Pre-show notes:

- Do me a big favor and click that “like” button at the top. If we get 100+ comments on these reports, we should be getting just as many likes. This is my job, technically, and I get paid based on some really weird stuff.

- Thanks to Casey of Hammerlock Dialectic for gifs, as always, especially the one at the very end.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- We’ve got a Smackdown discussion thread happening for tonight’s Great American Bash live special, so be sure to check back in a little bit for that. It’ll have a Ryback badge, and I don’t want you to miss it.

Short list this week, so let’s get right to it. Please click through to enjoy the Best And Worst Of WWE Raw for July 2, 2012. Yes. YES. YES! YES!

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TONIGHT! IT'S GONNA BE ... A TAG TEAM MATCH something something

On tonight’s show:

The moment of truth has arrived, and Brock Lesnar’s camp will officially respond to Triple H’s SummerSlam challenge on a Raw SuperShow that’s already bursting with tense situations ready to explode at the slightest provocation. While The King of Kings and the wrecking machine hammer out the fine print (or just hammer each other with their fists), WWE Champion CM Punk and Daniel Bryan will be testing the waters with AJ to determine where her favor might lie as the special guest ref for their WWE Title Match at Money in the Bank.

Translation: 23 minutes of talking, 1 minute of punching.

More importantly, WWE continues its march to 1000 episodes of Raw with returning General Managers, and this week features none-other than Theodore R. Long, former Smackdown GM and Team Johnny butler. Long will dance by dribbling two imaginary basketballs, stand backstage awkwardly while a woman rubs up against him and make a tag team match pitting The Undertaker and Randy Orton against The Celtic Warrior Sheamus and RANDY ORTON! Two Randies.

As always, my 10 favorite comments from tonight’s discussion will be featured in tomorrow’s Best And Worst Of WWE Raw 7/2/12 column. To nominate a comment for top 10 contention, reply to it with a +1.

Pre-discussion discussion questions:

1. Is The Ryback my favorite wrestler? Yes.
2. Besides “Mack” and Cheese, what’s the worst sounding WWE food? My vote is anything cooked Mideon-rare.
3. Will Teddy Long’s GM-ership lead to a John Laurinaitis As Butler cameo? Would wishing make it so?

Pre-show notes:

- Please make sure to leave a comment on the report. Facebook likes and Twitter shares are huge. These take forever to write, so if you want me to keep them up instead of just posting tweets about Skip Bayless from Jose Canseco or whatever like a normal popular sports blog should, do your part.

- Thanks to Casey of the WWE Magazine awareness-winning Hammerlock Dialectic for pics and gifs.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- If you’re one of those people who got to the report early and don’t see all the pages, please consider spending some time listening to today’s epic edition of the With Spandex pro wrestling podcast. It’s about the greatest fan fiction of all time, Adventures In Bitchsitting, and deals with Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle as single fathers. It’s amazing, and you should hear it (plus it’ll by me a little time).

Enjoy the Best And Worst Of WWE Raw for June 11, 2012. Three hours of it. Jesus.

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When you find out why the banana split is there, you’ll wish it was something else.

Father’s Day is this Sunday, June 17, and to celebrate, I’ve devoted an entire episode of With Spandex to Adventures In Bitchsitting, a nearly-lost pro wrestling fan fiction masterpiece about Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit being single fathers. Trust me, that’s the least bizarre thing that happens. Preserved from an attachment on a post in a long-forgotten Yahoo! fan fic group, the story features a frank discussion of French sexuality, two complete viewings of Lilo & Stitch and Teddy Long as the proprietor of a sex club. It’s amazing, and if I only accomplish one thing in my writing career I want sharing Adventures In Bitchsitting with you to be it.

This week’s special guest (and reader) is Ari from Tumblr’s Feminist Pro Wrestling, the person magnanimous enough to share the story with me in the first place. Also joining With Spandex are Lex Lybrand and Kelli Kelli from Wear The Cheese, because sh*t, somebody had to hear this for the first time.

Happy Father’s Day week, everybody. You can listen to and download the podcast below. Be sure to comment on this one in the comments section below, because … well, you’ll hear. LISTENER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Subscribe to With Spandex on iTunes (finally) here: With Spandex on iTunes

RSS Feed: feed://withleather.uproxx.com/tag/with-spandex/feed

Direct download of the episode here: With Spandex Episode 5 – Father’s Day Fan Fiction Special

Pre-show notes:

- First and foremost I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ give a huge thank you to Bill Hanstock for filling in on the WWE Raw Open Discussion Thread and to Chris Trew for his excellent fill-in job for me on yesterday’s Best And Worst Of Raw. I’ve been in an airport for seemingly the last month and a half so I had to miss everything. Yes, it was spoiled for me before I got home. No, it won’t be as good when I get to write about it next week.

- Comments are appreciated. I’ve gotten a lot of WHERE’S THE WRESTLEMANIA THING feedback, so let’s hear what you thought about the show below. Shares, Facebook likes, Pinterests (?) and Google Plussage are all appreciated.

- Thanks again to THESTINGER for helping me out with show images and gifs. Anything that wasn’t grabbed from TV was taken by me, or someone holding my camera.

- I am extremely tired!

Please click through and enjoy my take on the live experience of WWE Wrestlemania 28. It was … something.

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We’ve talked about it all year, and it’s finally upon us … Wrestlemania XVIII happens in Miami, Florida, this weekend, and by the time you read this I’ll be on the scene to bring you up-to-the-minute live notes, reports, interviews and perspectives and/or taking mark photos with the Funkasaurus.

It’s Wrestlemania and you want to talk about it, so I’ll skip the hype. After the jump you can find the complete card and a series of polls asking you to select who you think will come out in top in the event’s big matches, so after you’ve made your choices, drop down into the comments section and earn a +Rhodes or two explaining your picks.

You may also earn literal +Rhodes for participating in the weekend’s discussion. More on that at the end.

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