WWE presented that one show they like to call Monday Night RAW this past Monday night. The event took place in Montreal, and it reminded me of a SmackDown!, as it was a solid effort wrestling-wise, but with SummerSlam so far away, storylines were lacking, therefore it was one of those “eh” shows. They were in Canada too, so “eh” is a VERY good word to describe it. Highlights included a supposedly “controversial” Highlight Reel on which Shawn Michaels talked about “the screwjob” from ’97, Kane chokeslamming Steve Austin and going bizarre by destroying Rico and Tommy Dreamer backstage, among other things.
RAW’s rating is in and the show scored a 4.2, much higher from last week’s 3.6. That’s definitely good news for the company.
WWE needs to tape the Christian vs. Booker T match and show it to all their developmental guys in OVW. That was by far one of the best matches I’ve seen in a very long time. Christian stepped it up on RAW big time! Booker gave it all he had. The booking of the bout was great. The result was also great. It was a GREAT moment for me. I wish they were more matches and storylines like that.
The mean streak of Kane continues. WWE wants us to believe that Kane is a monster. They want us to think of the Big Red Machine as an immovable force. They want us to believe that the Big Freak is nothing but raw power, strength, agility, and rage. It’s not going to happen when he gets his ass kicked by a man who has retired from wrestling and has a messed-up neck. I can tell you that much. The storyline they currently put Kane in isn’t doing anything for him…. yet. “Yet” being the keyword. Kane right now is the whiner, the outcast who still can’t get over the fact that the most precious thing in his life — his identity — has been revealed to the world. I totally LOVED how they handled Kane with the “backstage assaults” on RAW. That’s making the people think he’s a monster! Assaulting Dreamer, Rico, then doing the type of segment backstage he did with Austin (from sitting in the dark to leaving blood on the wall), now that’s Kane. What we saw at the end of RAW was not a monster, because a monster doesn’t stop for nobody! Yes, Kane got his heat back on Austin since he chokeslammed him but the purpose was lost.
They need to realize one thing — Steve Austin is done. He is no longer a wrestler. I think he needs to realize that as well. I know Steve is having hard time dealing with this, and anxiety might be setting in once in a while since he can’t do what he loves to do most, but his time has passed. WWE cannot afford to have Austin steal the heat off some guys (La Resistance is another example), when they know that these people are never going to get over the Rattlesnake and win that heat back. It’s just a huge minus on the show at times. I’m not saying they’ve dropped the ball with Kane, no. They can do a lot from here on, but if RAW was an indication of how they’ll handle his character, then I think that Glen Jacobs got screwed.
Triple H wasn’t on RAW last night, as he’ll be fighting Maven on Heat. That made me reminisce about the times when Heat actually meant something in the old WWF. Even in 2000, the show still had significance and people like The Rock, Triple H, and The Undertaker would find themselves on it once in a while. It’s also good sometimes for H to skip a RAW. I’m sure many people enjoyed that.
With Triple H out of action, Bill Goldberg didn’t show up for RAW either, however, that wasn’t the reason he was “absent.” Big Bill actually had an arm infection he had to take care off, so he was under medical attention, banning him from the program. From what I understand, it’s not known yet for how long he’ll be out of action, but I won’t expect for his leave of absence to last too long. Nevertheless, it looks like it was a plus he wasn’t present, because knowing the Montreal fans, he would have gotten booed out of the building.
Gail Kim‘s wrestling abilities are certainly good. I enjoy watching her in the ring. It was also nice to see Val Venis back in action. I’ve never really enjoyed his character, whether he was a porn star, or a part of the RTC. I did enjoy his run as Chief Morley to be honest. Nevertheless, I’ve always enjoyed seeing Venis wrestle, because in my book he does have some good wrestling skills. He makes an interesting team with Kim, so it’ll be interesting to see if WWE capitalizes on those two in the future. For now though, the Matrix Woman looks to be fine on her own. Molly Holly defeating Trish was one of those “WTF?” situations. It’s the right thing to have Molly wrestle Gail because she’s a heel and since WWE will probably hold back on a Gail/Trish match for now, but the fact that Holly gets a #1 Contendership out of nowhere is a bit frustrating. Did they forget about Ivory? That backstage vignette with Trish certainly didn’t mean that to me.
The main event was an OK match. The fact that I’m now talking about it instead of having it up on top of the thoughts section should tell you something though. I really hate to see this again, but Randy Orton does absolutely nothing for me. The kid is great inside the ring, no doubt about that, but he’s not doing anything to distinguish himself as the next great thing, the next legend. He’s sort of trying to “prove everyone wrong” instead of prove himself as something. Again, working off the people in your stable is not what made Triple H and Ric Flair huge names in the business. It was great to see Bubba Ray in the main event spot, alongside RVD.
Mark Jindrak’s debut was horrible. Really horrible. First, they show a backstage segment of him with Austin with very poor audio and they don’t even introduce him the proper way. He didn’t get a chance to say a few words to the crowd, but just got to thank Steve Austin instead. He then comes out to no reaction (not surprisingly) and jobs to Jericho. Exactly how am I supposed to believe King and J.R.’s claims that this kid is really good, when the crowd was chanting Boring at his match with Jericho? It’s not the wrestling that made it boring either, it’s the fact that … well… Nobody cared about Jindrak! That’s the future fourth member of Evolution, it seems. Fits in very well, don’t you think? Where’s Batista when you need him?
Was that Nash jobbing to Test? Correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t Test be the #1 Contender for the World Title? He’s defeated Scott Steiner, and Kevin Nash, who have both been there. Test’s gimmick needs to get dropped fast. Sometimes I wish WWE would realize that there’s no place for stuff like that on a WRESTLING program.
Yeah. If I were WWE I wouldn’t put La Resistance or Lance Storm on RAW either.
I like what they’re doing with Rosey. I may be the only person here, but I feel that he’s actually able to draw. He’ll make a great face, and I truly hope WWE is going that way with him. The problem with Rosey and Jamal was that they never really got to showcase their abilities with a GOOD storyline behind it. Rosey just may be able to do something. From what I know about him, he’s very respectful backstage, and wants to learn as much as he can about the business. I think it shows. Look out for him.
I wasn’t sure if I’m going to talk about the Highlight Reel in N & A, or if I were to write a separate column on it. I think I’m going to do that, so look out for it soon. If I don’t get around it, I’ll definitely mention it again.
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
