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The writing had been on the wall for a while.

First, he was separated from tag partner Trevor Murdoch, who was released by WWE. Then, after being reinvented as Chris Jericho’s protege, Lance Cade disappeared from WWE TV for a while. Last Tuesday, the hammer finally fell: WWE released Lance Cade.

While Cade never really got over with the audience, and thus this news is probably going to be about as interesting as the latest developments in acne treatments, the real item of interest here is a transparency question.

The WWE never really stated directly why Cade was released. However, Jim Ross, on his blog, dropped hints, detailing enough of the circumstances about events leading up to Cade’s release that suggest the real reason is a violation of the WWE’s Wellness Policy.

About a year ago, in the wake of the Benoit Family Tragedy, WWE made it very public that they would soon be much more transparent when employees are released for Wellness Policy violations. Now, a year later, it seems the company may be slipping back into its old method of covering over the actual circumstances.

That’s unfortunate, as it reduces public trust in WWE and allows performers to remain in denial about possible problems they may be facing in their lives.

Let’s hope that if Cade is facing certain behind-the-scenes problems, he will face them down directly and get his life back on a positive and healthy track.

Although Ric Flair was given one of the classiest send-offs in all of WWE history, the ring veteran isn’t taking retirement well. According to online reports, he’s even negotiating for a return to the wrestling ring.

If it happens, however, it won’t be in WWE, TNA or even in the US. Word is, Flair is negotiating with several promotions based out of Japan for some matches that would inflate his bank account impressively, which just goes to show how important budgeting and planning is, even in retirement.

Flair’s official line currently is that his retirement applies only to the US and European markets. Let’s hope the Living Legend doesn’t embarrass himself in his golden years, the way Muhammad Ali has, on occasion.

The Jericho-Michaels feud has been money for WWE ever since it began in earnest, just after WrestleMania last spring. Several Match of the Year candidates have sprung out of this feud, and placing the strap on Jericho at the last PPV makes tonight’s match mean even more.

Neither Jericho nor Michaels have ever needed alcohol rehab, to the best of my knowledge, nor have they ever checked into a drug treatment center, and that’s great since it means they had very clear minds going into tonight’s 22-minute marathon main event match, which is a Michaels specialty stip: a ladder match.

Like most ladder matches, this one was full of great high-spots, holy crap moments and near-finishes. After all these months of feuding with Jericho only rarely getting the upper hand, the big win here means a lot more in solidifying Jericho’s claim on the title than it would have meant if not for the six-month-plus build-up of this top-notch feud by two exciting in-ring performers.

Here’s hoping Jericho moves on to a new feud now for a while, to begin a build-up to a potential WrestleMania main event match… perhaps against Michaels. But if they keep harping at this feud every PPV, it’ll be stale by the time the next WrestleMania rolls around.

That’s it for my No Mercy 2008 coverage! Stay tuned for other news and notes between now and the next PPV, which by the way is one of my favorites: Cyber Sunday 2008!

WINNER: Chris Jericho retains the World Heavyweight Title

RATING: 9.0 (out of 10)

Before this match, there was an entertaining segment involving MVP, Ted DiBiase Jr., Cody Rhodes, Manu, C.M. Punk, and Kofi Kingston that was entertaining, and a couple of too-brief filler matches in which Batista totally dominated JBL and Big Show won via TKO stoppage over Undertaker. But I’d rather skip right to the meaty dual main event matches, to shine a sconce on the real interesting matches tonight.

The first of these was a SmackDown match involving Triple H defending the WWE Title against Jeff Hardy. These two rarely hook up, but it’s always been memorable when they do and tonight’s match was no exception. Lots of fast-n-furious near-falls, reversals and such that really kept a person guessing at the finish, and Jim Ross was in top form on the announcing duties, really doing great at putting Hardy over as a legit threat to Triple H’s title reign.

The final minute or two is what put the match over the top and made this, in my opinion, the best match of the night. Great 17-minute match.

WINNER: Triple H retains the WWE Title

RATING: 9.1 (out of 10)

The Kane-Mysterio match was the first match of the night to really get the PDAs blazing with IMs. Kane has been threatening to unmask Mysterio for several weeks now.

So it was a bit disappointing that the match ended suddenly with what looked like a brutal chairshot on Mysterio by Kane, delivered while Rey was in the air, in the middle of a jump.

Not sure if this one’s storyline or a legit injury-accident in the midst of a match, but that kind of uncertainty seems to be what they were going for. For the eleven minutes it lasted, though, the match had some juice, which is saying something considering Kane is not one of my favorite workers by any stretch of the imagination.

