago and we just havent been told yet
Christmas creatures? Clearly John hasn’t heard of the Gobbledygooker.
If the recap of Kane’s promo taught me anything, its that WWE’s media department can really amplify crowd chants and make Kane speak concisely.
If WWE’s Media Department could preemptively edit Creative, we might not be in this mess.
Welp, start the “it’s your money – it’s your opinion” drinking game portion of tonight’s RAW.
Wait… now that he’s wearing black… in this Dark Side Cena?
Ugh, John Cena’s “you paid your money so it’s okay if you shit on me really” schtick is so bad. Way to be a prostitute, bro. THESTINGER even discouraged people from booing you last week at the DC house show.
I feel like Cena is using the same character mold as John Laurinaitis: keep acting the same way and be oblivious to what people are saying about you. It’s brilliant
I’m ascared…
Has the extent of Kane’s fire-making powers ever been canonized? Can he only make fire appear from ringposts and/or the entryway, or does he just really like those places?
Paul Bearer was carrying a fire flower around in his pocket the entire time.
Cena- “I’ve been wrestling the same people, winning, making insane amounts of money and have been getting the same response for almost a decade. So I think I’m good and will continue to be happy” shocking
Cool evil laugh bro.
/BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
//AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
///HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
why do they keep showing the girl, will jericho show up with stacy keibler or whatever
Kane must have the pyro team in his pocket.
Hooray, now it is time for Cody Rhodes! Slightly lesser hooray for Daniel Bryan time!
Michael Cole is excellent at burying young talent.
Indeed. He needs to study old Heenan game tape ASAP.
Cody/MY BOY DBRYAN RIGHT HERE right off the bat? Thanks, WWE.
Everyone stop typing! The stuff on the TV is actually worth looking at right now!
I don’t know who’s going to win, but I feel like Cody Rhodes’ bronzer advantage may play a part in the result.
What really sets Bryan apart from the pack is not shaving his arm pits. Non-conformity at its finest.
Small Package…FTW!!!
Mr. Small Package.
And then he showed Michael Cole the Real Small Package…
Wow, he must have learned that move from A.J.
I hope whats beginning is a TNA invasion angle so I can watch 2011 Scott Steiner and Bubba Ray wrestle air boom
In Illinois, it’s illegal to use an open plastic water bottle as a weapon.
Daniel Bryan: Heavyweight Champion, scrappy underdog, or.both?
yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
yes
Being a sitting duck is better than being Howard the Duck
Did he just say he wouldn’t be a shitting duck?
I heard shitting duck too.
Quack! Quack!
Arsenio Truth.
What is it with Miz and ducks? He’s compared the “what” chants to getting quacked at, he looks like Howard the Duck, he won’t be a sitting/lame duck, and now, more quacks. Bizarre.
QUACK QUACK QUACK
Asparagus the Wonder Dog references on Raw = huge best
Now if they’ll just acknowledge Chiappetta.
This duck angle needs an Emilio Estevez guest host spot.
Who is miz facing?
Now that Breaking Bad is between seasons the dynamic of R Truth and The Miz provides the best drama on television.
R-Truth: the Moppy-era Perry Saturn of today.
“But I was only a douche about the talent we should push for only an eighth of the match!”
Where are you, Chocolate Wonderfall?
I love the Royal Rumble! I mark so hard for that PPV!
“The 25th Anniversary of” thing again = Worst.
One Man Gang on my television = Best.
R.I.P. cool Wade Barrett jacket.
Security Cam Footage = Best
Someone should have warned Randy about stairs, bro, someone should have told him, dog!
I would just like to say that Lobster Mobster is the best screen name around.
Apparently WWE cameramen have a difficult time opening doors.
On a serious note… why didn’t the book Barrett-Orton a year and a half ago?
“Blah blah blah british accent blah blah barrage.”
hey guys! maybe santino will win this match!
Important canon inquiry; are Socko and Cobra related?
Yeah, but they don’t speak anymore. It’s sad really.
SWEET CHIN MUSIC
Best: Wade Barrett-Scorpions fan.
Did Barrett drop Wasteland for an even shittier finisher?
Maybe he didn’t want to waste his ‘A’ material on Santino.
Shhhh… Be very, very quiet. I’m hunting Miz. R-Truth, the new Elmer Fudd.
Miz season. Cena season. Miz season. Cena season.
Ron Pearlman, Billy Zane, Kimbo Slice and Dave Batista… why wasn’t that the new A-Team?
Christmas is past, so now I’ll have to choose between buying “The Scorpion King 3″ or buying the royal rumble PPV #firstworldpains
Kimbo Slice with gimmick infringement on Kamala.
AWESOME!!!!!
I’d love to join in on the conversation, but my girlfriend is watching some Colin Hanks movie on Lifetime Movie Network and switching to the Real Housewives during the commercials.
