This is my first article for this site and I'd like to talk about a largely lacklustre RAW I've just sat down that was saved by one of the best and biggest heel turns in ages. The Diva Search was amusing but time consuming, and with some slack matches involving Kane and Big Show against Gene Snitsky and Edge among others. I swear there was 45 minutes without a match at one point with Chavo Guererro's admittedly hilarious name change thing (potentially the best gimmick we've had for a while) and then a decent Highlight Reel with Jericho and Cena. Then of course the Diva Search. We were then given a Rene Dupree/Val Venis blink-and-you'll-miss-it rushed match. It was looking like one of the worst RAW's for quite a while. But then the main event arrived and the best was yet to come.

As much as J.R. tried to make the people at home believe what he was saying, the fans were decidedly under whelmed by the appearance of Hulk Hogan. The arena was not electrified and the place was not going wild. People were just standing around praying that RAW would be saved. The match itself was alright. Pity Carlito had to job to Hogan really. And then something I actually said was due sometime soon just 3 hours before it happened (a Michaels heel turn) it happened.

The traditional pose down was going on. Shawn turned round and super kicked Hogan's head almost clean off its shoulders. I personally thought it was a great move by the WWE and here is why.

Shawn Michaels has by no means gone stale as a face, but he's been stuck with the same thing for far too long, and I feel it's been keeping him in the midcard for far too long. He's been a face pretty much since the nWo was binned in July of 2002. After a brief stint as World Heavyweight Champion at the tail end of that year, he has pretty much only flirted briefly with the main event since. A Royal Rumble no decision in 2004, and then a brilliant World Title triple threat match at WrestleMania XX aside, he's pretty much electrified the midcard as of late. Despite 2 great showings against Angle, a couple of decent matches with Edge and a great Gold Rush match against Shelton Benjamin, he's not had the push that I feel he deserves for his recent work.

The problem recently though is that he's been having these great matches without a genuine purpose. In all honesty I could never see Angle vs Michaels taking place at Vengeance if it hadn't been for the fact that the WrestleMania match was one of the greatest of all time. The other problem is that he was stuck behind a very intense Evolution breakdown where Batista and Triple H were looking for an end to their feud. Sticking Shawn Michaels into the equation made no sense.

The draft was perfect for HBK to go to SmackDown! and war with John Cena. But I thought the WWE had dropped the ball a bit and made a huge blunder with a legit world-class performer who could still carry a title needing a change of direction. But as always, the WWE comes back with a sucker punch out of the blue to prove they knew what they were doing al along.

I was quite disappointed last week to see Shawn, Hogan and Cena posing in the ring as I felt it was the final nail in the coffin of HBK as a title contender. How could they really put HBK into a title feud when he was the first guy to step up and watch John Cena's back on RAW" By turning him heel so spectacularly in such an unexpected way!

Hogan looks like he may be here to stay for a while now, with a Hogan vs HBK match looking a shoe-in for Summerslam. Throw in the hints tonight that it may be Y2J against John Cena and we have a very interesting match pencilled in for Unforgiven in September. Cena retains against Y2J and Michaels defeats Hogan (however the chances of that being clean are somewhat unlikely with Hogan's history) which could set up the Cena vs HBK match that I would personally love to see.

His opportunities as a face were limited. Feud with Edge" Been done. Feud with Angle" Was great and may still have had some life in it, but a change was needed. Feud with Triple H" Again been done and was great in the past. But I feel his possibilities are endless with this turn.

Feuding with Hogan, Cena and RVD when he returns will catapult HBK to the level he was at in 1996 when he was the top draw in the then WWF. It's about time too. I just hope that the WWE capitalise on this turn and make the showstopper the main event.

by Jody Jamieson ..