WINNER: Rey Mysterio by DQ

RATING: 7.7 (out of 10)

Ever since pairing with Santino Marella for comedy, Beth Phoenix has been able to get far more over with WWE audiences than she ever did as an anonymous powerhouse woman wrestler. Therefore, her title retaining win tonight against Candace Michelle is completely understandable.

Despite being a brief, four-minute match - not much longer than the normally give on Raw for a women’s title match - the action was fairly consistent and high-energy, which is important for the appeal of these matches.

Now that the Glamarella storyline seems to be headed toward break-up mode, it’s unlikely the mismatched pair will be selecting any Bugaboo strollers anytime soon, although if they did “settle down” for a life full of rugrats, that’d be a top-notch choice of stroller.

Anywho, the match was short but fun. A nice change-of-pace match, but nothing special.

WINNER: Beth Phoenix retains Women’s Title

RATING: 5.0 (out of 10)

For an opening match, the ECW Title match between current champ Matt Hardy and challenger Mark Henry was, at least, more entertaining than an infomercial for the best acne treatment. Hardy and the ECW Title have received a lot of positivity recently; Hardy pinned Triple H on the MyNetwork debut of SmackDown, and this win over Henry solidifies and legitimizes Hardy’s place as ECW champion.

The match was under 10 minutes, though, and opened the show, so it’s not like ECW is gaining that much respect; but at least with the strap on Hardy, they’re getting better than the lumbering performances recent super-heavyweight ECW champs have been able to produce.

WINNER: Matt Hardy retains the title

RATING: 7.5 (out of 10)

On October 3, WWE Friday Night Smackdown will be moving from The CW to MyNetwork, and WWE is hoping they won’t need the help of moving services to get the message out to their fans.

Of course, only the biggest markets in the nation have MyNetwork affiliates in their area, though satellite subscribers usually won’t have to worry about that hurdle. The important thing to keep in mind is that there will be a channel change for Smackdown fans a week from Friday.

WWE Raw will air its 800th episode tonight and that leaves one wondering what the Fed will dream up to celebrate. Right now, the only announced match is between JBL and Batista.

That’s a promo on diet pills if you ask me; for an 800th episode, they ought to have a lot more than that in store.

And by the time Raw hits the air tonight, I’m sure they will.

The airport incident involving WWE superstar Jeff Hardy has kind of been sorted out and clarified. According to online reports and news sources, Hardy was indeed detained at a Nashville airport, being denied boarding onto a flight because airport staff believed he “appeared intoxicated.”

Hardy has faced two strikes in the WWE Wellness Policy, and a third strike would lead directly to a major penalty, including suspension. However, contrary to some reports, there was no altercation over the incident and Hardy remained cooperative during the entire time.

Although the airline offered an alternative flight later on, Hardy made other arrangements to get to where he was going. Perhaps if he’d stayed at Laughlin hotels, he would have appeared more rested and none of this would have occurred.

Well, at least there was not enough to the incident to trigger a third strike in Jeff’s Wellness Policy; he’s a high-energy, very promotable talent with the ability to wear a major belt sometime soon. Let’s hope he stays smart and out of trouble, so that nothing messes up his momentum.

An over-the-hill Mick Foley finally debuted on TNA last week, and the result was a nice surprise, but little Impact. It’s been almost a decade since Foley’s been an in-ring impact-player, so although his sudden appearance on the big screen at the arena was a nice way of introducing him, one has to wonder at how much Foley can actually contribute to TNA, which needs to be focusing on developing its own young stars and not remain just a hangout for old WWE castoffs.

While at WWE, Foley demonstrated a lot of selflessnes putting over younger talent; but will he do likewise in TNA, where there’s a lot less star power? Only time will tell, but right now Dixie Carter’s crew seems to be throwing everything, including farmhouse sinks, into the mix to see what sticks.

Not a good sign.

The first RAW with Chris Jericho as champion went very well; the last time Jericho held singles gold in WWE was at WrestleMania 18, when he dropped the strap to Triple-H. That’s a long drought, although he did take a couple years off for his music career before returning earlier this year.

Last time he held championship gold, Jericho was the first and so far remains the only WWE undisputed champion. Whether Jericho is positioned as a transitional champion, or whether WWE is prepared to line up a host of promotional pens and other products promoting Jericho as the WWE standard-bearer, only time will tell, but he’s certainly a deserving worker.

This is even more true in the wake of his long feud with Shawn Michaels; over the past several PPV events, Michaels and Jericho have consistently put on the match of the night, and Unforgiven was no exception to that rule; they hit a highlight that will almost certainly number among both men’s top five matches of their careers.

While it remains to be seen exactly which way WWE is going to be going with Jericho as champion, the thing that does remain clear is that he certainly is wearing the title well so far. Next week’s cage match against CM Punk will be a sight to behold.