Welcome to yet another edition of News & Analysis, this one being special, as it’s #50. I hope you have enjoyed the ride so far, and that since this section was created in January, here at TBL, it has left its mark on some of you.
I’d like to start off today with a thanks note to a group of people, and then we’ll get to the usual rundown of RAW, and an update on Booker T I have for everyone. I would like to thank Joe and Martin, for giving me the chance to start at TBL, and for being close friends to me for a year now. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here. I’d like to thank Trevor Hunnicutt, who’s no longer just a “colleague,” but has become a good friend of mine. He certainly has a mind for the business that no one else has. I’d like to thank the TBL Staff and everyone I’ve kept in contact with for being great and inspirational to me through fifty editions. Thanks to Vince McMahon for giving me something to do with my free time. Thanks to the Internet “analysts” that allow me to be on top of my game sometimes. I’d also like to thank the readers of WWE Recap and Thoughts (my website) who have been supporting me for a long time and never gave up on me. I haven’t forgotten you and I have a lot more gas left in the tank for you guys. And finally, the one thank you that means the most to me — Thanks to the readers of News & Analysis. Thanks for the feedback, thanks for your time, and for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. You have been great! I have that by the end of the year, we’ll be celebrating the 100th edition of N & A!
WWE presented Monday Night RAW this past Monday night. Unlike others, I thought RAW was a solid show, with some good in-ring action, yet there were some gaps on the program that could have been filled. Highlights included a great main event match between Bill Goldberg and Ric Flair with Randy Orton as a Special Guest Referee; another great match from Christian, this time against Spike Dudley; the debut of Spike TV; a women’s triple threat match, among other stuff. The final rating for RAW is in and the show drew a 3.9, down from last week’s 4.0 rating.
With Triple H out of action due to a groin injury, WWE writers have tried to keep the tension between the other five guys of the Elimination Chamber match, and they’ve succeeded in my opinion. Orton and Goldberg had the spot on Monday night, but then again so did Nash, Michaels, and Jericho in segments of their own. The highlight reel could have gone a bit shorter than it was, but I’ll have to give Kevin Nash credit for being better on the mic, or at least attempting to. They also did a good job of building next week’s Jericho/Nash hair vs. hair match. At this point, I’m having hard time figuring out who will win the Elimination Chamber match, but I think there’s only two options WWE has, and that’s Bill Goldberg or Triple H. A Chris Jericho run will be also good, but I don’t see Chris as a draw at this time. I think big things are in-stored for the King of Bling Bling, and soon he’ll be on top of RAW. He belongs there, at least. We’ll see what happens as the weeks go by.
I want to say that for once Eric Bischoff gets to be portrayed as a smart guy who outsmarts his opponents (Shane, Kane, etc.) but after having him sign that contract without reading, I can’t do that. Bischoff’s streak continued on RAW as he defeated Kane. Eric will be taking on Shane McMahon at SummerSlam, it was also announced. I am still of the opinion that it should have been Shane vs. Kane at ‘Slam, RVD vs. Jericho, and Ric Flair taking Jericho’s spot in the Chamber. It’s not that RVD vs. Kane will be bad, but Shane seemed like the right person to face Kane. They had something going, and now that will have to wait for another month, until Unforgiven probably. RVD proved on RAW that when given a chance he still makes the best out of it, and I’m still looking forward to his match with Kane, though like I said, I’d have it another way. As far as Shane vs. Eric goes, I think it’ll be good for WWE to make it a “Co-G.M.” match or something like that, with a stipulation that if Shane wins, he gets Eric’s job on RAW. It’s time for Bischoff to either step back from RAW and get off TV, or move to SmackDown where interesting things can happen with him on there. Just an opinion. Oh yeah, I also think that the match will end up being a Street Fight, or a No DQ.
RAW proved one other thing — Gail Kim is not ready to be on the roster, yet. She’s been in OVW for a long time, and even worked the SmackDown house shows before debuting on RAW, but when she comes out there, she gets cold feet or something and her skills go down the toilet due to constant mess-ups. After that dive on RAW, where her foot touched the top rope, I’m absolutely concerned about this, as she’s not safe to be around and could end up hurting someone pretty soon. It’s just her luck that Trish is somewhat more experienced now and made the best out of the situation.
I will give credit to the women though and say that the finish of their match was booked great. Fit Finlay is a smart man.
It’s great to see Jim Ross back. We usually pick on him, but everyone knows that when it comes to calling the action, there’s no other.
I have a lot to say about Christian. In the past two weeks he’s left his mark on RAW through good wrestling and has caught my attention. He had a great match with The Hurricane last week, and his match with Spike Dudley was probably the second best, if not the best, on the show last night. Christian has really brought his game to the plate, and I am very glad that he’s the IC Champion again. He’ll do more things with that belt than Booker T was going to do originally. I really hope his gimmick works out better, but just through his wrestling lately, he’s left a mark on me. Praises to Christian from his #1 peep.
Speaking of Booker T, by now you should know that he’s no longer the Intercontinental Champion and that he’s out due to a back injury. Booker has suffered from his back pains for a long time now, but has worked through this injury of his throughout the years. It got worse when WWE flew over to Australia, and it was at the point where WWE send Booker home the Monday after the tour. It looks like the injury is now very serious and Booker T will be out at least for six to eight weeks. He will be reevaluated again in a month and doctors will say what’s next for him. Some are saying that there’s a chance it could be a career-ending injury, but I certainly hope that’s not the case. We wish Booker a speedy recovery, and we hope to see him back soon! I’ll even go on record and say now that this allows for great things to happen for him when he returns, as he needed something fresh in his character. Best of health and luck to Booker.
TBL broke the news first on the problems between Joanie Laurer and Sean Waltman (Chyna and X-Pac). Celebrity Justice did a piece on these two, and I won’t get into explaining what’s been happening, but I’ll just say that it’s at the point where Laurer has filed for a restraining order against Waltman. You can read about it here.
That will do it for News & Analysis #50. Once again, thanks to everyone who has in any way helped me or been a part of this section. I deeply appreciate it!
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
