Mind Your Eyebrows, It's the WWE

The face-scorching pyros! The screaming speakers! The flamboyant and sometimes waaaaaay too tight costumes! Even if you hate pro wrestling, there's little pure showmanship left on the planet like a big World Wrestling Entertainment show, and the world's largest wrestling promotion will be doing a live broadcast of its ratings-gobbling cable show WWE Raw this coming Monday at the Erwin Center.

This is the first time a full WWE show has been through town since an episode of Friday Night Smackdown was recorded at the Erwin Center in October 2005 (the ECW house show in July 2006 was fun, but doesn't really count) and the first live broadcast since 2004. That live bit is the difference-maker, since there's fewer of the stops, starts, and do-overs that the pre-recorded Smackdown can get away with.

The WWE roster is knee-deep in Texas talent, like San Antonio's Shawn "Heartbreak Kid" Michaels. With the recently-returned John Bradshaw Layfield (a genuine self-made millionaire. Seriously. When he's not wrestling, he's a stock market analyst and senior vice-president of an investment group) in main event contention, there could be a lot of the Lone Star Loudmouth next Monday. But there may be some Austin talent in the mix. Westlake High graduate turned high flier extraordinaire Paul "Please Don't Die" London is out with a foot injury, but could be back soon. Silsbee born Mark Henry, aka the world's strongest man, is technically on ECW these days, but has an "off" night Monday, so a hometown run-in is not impossible.