By Lee Stevens, PWTorch specialist

Thank you for joining me as go "Under The Microscope" for WrestleMania weekend. This is not a complete recap of the different broadcasts, but a closer look at what happened deep in the heart of Texas.

Oh Brother

The Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy battle of the brothers has provided moments of intensity and sadness and now we can add a cow. A flashback to brotherly bonding showed us the Hardys growing up, including an obviously special Halloween memory with both in costume. On the front of Matt's costume, the word "Tiny" was clearly visible, while Jeff was sporting the Cow look, but clearly he didn't have a great deal of confidence in the outfit as he had the word "Cow" printed on the front. It was either for clarification as the design wasn't the best or he didn't trust his neighbors to figure out from the horns on his head. Moo.

Brought to you by the letter "R"

With the final look back at the build up to WrestleMania, we get another glimpse of Edge's return to his role as champion. The footage reminded us of how The Rated-R Superstar jumped Kofi Kingston and took his spot in the Elimination Chamber just before he regained the title. He then bragged that the "R" stood for "Remarkable," "Resplendent," and "Really, really smart." Sadly, the "R" never stood for "Revenge" as Kingston has never tried to get back at Edge for costing him a shot at the belt.

The Microscope doesn't usually spend much time looking at potential matches, but in this case, a look backward is prompting a look forward. Historically, the weeks after WrestleMania provide a chance to reshuffle the rosters and the feuds and this would be a good reason to have Kingston confront Edge. Then again, since Kingston hasn't been given the chance up to this point, the likelihood could be "Rare," "Ridiculous," or "Really, really slim."

Tune in tomorrow

During a particular Axxess segment, Jerry Lawler and Todd Grisham reviewed the Edge, Big Show, John Cena and Vickie Guerrero situation and The King compared the Love Triangle to a soap opera, calling it "As The Stomach Turns," an obvious take on "As The World Turns." While "As The World Turns" continues to turn after more than 50 years, it wasn't a good week for another classic soap opera as "Guiding Light" was cancelled after more than 70 years of broadcasts on radio and TV.

My name is

Lawler and Grisham also raved about the appearance of Kid Rock at WrestleMania and asked whether the singer had ever performed in front of a crowd as large as the 70,000 expected on Sunday. The short answer is, probably. Kid Rock appeared at Woodstock 1999, which was seen by more than 200,000 fans during the three-day event.

And I always thought it was the hokey pokey

In one of the few matches on Smackdown, MVP faced Shelton Benjamin in a return battle. The former champion attempted to regain the U.S. Title he has lost to MVP and Tazz reminded us about his focus, by sharing that "Benjamin is all about the gold," which certainly makes sense given his nickname "The Gold Standard." It is ironic that Benjamin would be all about the gold, when Puff Daddy always told us that it was actually all about the Benjamins. Perhaps this is a debate for another time.

Tick, tick, tick

Jeff Hardy and Stone Cold Steve Austin don't appear to have too many similarities, but on this weekend, they share a common link and it's on their wrist. Both men were shown at various times checking their watch, even if they didn't literally have one on at the time. It provided a nice transition to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony as Ric Flair opened the telecast by showcasing that he still proudly wore the gold watch which we had been led to believe had been destroyed by Chris Jericho. Shawn Michaels quickly responded by showcasing his matching gold watch from the audience.

No hard feelings

The legends were not only on stage for the induction ceremony as the audience provided a look into the archives, including some surprise guests. Sgt. Slaughter and Ron Simmons were pictured despite being "wished well in their future endeavors" during the past few months. Plus, Jimmy Hart was in the crowd, which is appropriate considering he is in the Hall of Fame, but it also wasn't a guarantee considering his involvement with Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling and Vince McMahon's issues with the show. "The Sarge" is also in the Hall and he's always had a good relationship with management, so his appearance makes sense. Simmons is the one surprise who isn't in the Hall.

Simmons is the first African-American to win the WCW Heavyweight Title and he held tag belts in the WCW and WWF five times. Time will tell whether or not he deserves a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame, but Simmons is already in the College Football Hall of Fame and Florida State retired his number 50.

Many thanks

Ricky Steamboat took his time in thanking several men from a range of wrestling generations, including Hall of Famers Greg Valentine, Sgt. Slaughter, Jack and Jerry Brisco, Don Muraco, Superfly Snuka, and Roddy Piper. He also referenced Blackjack Mulligan who is in the Hall as part of The Blackjacks. The three non-active wrestlers he mentioned who are not in the Hall are Arn Anderson, Jake Roberts and Randy Savage. We've discussed Jake Roberts and Randy Savage on "The Microscope" before, but Arn Anderson provides an interesting twist.

Ric Flair entered the Hall last year as a singles wrestler, but could he get another induction, along with Anderson for The Four Horsemen? Nobody has been elected to the WWE Hall of Fame twice, but Ric Flair could see it happen, as could Bret Hart with The Hart Foundation and perhaps even recent inductee Terry Funk for his singles career.

Any press is good press?

If you were listening closely, you know that Stone Cold was wearing a tuxedo from Men's Wearhouse and he was none too pleased about it. He first complained that he had to dress up and then he was upset about a button breaking. For those who don't know, Men's Wearhouse is the largest men's dress apparel retailer in the U.S. and it is based out of Houston. Their slogan is "you're going to like the way you look; I guarantee it." It's spoken by company owner George Zimmer. No word on if Austin has acted on that guarantee.

Would the real John Cena please stand up?

Just in case you missed it under all of the confetti, Steve Austin closed his speech with a possible passing of the torch, or more accurately, a passing of the beer to John Cena. Austin would have needed a few cases the following night at WrestleMania as we went from "you can't see me" to "you can't see anything but me." If it looked familiar to you, I'll take you back to the MTV Video Music Awards.



Lee Stevens examines Smackdown and Raw with "Under The Microscope." You can leave comments for him below or e-mail him at GLStevens.Torch@gmail.com

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt