Hey everyone. You’re reading yet another edition of News and Analysis, the ever-so-popular N & A for which I thank you. Let’s get this show on the road…
WWE presented Monday Night RAW this past Monday night, and man, was the response bad. Many people online feel that the program was yet another RAW show, with the regular bad booking, poor storyline telling, and good wrestling here and there. The main reason people are unhappy with the show is because the program failed to make the viewers buy the upcoming SummerSlam PPV. Highlights on RAW included a Hair vs. Hair match between Chris Jericho and Kevin Nash, a fight between Scott Steiner and Test over Stacy (for the 341st time), Eric Bischoff getting some from Linda McMahon, and Kane trying to light a match at least two times while talking smack to RVD, who faced Christian in a good match. No RAW Rating as of this writing and I’m guessing this has to deal with the Power Blackout of last week. Stay tuned to the newsboard for that.
If Kevin Nash’s new haircut is WWE’s idea of “shaving someone bald,” then whoever wrote that has serious troubles. Not only did the stipulation of the match never come through, but many were disappointed with the Nash/Jericho bout. I personally felt that it wasn’t that bad of a match, and they worked well with each other. That’s maybe because I expected much worse. Love him or hate him, Chris Jericho has the ability to have a good match with almost everyone, and that’s very important.
Speaking of Chris Jericho, it’s now almost sure that following SummerSlam, either Triple H or Chris Jericho will be holding the World Championship. WWE is already running advertisements for house shows in some areas and they’re advertising a match between Chris Jericho and Triple H for the World Championship on September 13 in Knoxville, TN. Well, the card is subject to change, so you never know, but since I’ve been asked before who I think will win the Elimination Chamber and I haven’t really given an answer, I guess now I can say that it’s down to Triple H or Chris Jericho. I wouldn’t count Goldberg out, but if he was the win the belt it’ll probably happen at Unforgiven in my opinion. It should also be noted that WWE is advertising Triple H vs. Goldberg for the title at the same Unforgiven event, so I think that my money is safe with Triple H winning the Elimination Chamber. Honestly, it’s for the better if he loses the belt to Goldberg in a one-on-one match next month, but whether or not this will happen is a whole different story.
They didn’t do that good of a job with booking Goldberg on RAW. It seems like every week the way they handle Bill changes from good to bad, and vice versa. Having him spear the wrong guy wasn’t bad booking in my opinion, as Triple H moved in the last second, plus it allowed for Nash to give Goldberg his finisher at the end of the night to show everyone’s by himself at the PPV. However, I felt that with SummerSlam only six days away, it should have been Goldberg being the last man standing out of the six instead of Jericho and Nash. At any rate, it wasn’t the greatest booking ever for Big Bill but it wasn’t that bad either. I think by this point it’s hard to think he’ll win at ‘Slam, but again, I would NEVER count him out.
Stacy Keibler is a slut. I feel like I need to clarify that for everyone, because Jerry Lawler only said it a thousand times on RAW, so I wasn’t sure if everyone caught that. Not only was it pathetic of WWE to do that name-calling storyline, but it now looks like Test and Steiner will fight until at least WrestleMania XX. Does this feud ever end? It’s the prime example of what RAW is like in the past month — a mix of good and bad. The good would go to Test, as in my opinion that was probably one of the best ‘fake injury sell’ in a while that he pulled on RAW (although overall I find it lame since it’s been done so many times), but having Stacy just stand three feet away and not do anything while Test pinned Steiner, or later have the ‘lap dance’ segment backstage did absolutely nothing for me.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the Rosey segment. Not because it was funny, but because that’s how stupid it was. I absolutely enjoy the Hurricane and Rosey storyline when it comes to in-ring matches. The fans were into Rosey as well last night, but the segment was a bit dumb. The Hurricane has been a very strong mid-carder since defeating The Rock on RAW earlier this year, and I feel that right now he’s in for a slight downfall with this storyline. I have nothing against Rosey (I seriously like his character), but he should not be pinning Rodney Mack. WWE is dropping the ball on Mack, and it’s obvious that Teddy Long’s stable is just waiting for someone new to join them. Don’t be surprised if The World’s Strongest Man for 2002 joins Teddy Long and Mack.
