What happened after Raw, LLUSA star claims gimmick infringement, Interviews with Serena/Justin Roberts, new NXT debut, Australian Boot Camp?, WWE targeting Tea Party?, Jericho praises Shield, roster scheduling conflict, Sammartino dates, Smackdown audience, and Questions on lower card tag teams, Punk carrying The Rock?, edgy gimmicks, and Del Rio vs. Swagger

After Raw, Cody Rhodes came to ringside. The Rock cut a promo on him, then took a Rock Bottom and People's Elbow to send the fans home happy. I think that's short-sighted and defines Rhodes as below Rock. In a few months, Rock is going to be back in Hollywood and Rhodes is going to be someone the company needs to rely on. I'd be fine if it was a lower-card guy like Otunga, 3MB, Hawkins, etc. but Rhodes is an act with a future.

LLUSA's RJ Brewer basically accused WWE of ripping off his gimmick, which has received a good deal of press, for Swagger and Coulter. It's certainly possible that they did. Nothing's truly original. Who's to say that RJ Brewer wasn't inspired by JBL vs. the Guerreros?

Serena Deeb talked about returning to the ring. Here are some highlights. Speaking of Davina Rose, she's officially made her NXT debut, curiously enough under a mask. Her name going forward is Bayley. This was a few weeks ago but apparently slipped under the radar.

Everything else from yesterday is after the break.

TNA could be bringing its Boot Camp idea to Australia. Here's a quick piece on it. Note the top three wrestlers they mention and who's in the picture. Those guys have worldwide appeal and are important to the company for that reason. I hope the idea bears fruit.


WWE answered allegations that it's bashing the Tea Party with the Zeb Coulter gimmick. You can tell how much research went into this by the fact that they repeatedly misspelled Coulter's name. I don't think they're doing this to mock the Tea Party as much as get heat on Swagger. They haven't even mentioned the Tea Party, though there are of course similarities.

Chris Jericho put over The Shield on Twitter. Good to see that at least some older stars are willing to do that.

Don't expect many Raw stars on Smackdown, as that brand is overseas. More time to focus on the guys who aren't there.

Bruno Sammartino will also be at WrestleMania and Raw. I'd love to see him in a segment with C.M. Punk after those comments before the Rumble.

Justin Roberts talked. Good story.

Smackdown's audience on Friday was 2.68 million. Not sure why things dropped so drastically on the show ahead of a big PPV.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I call BS. Why would they even have tag team titles (and teams put together to compete for them) if they didn't value tag teams? The tag team division's doing fairly well right now. Anyway, I'm guessing they just don't see as much in PTP and The Usos as they do Team Hell No, The Shield, Team Rhodes Scholars, and Mysterio/Cara (and now Truth/Kofi?).

2. The Rock doesn't need to be carried. He's an all-time great and still has "it". That said, Punk did a killer job.

3. I... guess? I definitely disagree that we were supposed to hate Del Rio because of his ethnicity, and Mahal is of Indian descent. Kofi I can kind of see. At any rate, they're playing characters. Hugh Laurie is British but he played an American doctor. It's not a big deal. And controversial, true-to-life gimmicks are fine with me. It's a TV show. Get people talking and hating your heels.

4. Swagger's a former World Heavyweight and ECW Champion. How was that a joke? Someone coming back after time off to be dominant isn't out of the ordinary. At any rate, Swagger vs. Del Rio could be pretty solid. And I think WWE has a good card lined up: HHH vs. Lesnar, Cena vs. Rock (vs. Punk?), Punk vs. Taker (?)... some pretty big matches. And I don't mind Swagger winning if they're going to take him seriously now.

Nothing to add to 5. Talk about timing!

More wrestling tomorrow. Make sure to tune into our podcast at Blue Echo!