Monday, AUGUST 25 - 2:51 P.M.

-I'm warming up to the idea of the Championship Scramble match, at least on the Smackdown side. Like 81 percent of the voters in the Dot Net poll, I'm looking forward to the Smackdown version of the match more than the Raw match.

It's refreshing to see some new faces in the WWE Title picture. I reserve the right to change my tune if Triple H plows through all four of his opponents, or even if Jeff Hardy captures the WWE Title in a fluky manner and becomes the Smackdown version of C.M. Punk.

If Hardy has a WWE Title reign in his future, then his first win should not come out of nowhere or be portrayed as a flukey win. Rather, they should build to that moment and cash in on every step they take toward his eventual win.

The Raw version of the match should have some good moments, but it's hard to get excited about seeing the same old challengers. I also hope this isn't the spot where WWE has Punk score a meaningless pinfall over a Cena or Batista and then try to point to it as their way of getting him over as the champion.

-TNA has lost Tomko and Gail Kim in recent weeks, yet they failed to book any type of blowoff angle for either performer. Whatever happened to loser leaves TNA matches? The buzz regarding the departure of both wrestlers didn't leak to the internet until after they were gone, so fans may have been genuinely surprised if TNA had featured them in such matches leading up their departure.

It appears TNA was surprised by Kim's departure. She appeared on last week's television show in a match against Awesome Kong that will now serve as her blowoff. However, the company was also trying to introduce Katie Kim into the storyline, which suggests they had no idea that Gail was going to be leaving.

Even so, they were clearly aware of her contractual status since they were negotiating the terms of a new contract. They should have prepared themselves creatively. I'm not sure whether her contract expired or if TNA officials agreed to let her leave the company early, but either way they should have come up with a legitimate blowoff storyline.

Likewise, Tomko was telling his fellow wrestlers goodbye backstage when he left the company. Oddly enough, they seemed to be setting up an angle between Tomko and Matt Morgan when he left. The blowoff was apparently Tomko outlasting six other TNA regulars and being the final person eliminated in an eight-man gauntlet match with Joe.

-I'll be flying solo on the Live Coverage of Raw tonight because Rich Twilling will be celebrating his birthday and drafting his fantasy football team tonight. Happy birthday to Rich. I'm sure he'll be bragging or crying about his fantasy football team in the Dot Net Members' Forum tomorrow when he's hungover and feeling his age.

-I had a good time at the Vikings preseason game on Saturday night. I took my girlfriend to her first game and she enjoyed herself. I was ready to head for the exit the moment I saw Byron Leftwich enter the game, but we hung around for another drive because she was having a good time. She even earned her veteran fan stripes by accidentally knocking a bottle of beer on my hand and sending in behind the seats of the people sitting in front of us. Fortunately, no one got wet and the guy was totally cool about the situation.

I was shocked yesterday when I opened an email from a fan who was bragging about his Steelers beating my Vikings with a late field goal in a preseason game. I cared so little about the outcome that I didn't even know we lost until I watched the end of the game on DVR yesterday, but dude actually emailed to give me a hard time. I'll take my lumps when the Vikings lose in the regular season, but the preseason? Really? He also turned out to be a good guy, but I did have to laugh about being razzed over a preseason loss.

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