By Lee Stevens, PWTorch Specialist

R.I.P.

New fans to the WWE probably started the evening with a resounding "Conrad who?" when they saw that tonight's episode was dedicated to Conrad Efraim. Fans of the classic Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. WWF know the man called S.D. Jones, who passed away this weekend. Jones was not the greatest of his time, but he absolutely deserved the mention tonight. Jones represented a unique class of wrestler: the respectable jobber. Yes, he lost more than he won, but he always gave his opponent several moments of doubt. And to a young, naïve fan, he gave me a sense that he could pull the upset every week. This was a time of "The Unpredictable" Johnny Rodz, Rene Goulet, Jones, and more. Men who would rarely win, but would at least give you the idea that it was possible. The closest thing we have to that now is Funaki or Charlie Haas - men who are clearly played for humor first. Jones was respected enough that he was featured in "The Land of 1,000 Dances" video, he actually had an action figure, and he inducted former tag team partner Tony Atlas into the WWE Hall of Fame. Rest in peace, Special Delivery.

Let's take a closer look at Monday's Raw and be grateful that we don't have to text anyone to make something happen.

Oh, so we have to do this EVERY week?

From the start of the show, the WWE writers are proving that they can plan a show a week in advance. Chris Jericho invokes his "return match" clause by challenging Batista for the title next week. That's quickly followed up by Randy Orton challenging Shane and Stephanie McMahon to either fire Mike Adamle or he's quitting the WWE. Of course, they have until next week to make their decision. For two men who are supposed to be bad guys, they are very flexible when it comes to conforming their demands around special three-hour Raws. Thanks. Also, bonus points for remembering that Steph and Shane now turn off their phones during the show, so Orton couldn't call them to make his ultimatum tonight.

Later in the show, they set the stage for the inevitable Miz/Morrison destruction at the hands of DX. Honestly, it's a wonderful job of setting the stage for next week's show. I'm not sure why they can't do it every week. This saves you from thrown together main events and quickly forgotten segments, such as The Great Khali's destruction of Johnny Knoxville. I assume Knoxville is recovering nicely. It's unfortunate that the WWE cameras don't know where he's recuperating. Perhaps they have good hospitals in "Parts Unknown."

Adamle's grade

It's hard to argue with Orton's assessment of Adamle as a failure as an announcer, interviewer and G.M., but a failure as a husband and father? We'll just have to guess. Adamle is married to a woman named Kim and they have a daughter Alex. Since we don't have any proof, we'll give him an Incomplete.

Did you know we tape these?

Everyone here at the Microscope fully supports historical perspectives for matches, so it's with great pride that we salute the production team for showing the footage of Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, and Manu assaulting C.M. Punk just before his title bout at Unforgiven. As a result, he couldn't compete in the scramble, costing him his championship. That small detail gave a huge boost to the tag team match tonight as it made perfect sense that Punk would want revenge. Before the match, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole speculated that it would be an upset if Punk and Kofi Kingston were to win. I appreciate the rare display of credibility to the tag champs, but Punk is a former World Heavyweight champion and Kingston carried the Intercontinental belt.

I-C = Irrelevant Commentators

I understand that the WWE likely paid appearance and travel fees for Roddy Piper, Goldust, and Honky Tonk Man so they wanted to get the most use out of them as possible, but for the Intercontinental match, did we need all three men, complete with wardrobe and entrances, for such a short segment? It was nice for the TV crowd to see the legends just as the pay-per-view crowd saw them, but this was a match in which the opponent was never officially announced, the bell never rang to start the match, and after the match, no winner was declared.

It's interesting to see Goldust interfering in a match featuring Charlie Haas imitating other wrestlers and not just for the obvious cross-dressing reference with Haas competing as Beth Phoenix. In Goldust's second stint with the WWE, he would often do the same thing, competing as Vader-dust, Hunter-dust, and Chyna-dust.

Showdown at Shea

The "Classics on Demand" selection this month featured some of the all-time greats, including Bruno Sammartino, Ivan Putski, Tony Atlas, Bob Backlund, Ken Patera, and Pedro Morales. In honor of S.D. Jones, let's not forget some other men featured that night. Johnny Rodz, Jose Estrada, Rene Goulet, Dominic Denucci, and Baron Miguel Sicluna.

You've got some explaining to do

Everyone has a reason for something this week. JBL is the latest to explain his actions by insisting that he had an agreement with Jericho. If he helped Jericho win, JBL would get a title shot. That not only makes sense, it gives JBL a reason to be upset at Batista and Shawn Michaels, more than simply because he's facing them in a match.

From Parts Unknown...or at least unwanted

If Arizona fans were looking for a reason to boo either Rey Mysterio or Evan Bourne, perhaps the hometown was the only thing on which they could rely. Bourne is billed from St. Louis, the former home of the NFL's Cardinals, who moved to Arizona and have proceeded to give the Southwest fans the same frustration they used to give the Midwest. Granted, Raw was in Tucson and the Cardinals play in Glendale, but sometimes I use a microscope and sometimes I use a telescope.

If you caught the reference to Bourne's marketing degree, he actually graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia. The name on his diploma is Matthew Korklin. At least it should be. It's his real name.

Lee Stevens graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from Shippensburg University. He's not sure how it happened, but he's grateful. He also reviews Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling. You can e-mail him at GLStevens.Torch@gmail.com

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