Somebody please kill me.
great anticipation by Truth to be over in that section of the crowd.
Apparently Elizabeth Berkley gave Miz bouncing lessons.
What in the shit is the deal with this gd water bottle?
Zigglez 2012
#Areyouseriousbro
After that water bottle hit, Nigel McGuinness is somewhere screaming “PUT YOUR HANDS UP!”
I just cracked the “it begins” code! REPO MAN!
Also, Brandon, are you going to be doing live/open threads for the next fifty weeks of MMA? Because that would be rad, and I’d actually get to participate since I won’t be hanging with family for the next fifty weeks, probably.
water bottle finish needs to be dlc for WWE 12
Dolph Handstand Spotted! Hoooraaaaay!
Getting got = being hit in the head with a flimsy plastic water bottle?
As a resident of Tennessee, let me be the first to say Ziggler has a valid point.
World Title match not main event = burn everything.
2nd
Mark Henry red herring alert! Mystery Man arrives during 6 man tag match.
That transcends shit eating grin. That’s a santorum eating grin.
Since when is being known as the All American, American something that strikes fear into anyone.
Michael Cole may be killing raw weekly but right now Matt Millen is doing color commentary for the Fiesta bowl and its much worse
Edge left a black hole on Smackdown…Punk needs to head over to fill the void!
Clean Finish or “The End Begins” During the match?
Clean. Dude above is right – Mark Henry won’t be in that tag match.
I believe the original countdown to the millennium Jericho segment was at 10:00. This, of course, is meaningless trivia that I remember instead of things like my checking account number.
No one can remember their checking account number. That’s like Rainman shit.
True
It’s not Jericho returning upset that Punk is stealing his catch phrase. Its Fantastic Four’s the Thing arriving for the same reason.
Vickie jiggles a lot when she claps
Andre 3000 returns tonight!
Really? Exposed Turnbuckle…
faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaart
I like this “incompetent competence” thing, but you cannot, CAN NOT, win the belt on a count-out. Let’s not pretend otherwise, WWE.
It’d be really great if Cole and Lawler would make it clear that the title didn’t change hands.
LOL at Swagger in that picture between Kane and Henry. “One of these things is not like the other!”
Fuck it. Its Brodus Clay.
Um…What? Does Dolph actually think he’s the champion?
The important thing here is more Punk-Ziggler to come.
And now for your 20 seconds of Divas action…
What the hell is Dolph celebrating for?
Nice fuck up Lawler…DQ…really?
I approve of whatever you call what the Bellas are wearing.
Second that opinion.
PUNK V ZIGGLER AT ROYAL RUMBLE.
OHAI ATTITUDE ERA BUZZ WORD
Beat you like a bitch…FUCK YEAH.
THAT’S NOT PG
That’s not a bad thing…that’s a good thing!
If they’re allowed to swear again can we have Johnny Ace just start throwing out random Funkhouser lines?
“You pee sitting down? What do you shit standing up?”
I will pay Ace 100 dollars american if he tells Punk “Grab some wood there bud!” and then they proceed to re-enact famous bender scenes from the breakfast club.
Aaaaand heeeeere weeee go
With all the Underworld ads, I’m pretty sure its Gangrel.
LOL shakey cam
It’s Sting, wearing his Jericho suit.
Y2J…um…duh!
sweet jacket. its like the shoes little kids parents get for them.
did anyone else just see that rando fan stroke jericho’s chest?
Took long enough…Ralphus must have got lost again.
How long until Jericho starts getting fat again and has to leave so he can follow his real passion of rock and roll or something?
See? Sometime’s it’s NOT the Undertaker.
Usually, though…Undertaker.
Uuuuuuuh ok fucking talk
I have no idea why Y2J would cause shakey cam…or why he would need a small girl as a herald
ahahahahaha omg what is going on
What the fuck is he doing?
I’m trying to be cynical and smarmy but I’m authentically psyched to see him again. This is cool.
Sooo…. 7 minutes later…
It’s a misdirect. It ain’t him. Stalling too long.
The crowd is acting like Stone Cold and the Rock just had a baby or something
I don’t know if this is the most brilliant heel tactic of all-time or the worst thing in the world.
THESTINGER chooses to retweet this comment.
LMFAO this is the best thing ever WWE has proven that to have a show you dont need matches or promos you can literally just have some guy walk around and fucking high five ppl for probably the whole time
Why is this still happening?
In the future, there is no need for words. Glowing suits say it all for you.
What the hell is going on?
Troll Jericho is awesome.
I think you’re right. I think he just trolled us. His new theme should be “Never gonna give you up”
djb123 – That made me laught so hard.
Quite frankly, I’m exhausted.
W. T. F. How did any of this crap have anything to do with Jericho???
Okay, I’ve decided. That was amazing.
WELCOME BACK WELCOME BACK WELCOME BACK
Oh please god let this mean he’s gonna go heel please please please.
