Yo. You’re reading News and Analysis for which I thank you. I skipped an update during the weekend due to a chaotic schedule as the next two-three weeks are very busy for me, personally. Anyway, that’s not why you clicked the link, so without further ado, to quote Michael Blaszkowski… “Let’s get to shit.”
After what I thought was a very good SmackDown! last week, WWE presented Monday Night RAW this past Monday night. The Internet audience seem to have liked most of the show with the exception of the horrible main event. I don’t know why, but I didn’t like the show. I think it’s because with the recent trend of “OK” and “a bit better” RAWs, I expected a lot out of the show, when I shouldn’t have. Anyway, I’ll try to phase this out as I do the analysis part of this report. The Rock made a one-night appearance on RAW, as WWE tried to turn him face in one night by making him do a Rock-a-roonie, get props from Booker, have the San Diego crowd grope him for a while, and while all in the process kicking Jericho and Christian’s asses. Elsewhere on the show, Steve Austin gave Kane a motivational speech followed by a Stunner, while Triple H’s Evolution, alongside Hunter’s hair, defeated the trio of Nash, Michaels, and Hurricane in a brutal Six-Man Tag which ended up being a very crappy main event. No RAW rating is in as of this writing. For whatever reason, the score will be delayed this week, according the sources. Since everybody’s doing it, I’m going to be a trend too and say that the last time the rating was delayed, RAW scored that high 4.4 number. I’m sure Vince and Co. are hoping for a similar situation the second time around.
With two weeks left before Bad Blood, WWE continued to do a good job of pushing the PPV and trying their best in advancing storylines forward. Whether you liked RAW or not, and whether you like the current state of the product or not, you have to admit that they have done a good job with preparing for the PPV and indeed making it look like a big deal, as they should. It is a historical event after all, and I think WWE is trying to secure a good card and make sure that the hype is there. Speaking of that, let’s take a look at the current Bad Blood card, and from there I’ll talk about each feud and what I thought about its progression on RAW:
– Triple H (c) vs. Kevin Nash — Hell In A Cell — World Championship
– Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair
– Chris Jericho vs. Bill Goldberg
– Christian (c) vs. Booker T — IC Championship
– RVD and Kane (c) vs. La Résistance — World Tag Team Championships
– Scott Steiner vs. Test — Winner gets Stacy as manager
– Eric Bischoff vs. Steve Austin — Redneck Triathlon
I would venture to guess that WWE will add two more matches to the card. Jazz vs. Ivory seems like a good idea, and it looked like Trish and Val Venis could team up to take on Victoria and Steven Richards. I don’t know if all of that got scrapped or what, but the names who aren’t on the card and some of who I’d venture to guess would make it to the big PPV are: Jazz, Trish Stratus, Victoria, Steven Richards, Val Venis, Goldust, Lance Storm, Dudley Boyz, Rico, Rodney Mack, 3 Minute Warning, The Hurricane, Randy Orton, Maven, Chris Nowinski, Molly Holly, Jacqueline. There might be more, but I’d look for some of these names to put up a program together that will culminate with a match at the PPV.
I don’t think it takes a lot of wrestling knowledge to realize that Kevin Nash and Triple H, as much as they try, weren’t doing it as a main-event feud. It’s really hard to grasp how a guy like Kevin Nash who at the last stages of the nWo run could have made the biggest babyface on RAW since The Rock and Steve Austin were active, turned into such a flop. WWE has a lot of fault for it, from booking him wrong on Canadian land, to not doing too much to get him over with the fans. With no choice left, they made the Bad Blood match a Hell In A Cell, hoping that this would get more people interested, seeing as it’s one of WWE’s favorite stipulations. Even that wasn’t enough, as now we have a Special Guest Referee to worry about. As Steve Austin described “him” on RAW, he’s the craziest S.O.B. he’s ever seen. Mick Foley has a book release coming up later this year and an appearance on WWE TV would make sense. I honestly can’t picture it being anyone else, so WWE better deliver Foley, as the fans in attendance in San Diego had already started cheering his name.
So who will walk out the World Champion? 1) Triple H will lose the belt to Kevin Nash and WWE will bring the element of surprise to their free TV show (in this case — RAW) and have Nash job the title back to H on free TV, setting up HHH vs. Goldberg for SummerSlam. After all, there’s no RAW-brand PPV in the month of July, so they can give Nash a good one-month reign and then have Hunter get the pin and go on to feud Goldberg. 2) Triple H will defeat Kevin Nash by cheating again and we will stop watching… er … He will enjoy a title reign until SummerSlam, where he’d fight Goldberg. Or, he might lobby that his buddy Nash deserves YET ANOTHER shot at the belt, which I highly doubt will happen. I have my money on Nash winning come Bad Blood, but let’s not get into predictions.