Trish and Molly had a good match, with one blown spot, and one that wasn’t carried out so well. Looks like there won’t be a Women’s Match at SummerSlam. I’d rather see Molly vs. Trish vs. Gail Kim or even a four way with Victoria added to the dance, and skip watching A-Train vs. Undertaker.
Then we go to Eric Bischoff and Linda McMahon’s segment. So much to say here. They bring Shane back to attack Kane and feud with him. It’s the perfect feud. It’s drawn on paper, wrapped up, and set to go. Shane goes to ‘Slam, bumps and bleeds like crazy for Kane, Kane destroys him, and he’s an even bigger monster than he already is. What better than that?! WWE decided to put RVD in the spot and work RVD/Kane for SummerSlam. Alright, that’s a bad decision in my book, but I gave it a chance. What happens to Shane? They put him in a feud with Bischoff? Not bad in my opinion. Could be used to set his match with Kane at Unforgiven, (They’re obviously going with that since the match has been advertised for Unforgiven, and Shane has continued the feud with Kane.) Shane McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff. It has one simple concept behind it that will make it a top storyline — bring out the fact that Shane bought WCW, Eric’s Company, and add to it that Bischoff was appointed RAW GM over Shane, Vince’s own blood. Shane can be pissed at Eric for that; Eric can be pissed at Shane for WCW. It goes great both ways! What does WWE do? They end up bringing that up the last show before the PPV and the focus is on the ‘mature and big-breasted’ Linda McMahon, who probably many won’t look at the same way from here on. I think this is a perfect example of how simple storylines that are drawn and ready to become reality die down because of the poor writing on the show. It’s the one department WWE needs to work the most on as of this moment.
As far as Kane and RVD go, RVD’s gagging is a pretty good example of his position with the company after that interview of his last week that hit the ‘net; Kane, who was brought in WWE with the ability to set fire everywhere he goes, not being able to light a match pretty much says it all. They both got buried for the simple reason that they’re in the wrong feud. Where the heck were the police offers and shackles for Kane by the way? Did they miraculously disappear this Monday?
It’s been three weeks now in which Christian has had near-perfect matches on RAW. The young man has really brought up his game and is doing his best inside the squared circle. That’s why for the past three weeks, his match ends up being the best on the card. He’s shown over the past month and a half that he can work as well with a guy like Booker T as he does with guys like RVD, Hurricane, and even Spike. I’m really disappointed that Christian won’t be defending the IC belt at SummerSlam. It’s a shame.
My reaction to Rob Conway (the guy who joined La Resistance on RAW) debuting, as well as the La Resistance/Dudleyz segment is mixed. I really think that they’ve booked this storyline well (for once), and the things they’ve done were great storyline-wise, but seeing the American flag being treated the way it has been lately is not a good feeling. I guess it all ends at SummerSlam, as I expect the Dudleyz to win.
SummerSlam is just around the corner, and by the looks of it, it’ll be a good event, but nothing over the line. I wouldn’t expect for it to equate to what SummerSlam 2002 did (probably the best WWE PPV in the past two years), but I am hoping it won’t be anything too bad either. As usual, TBL brings you our PPV week, which already started with our RAW coverage, as well as an article entitled A Case for Goldberg, by Trevor Hunnicutt. I encourage everyone to read it, as it’s a very good read outlining the situation with Goldberg and WWE, as well as why he should win the championship at ‘Slam.
I also encourage everyone to join the TBL Forums. I know that many of you love sharing your thoughts and opinions on wrestling, and this is the way to do it! I hope the rest of your week goes smooth! Thanks for your time.
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