That was one epic troll job.
Troll genious. He just spared us 10 minutes of having to listen to Michael Cole.
^^^ THIS
That was a stroke of pecker-headed genius. He managed to take a crowd that was frothing for him and make them go “what an ass.”
Jericho turned from the most over face in the world to a heel by saying literally nothing. He’s a genius and I think I’m in love with him. Incredible.
Red Tails: The Tuskeegee Airmen with DUBSTEP.
Jericho acted like anyone in a comedy who accidentally takes drugs.
I lol’d. “LOVE ALL THE THINGS!”
Okay I don’t know what they were going for, but i literally rolled on the floor laughing so kudos
Is it just me or has Cole turned it down a little tonight? I’m pretty sure he just almost complimented Zack Ryder…
So he’s here to mock how the WWE Universe is stupid and pops for anything? And that everyone is easy to please and there doesn’t actually need to be any content? And how we like the idea of wrestlers we’re familiar with more than actual wrestling? And expose how shallow wrestling truly is?
Or, I don’t know, something dumb with Stephanie McMahon and “you people.”
Hellfire and Coffee Mugs!
best use of david otunga…a heel npc
I used to wrestle matches, then I took a PHD to the WWE.
*long coffee slurp*
ARRIVE
JERICHO
LEAVE
Brodus? Brodus?
Thanks to Lawler and Cole for clarifying a few rules for us tonight.
Guy out of the ring, referee counts to ten = disqualification.
Two guys hit each other with chairs, referee does not count = double countout.
and here we go…
I TOTALLY see why Punk vs. Ziggler wasn’t the Main Event. The fuck is this?
Times like this I miss JR. OMG! Kane’s Takin him right to hell! That son of a bitch!
Was Kane pulling Ryder down there to rape him?
no rape…HHH isn’t the one in the Kane mask
lame
Actually that was the funniest thing I’ve ever, ever seen ever.
I think Kane trying to drag Ryder to Hell would have backfired. Satan would have gotten annoyed with Zack in like 5 mins and sent him back.
Fact: New Jersey exists entirely underneath the WWE ring in memphis.
Jericho did come out, run around and leave right? I didn’t just hallucinate this whole RAW, did I?!
I can’t wait for that last hour of Raw to win a OMG WTF Slammy award next year.
THESTINGER is hopeful that this Satanic angle will allow for a born again Christian STING return to fight the demonic Kane for Zack Ryder’s soul.
It’s like no one remembers who Kane is and that hes been beaten by them probably 200 times
But he has a mask now. He’s scary.
This fucking guy spent the last year-plus doing Benny Hill routines with Edge and stomping around playing a fucking invisible trombone at Wrestlemania. But nevermind that, it’s 1997 guy again.
Yeah plus now he’s fueled and empowered by rape, apparently.
For a while there I thought I’d died and this show was some kind of fucked up purgatory. Best and Worst is going to be so much fun to write tomorrow.
It did kind of seem like a mad fever dream didn’t it?
This is as excited as I’ve been to read a B&W. I don’t know what the hell this was, but it will absolutely make for a fun column.
Pretty sure you meant Worst and Worst
I bet he has a half-dead X-Pac tied up down there. Helms too.
And plaster mold of Tori’s lower half.
What we’ve all failed to realize is that Jericho had a massive stroke on the way down to the ring, and is now only capable of yelling “YEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!”
so is Brodus Clay one of the vampires or is he a lycan? I was told he’d debut this week but I haven’t seen him yet.
If they ever show Kane arriving to an arena in a windowless van I’m out. (i’ll stay)
Inevitable backlash begins….Y’ALL A BUNCHA SOAP OPERA BITCHES
I need to read Raw Review right now, can not wait for your rant on Jericho. Hell, just do the thing on Jericho’s promo, I’m going to be too busy anxietying over what you’re going to say about the Jericho promo to read anything else with any kind of interest.
For some reason I just called that segment a promo.
I nearly wet myself reading these comments….looking forward to a GREAT B/W of Raw!
I’m semi-impressed just by the through line of making Zach Ryder Cena’s little buddy for weeks prior to this. At the time, I thought maybe they were just glomming Cena on to leach likable points off of Ryder but maybe, just maybe, they’re trying to make him more human and relatable in the process.
It would be cool if Jericho, in all the excitement, completely forgot his lines and decided he would just walk around the ring for a while instead of winging it.
It would have been great if Zach Ryder was yelling “ARE YOU SERIOUS, BRO!!!” going down in the hole…WWE missed a big opportunity…
I cannot wait for the best/worst of Raw. And if you hate on the greatest Jeritroll ever Brandon, I will punch your e-nuts.
I JUST noticed Brodus in the headline pic! Who knew he’d fit in so well with those guys, LOL! Great photoshop skills.
NOW YOU PHOTOSHOP IN THE FUNKASAURUS, AND IT WINS.