Each week on WWE.com, based on the events seen on RAW, Jim Ross will give his opinion on which Superstar he thought was the RAW Superstar of the Week:

Considering it was not the best night of RAW in-ring action that we have featured in a few weeks on the WWE Monday night broadcast, this week’s choice for RAW Superstar of the Week is challenging. Jeff Hardy wins this week’s “some day in our lifetime this award will be coveted” RAW Superstar of the Week. More later…..

From my perspective at ringside, this was one of those nights when the in-ring action was outshined by the verbal aspect of the show. There were some mismatches, some really short matches, some really, really short matches and an overall rushed feeling when it came to the in-ring action. The extraordinary start to the crazy night with the power outage might have contributed to the sense of rushed urgency as it related to the wrestling aspect of the show. Hey, that’s only my opinion, which doesn’t mean it’s gospel. Nonetheless, it was a fun night of which to be a part from my home state, Oklahoma.  

With the power going out for a while due to a glitch in the Ford Center system, some say the King and I had our best on-camera of the year, which was the one we did early in the show while we were in THE DARK! At least we were shown on camera, as there are some weeks we get pitched in the old shutout. When the good ol’ Oklahoma play-by-play guy has a face for radio, it’s not hard to see how that can justifiably happen. We don’t want to scare the kids on a school night.

Edge vs. Cena is still seemingly going strong, but how much longer is this rivalry going to last? If Edge has his way, in less than a week Edge will meet Cena for the WWE Championship inside a cage not 13-, not 14-, but a whopping 15-feet high Monday night on RAW from Topeka, Kan.

One has to assume that Lita and Mickie James will be the leading contenders in the tournament to determine the WWE Women’s Championship. Duh.

What is the over/under for when the gold-digging Melina will “upgrade” from Johnny “Don’t call me Monday” Nitro if he loses the Intercontinental Championship? Melina is a “Witchy Woman,” but Nitro won’t be the first wrestler to have the heel of a designer shoe stomped on his heart by a Diva.

Nitro is “this close” to putting his total game together and hitting his stride, and he has all-important youth on his side, which means Nitro will only get better and better. 

Umaga, if that is his real name, really blew off Jonathan Coachman Monday night about the no-fly-zone during the Kane-Nitro match. I wonder if Coachman will consult with Mr. Estrada and his undefeated grappler come Monday in Topeka? Bar them from catering. That will P.O. them!

How hot is Maria? Good Lord! I may be on a “diet” but I can definitely still look at the “menu.”

My friends, Bob Stoops, OU’s head football coach, and country music superstar Toby Keith joined us in the Ford Center Monday night in OKC. Both men brought their sons for a WWE father/son outing.  

Why does it seem the legendary Ric Flair is wrestling every week? Maybe “Naitch” is demanding ring time to prove he has “one more run” left in him.

What’s up with the Spirit Squad? Are they trying to be the Five Horsemen or are we seeing this group of excellent young athletes slowly begin to unravel? The next several weeks might really be interesting for the percentage man unit who are the World Tag Team Champions, in case you may have forgotten.

It seems DX has an issue with Cade and Murdoch taking shape. DX clearly are the better duo at this time, but the younger team has nothing to lose and everything to gain. I don’t know if Cade and Murdoch can beat DX, anything can happen in WWE (trust me on that one), but these two will get better simply by competing with Triple H and HBK. 

Shelton Benjamin needs to get off his politically-/socially- charged soapbox and simply focus on wrestling and beating people. Arguably the best pure athlete in the WWE has it in his head he is being held back by “the man” because of his skin color. Does that happen in our society? Oh, hell yeah, but WWE is a unique place where I truly believe the color of one’s skin has zero to do with one’ level of success. Mr. McMahon speaks in glowing terms about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and I can honestly say the man who will someday run hell is not a racist and would not tolerate such behavior in his company. I mean that as strongly as I want the Sooners to beat the Longhorns on Oct. 7. 

Randy Orton is the youngest World’s Champion in history. I erroneously said Randy was the youngest WWE Champion in history Monday night. I have since been corrected. Sometimes in the heat of battle on live TV one can misspeak. Hell, I do it all the time when I’m not announcing, especially at the occasional happy hour I enjoy with my buddies. 

The Orton-Carlito rivalry has the chance to be special. That is going to depend on the participants. They, too, have the chance to be special. I believe Randy and Carlito will succeed on all these fronts.

Controversy Creates Cash is the title of Eric Bischoff’s new book which I have already read. It will adequately P.O. many within the business, as the former head of WCW for Turner and the former RAW GM, and someone who has engineered a fair amount of grief for yours truly over the years, pulls no punches in his version of how things were during the wrestling wars and the political battles he fought during his career. I was not overwhelmed by what he said about me personally, but Bischoff has the right to his opinion. WWE thrives on controversy, so this particular book will fit right in with the landscape of the company. Many within the business won’t invite Eric over for Sunday dinner anytime soon unless their mission might be to poison him.

I wrote on my blog this week at www.jrsbarbq.com that the last time I saw a “one-armed tied behind one’s back” match was years ago when I sat in on play-by-play for World Class Wrestling in Dallas and the match was between Freebird Buddy “Jack” (as in Daniels) vs. referee David Manning. Now I have seen two. ’Nuff said.

Just wondering, even though DX had left the Ford Center on Monday night PRIOR TO the SmackDown guys arrival at RAW and urinating all over our brand, in addition to gang assaulting John Cena, where were the OTHER RAW Superstars and security when this heinous act went down?? How is Jonathan Coachman going to respond or will Coachman simply consider this “good, unpredictable TV” and pull a Mr. McMahon and provide Cena with the “law of the jungle” speech?

Jeff Hardy continues to impress me and it is great to see him back on RAW after his prolonged absence from WWE. Like many guys who leave WWE prematurely, and more may discover this shortly, Jeff’s career did not skyrocket during his absence, but since Jeff’s return, to me he has never looked better. Hardy shocked Shelton Benjamin Monday night by beating the former amateur wrestling star with an inside cradle. 

I enjoyed being a small part of the ECW Show Tuesday night in Tulsa, Okla. It was fun having a beer with Sandman and working on my swing on an arrogant, short tie-wearing, defrocked NYC school teacher, Matt Striker. I also appreciate the fact that my good, dear, longtime, close, personal friends, Tazz, again, if that is his REAL name, and Joey Styles, pointed out that I have been eating well. They are indeed correct, as BBQ is life, and it goes so well with an ice cold beer. Hey, we can’t all be tall, lean, physical fitness freaks like the ECW announce team, but I still love their work. 

There is another sports-entertainment blog where I use the “W” word you might want to sample every week on www.jrsbarbq.com, plus our online store is imminently operable. We are getting some unique feedback on the site and I am answering as many of your e-mails as possible.

Thanks, and be well. I hope to see you Monday night in Topeka.

BOOMER SOONER!

J.R.