Here’s a change: the WWE has actually announced several matches for tonight’s Raw. Heres’ what we’ve got going down on the special three-hour Slammys edition that starts at 8e/7c:

• Champion v. Champion: WWE Champion Edge v. World Heavyweight Champion John Cena
• Batista v. Triple H
• Chris Jericho v. Jeff Hardy
• IC Title Tourney: John Morrison v. CM Punk
• IC Title Tourney: Kofi Kingston v. Rey Mysterio

Also, we’ve got some pretty interesting nominees for this year’s Slammy awards. The top two awards are “Superstar of the Year” and “Match of the Year.”

Nominees for Superstar of the Year are:

• Batista
• Chris Jericho
• Edge
• Jeff Hardy
• John Cena
• Triple H

My vote goes for Jeff Hardy–I’d put him slightly ahead of Edge.

If you haven’t voted in the latest poll yet, here are the nominees for Match of the Year, including PWBite additions:

For a full list of nominees for tonight’s Slammy Awards, check out WWE.com. Discuss the three-hour edition of Monday Night Raw here.

After seeing the contender’s for “Match of the Year” in the WWE, I thought to myself, “man, they must be leaving some good matches off.”

Then, I really started thing about WWE PPVs and other shows from this year, and I realized there really weren’t very many good wrestling matches in the WWE in 2008.

In case you’re not up to date, here’s a Podcast Poll featuring the nominations for WWE Match of the Year for Monday Night’s Slammy Awards on Raw:

About the only thing I could see added to these nominations are one of the Chris Jericho/HBK matches. Outside of that, pickins are pretty slim. I’d think that the Jericho/HBK ladder match would have made the cut, but I guess not. In fact, that match was far better than the “Money in the Bank” match at Wrestlemania. Just because there were a lot of wrestlers with a lot of ladders doesn’t mean the match is better than HBK and Jericho’s.

The lack of quality matches is not a good sign. Even when WWE TV is bad, there are usually some pretty spectacular matches on PPV. That hasn’t been the case this year. WWE PPVs have been loaded with “middle-of-the-road” quality matches up to this point.

TV matches have been more of the same. I think there have been some really great opportunities for awesome matches on TV, but the bookers have taken so much time away from the matches themselves that a potential 20-minute classic is turned into an 8 or 9 minute match spanning a commercial break. The best wrestling matches on WWE TV this year have actually probably been on the ECW show.

I’m not sure why it’s been such a down year for good wrestling matches in the WWE, but I’m hoping they pick things up for 2009.

Feel free to vote in the podcast poll above–you may even add your own answer to this poll. If you think that there was a really great match that has been left off, bring it up in the comments!

Let’s find out how accurate all of you PWBites are in predicting an MMA match. I’ll use the results on the next edition of the podcast!

Episode number 145 of PWB’s Official Podcast is now online.

In this episode, I discuss gimmick matches run wild, the results of last week’s podcast poll featuring Sting, Christian’s potential move to WWE, Lesnar v. Couture and give you my final word on the TNA Impact! video game.

Podcast Table of Contents:

• Intro and Plugs (1:00)
• The Sorry State of Gimmick Matches (3:16)
• Podcast Poll: Should Sting Sign with the WWE in 2010? (13:22)
• How to book Christian v. Edge in the WWE (22:11)
• Brock Lesnar v. Randy Couture (29:29)
• The Final Word: My Take on the TNA Impact! Video Game (36:35)

The word that’s been making the rounds of late is that Sting will stay with TNA until the end of 2009. There are even rumors that he’ll work a program in late 2009 with Ric Flair–that would pit a 50-year-old against a 60-year-old.

But what then? Sting has never worked for the WWE, but Vince McMahon has tried to sign him in the past. No doubt he’d like to get him on board for a DVD collection, and 2010 might be good timing for a short run for Sting culminating at Wrestlemania. In fact, a Sting v. Undertaker match might be a nice send-off for both men.

The question is, should Sting sign with WWE in 2010? I know that he’ll be over 50, but that hasn’t stopped a lot of guys out there.

Feel free to comment and I’ll use these results on the next PWB Podcast!

Episode number 144 of PWB’s Official Podcast is now online.

In this episode, I discuss the results of this week’s podcast poll on the new TNA Impact! Video game. I also tell you why you’re crazy if you think the HBK/Chris Jericho feud sucks, and give you my top 5 ladder matches. Finally, I check in for some listener feedback and give you my final word on TNA’s potential re-birth and the “respect” storyline.

Podcast Table of Contents:

• Intro and Plugs (1:00)
• Podcast Poll: Will you try the new TNA Impact! Video Game? (6:00)
• The Greatness of the HBK/Chris Jericho Feud (9:23)
• Top 5 Ladder Matches (12:07)
• Listener Feedback: GTA IV, Fantasy Matches, “Respect” storyline in TNA (20:53)
• The Final Word: TNA’s Re-Birth? (26:54)

Well, it looks like there won’t be a title change tonight unless they’ve got something really wacky planned–the WWE has just announced that the World Heavyweight Championship match will open Raw. That’s right, it will be C.M. Punk v. Chris Jericho at 9 eastern/8 central.

They must REALLY be concerned with their ratings if they are throwing that match on first, but hey, it’s good for me because it means I can go to bed early and DVR the second hour of the show.

The only other match announced for tonight’s show is Kane v. Rey Mysterio.

Discuss Raw here, and don’t forget to vote in the newest podcast poll: