Hey. You’re reading yet another edition of News and Analysis for which I thank you. School has started for all the youngsters out there, so let’s see if that will stop you from reading my little space here at TheBalrogsLair.com.
WWE presented Monday Night RAW this past Monday. The show was without a doubt better than recent episodes of the program, but not because it was all that good, but simply because RAW has gone down in quality majorly over the past few weeks. I enjoyed the show on Monday, and I felt that there were plenty of good moments, alongside some not-so-good-ones. Again, overall I feel that it was a nice effort with a pretty solid main event, which made it look great!
I absolutely love what they did with Bill Goldberg on Monday night. The main event match was great from all aspects of it! From the way it was booked, to the way it was executed, all the way to the great fan reaction that the six men got, the main event was really good! I thought it was the highlight of the show. Goldberg came off looking strong, like the monster he once was in WCW, and the heat between him and Triple H came out perfectly. I have ALWAYS, and I mean always been the first one to praise Triple H when needed to (Yes, I don’t just speak ill of the man, I’m an objective writer), so I will go ahead and say that his facial expressions made up for his lack of work (due to his injury) in the main event. Hunter was great, from his interview backstage to the main event, he really put over the heat between him and Goldberg, and he did it well. Goldberg, for his part, did solid. This is turning into a great storyline.
From one extreme to the other… I didn’t like at all what they did with Kane this past Monday night. As far as Shane’s testicles go, I didn’t have that big of a problem with the segment, though it was goofy. At least WWE built it well, and from looking at older rating numbers, fans seem to be interested in the Kane/Shane storyline. If it brings rating, as bizarre as it is, it should continue in my opinion. Obviously, some people like it. But again, my problem was with Kane. After being pushed into a dumpster set on fire, after at least a minute of being burnt, Kane all of the sudden disappeared. Not only does WWE expect us to believe that he has some magic trapdoor where he goes, but he returns next week untouched, with some weak bandages around him. I don’t know about you, but that made absolutely no sense to me.
I thought WWE could have done a better job of making the storyline more unrealistic. It’s like saying if we’re going to go this route, let’s go as far as possible. I was even thinking maybe Kane will come back all burnt but still standing strong. That would have made him a true monster. But after thinking about it, it wouldn’t have made much sense since they basically said he’s never been burnt in his life, but was rather a mental case. Then again, I just can’t see why was Kane doing fine on RAW if he’s a mental case and has no “special abilities,” to put it. Anyway, I didn’t like that storyline one bit, but like I said last week, we got to give them time for things like that. Well, the time has come and they didn’t deliver storyline-wise in my opinion.
Christian and Chris Jericho had a great match on RAW. I can’t say I was surprised that Christian won, but at this point I can’t help but wonder if it’s better to put the belt on Jericho. He’s more marketable as a champ any way you look at it. I have enjoyed Christian’s work for a while now. He’s just great. It’s too bad that in the past two weeks, WWE has pushed him in a silly direction instead of taking him seriously. When he just went out and wrestled, he was more of an IC Champion in my eyes than he ever was. Yes, it’s fine that he complains about not having a spot on a PPV, because it makes the IC belt and the champ himself look so much more important, but on the other hand it creates for a goofy segment, and overall situation.
For once, I enjoyed Rosey. Why? Because he wrestled. It was about time WWE progressed that storyline. They did well on Monday night. Hurricane and Rosey look like a great team, as well.
I believe in a recent edition of News & Analysis, I said that Test and Steiner will continue to fight each other until WrestleMania XX. I still stand by that statement.
The women’s division has been moving along quite well since Molly won the championship belt. You would expect her reign to be filled with more wrestling, and less storylines, but it’s actually not quite like that. I don’t mind it. Molly has also worked great in the ring. It was good to see Ivory back in that picture too. Looking forward to Lita‘s return sooner rather later.
I never thought in my lifetime, I’d say this two weeks in a row, but Jonathan Coachman has done a hell of a job with his gimmick. Coach is really over at least with me, and his heelish persona is great. I’m not too happy about him fighting J.R., I’ll admit that, but on the flip side it gives something that hasn’t been done in a while, and it’s actually working alright so far. With Al Snow’s turn, it should get interesting. I still think that Coach, Snow, Lawler, and Ross don’t need that much TV time though.
In somewhat of a news update, Kevin Nash wasn’t on RAW because he took some time off to go ahead and shoot his role in the movie he was recently offered. We’ll definitely have the update on the Newsboard when he’s scheduled to return.
Kurt Angle didn’t work the house shows this week, as WWE gave him time off. Kurt is currently working through a hamstring injury as long as some bruises here and there. I can’t believe how tough this guy is. (Kurt is the so-called “paper champion” by Triple H, who’s injured every other month now.) However, the reason he was given time off wasn’t due to his injuries. WWE is actually starting a new system of sorts, which will allow them to give a weekend off to their workers here and there. I, as well as many others, think that’s a great idea!
If you haven’t heard by now, Triple H is supposed to take some time off after his match with Goldberg at Unforgiven (where he’ll most likely lose the World Championship). The reason being is that the company wants him to relax and rest up, so his groin injury will heel properly. Hunter is also going to plan out his wedding, as well as honeymoon, with Stephanie McMahon. Isn’t it nice how this all works out? Now Triple H can job his title since it’s time to take rest. And yes, you guessed it, he’ll probably win it back when he returns.
That will do it for today. I’ll try to do shorter thoughts from now on as far as the shows go and include more news into this report. This is NEWS & Analysis after all. I hope you enjoyed it. Check back during the weekend for another edition.
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