I agree that Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair should be the main event on the card. Not only is the storyline behind this match much better than the one in the main event, but both guys are better workers and even though they’re not full-time wrestlers anymore, they will have a hell of a match, and you can count on that. The promo Ric Flair gave on RAW has been called “the best promo on RAW for months” by many people, and I have to agree that Flair did a good job. Michaels’ new persona simply doesn’t “allow” him to be the old Shawn who’d fire back and drop some four-letter words here and there. That’s not what HBK’s character is about anymore, which might be good for once. It’s a legend vs. legend match, and believe me, these two guys are going to work their asses off and make it a great bout. I’m looking forward to that one big time.
If I had to pick a favorite storyline on RAW right now, it would have to be Chris Jericho vs. Bill Goldberg. WWE has done a very good job in that area, as they have built their feud around 1) real-life problems the two had in their past and 2) a tease — will Goldberg be able to spear Jericho or will he keep escaping? I think it’s a great feud, and with Jericho’s constant involvement with others on RAW (The Highlight Reel), it allows for an indirect feud, which they might want to do for now with Goldberg. I think if they were to truly dig deep into him or present him for all that he’s worth, they should do it when he feuds Triple H. They should have done it when he feuded Rock upon arriving to WWE, but that just didn’t happen. After they built him as a monster again, they quiet down on his character, but like I said, with Jericho around it’s not a bad thing. Great work by both guys.
Wow, they really buried Christian, didn’t they? First, Goldust pinned him, then Booker T did and at Bad Blood I’d expect for Christian to do the job again. I need to get something out now — Christian has never been looked at as a serious or even dependable singles wrestler. He’s a great tag team wrestler, no doubt, but WWE has kind of always portrayed him as a joker, whereas his brother Edge was the “one with the potential.” I don’t know why they chose bury him this way though, as Christian seemed very enthusiastic and willing to try his hardest after winning the IC Championship (or so he said for WWE.com). No offense, but it hasn’t been working. Look for a Booker T vs. Goldust storyline to start and build up towards SummerSlam, hopefully. It should be a really good feud.
Yeah, I don’t know what they’re thinking with Kane these days. I did like the segment they did though, but it just seems like they did it so Steve Austin can do another Stunner. I’m sure this will develop into something bigger though. Damn, isn’t it about time they separate RVD and Kane? They’ve been together for a very long time now, but I can’t complain, they’re a great team and they entertain. I just feel that both guys, especially now with the PPV split, have the chance to make it big. I also feel that WWE has a great opportunity right now to turn Kane into the old-school badass heel he was, instead of having him turn heel and have him whine and complain about being a freak, etc. Face it, RAW needs more heels, and Kane as a face seems to be an old page in the book. Then again, you never know what can happen when Austin gives you the rub. Oh yeah, as far as tag team titles go, I won’t be surprised if I see them go the French way, but it’s too soon to predict.
Other RAW thoughts… Very nice about Test and Steiner, but I could hear the crickets in the arena during Steiner’s match with Richards. He can’t get a break, can he?… The Redneck Triathlon challenge should be fun. They’re STILL doing good with the Bischoff/Austin segments, but they have to be really careful not to overdo it or hurt that gimmick somehow. Is it just me or Bischoff looks totally not needed right now?… That was a great 6-Person tag match by the WWE divas. When was the last time you thought we’d see in a WWE ring six women who can actually wrestle? Ivory vs. Jazz sounds good to me… What happened to Mr. Nowinski and Rodney Mack this week?… Is it just me or SmackDown! is going to kick RAW’s ass this week?
Finally, as all of you should know by now, the wrestling world lost yet another legend on Monday. Classie Freddie Blassie parted ways with all of us at the age of 85. It’s been a very unfortunate year in that area of the business with so many greats parting ways with life. On behalf of everyone out there, I’d like to use the opportunity and send out our condolences to the family, closed ones, and fans of Freddie Blassie. The man was amazing. If you haven’t seen him wrestling, or even managing, you’re missing out on a lot. Freddie is indeed the man. Freddie, you shall never be forgotten! Rest In Peace.
On a final note, I know that we all dislike Triple H and that we have our reasons. Like I’ve said in the past, I’ll say it again — I’m always the first to point out and praise him when Hunter is doing a positive thing, and I’m the first to blame him for the negatives. I thought it was VERY classy of Hunter to point to the Heavens as he came out for the main event on RAW. I’m pretty sure he was showing respect to Blassie, and just like Freddie Blassie, Triple H’s gesture sure was “Classie.” Have a good one folks.
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
