Hello everyone, and thanks for reading News & Analysis. It looks like I am never able to write a PPV right after it takes place on a weekend. It’s a weird fact of life for me. I don’t know why that is. This time I managed to see the PPV, being Survivor Series, almost right away too. Ah well. In this week’s edition, I’ll give you my lowdown on the latest in WWE so there’ll be several Survivor Series comments thrown in as I talk about the events that took place on both Raw and SmackDown.
We start with Monday Night RAW, of course. I felt that this week it was a strong effort which managed to deliver for most of what it was worth. The wrestling on the program was on average level with some matches pulling in good in-ring action, but others leaving just a little bit to desire. At any rate, it’s much better than what we’ve seen in the past year or so. On the creative end of things, WWE are really getting on my positive side with the Jericho/Trish storyline, and now that they’ve added Matt Hardy to RAW, they started on what could be another great story involving Hardy, now former girlfriend Lita, and Christian. They also made it clear that it’s Bischoff’s show now that Austin is away. Speaking of that, let’s start with Steve Austin. No, he’s not done with WWE. They certainly did a bit too much to make us think he is though, didn’t they? Austin is taking some time off, as he’s spending some quality airtime advertising his book, The Stone Cold Truth, and making many media appearances here and there. Also, he’s simply resting at home and will be going deer hunting soon, one of Steve Austin’s favorite hobbies. Over on RAW, Bill Goldberg continues his successful reign and has been beating the crap out of Evolution as of late. They have done a good job of pushing Goldberg for all he’s worth. I’d give some praises to Triple H for promptly doing the job to Goldberg on RAW before the PPV, and at Survivor Series as well. But then again, after hearing Triple H’s promo on RAW where he felt that he needed his heat back, it just didn’t feel so right. For those of you who haven’t figured it out yet or haven‘t had the chance to read anything on that topic, Big Bill is supposed to be defending his World Championship at Armageddon against Triple H and Kane in a Triple Threat. I think it’s a nice move, as The Game is currently busy with some movie projects and still has some nagging injuries, so he’s on and off the TV screen, therefore couldn’t feud anyone else on full-time basis. As far as Kane goes, his whole feud with Shane McMahon, and even the controversy surrounding him and Van Dam earlier this year was supposed to push him as a monster. Whether it did or not is your call, but the bottom line is that after giving him the huge rub this Sunday in the Buried Alive match, WWE is going ahead and pushing Kane through the sky. I believe I talked about that in here several months ago. At any rate, I’d look for Kane to feud Goldberg in the upcoming months.
Speaking of the Buried Alive match, it wasn’t something I’d call a “must see.” McMahon did bleed like crazy in what was a horrible blade job, and he did take a huge beating. It looks like the McMahons feel that by taking a huge beating once a month on PPV, they’re justified for putting themselves in main event matches or taking off some air time. I don’t know if that’s what they think, or they are simply trying their best to excuse the ego brush, but whatever it is, they tend to do it when they’re on PPV. At any rate, after the Buried Alive match and the “eulogy” given by Kane on SmackDown, I think there’s simply no other option for Undertaker when he returns, but to do so as the Dead Man. I actually am looking forward to that, as mentioned in this section in the past.
I don’t want to jinx it, but Trish Stratus and Chris Jericho have become a great pairing on RAW. The best part about this storyline is that we simply have no idea where it’s going to go. Will Trish give Jericho the chance but not be as happy with his actions? Will Jericho turn face just to get Trish? What’s in the making? I don’t know, and that’s the best part about it. The interaction between the two seems very natural on TV, and since the storyline is very realistic, it’s something credible to sell to the audience. It’s sad to see that WWE can indeed produce quality stuff if they want to. I just hope that the storyline will continue in a good manner and they won’t trash it in a week or two.
Matt Hardy is back on RAW, in what is a great move by WWE if you ask me. Hardy’s place is on RAW right now, where he can have different options for great feuds. He had become a nobody on SmackDown and was a definitely a lost on Thursday nights. He has already been inserted into a storyline involving his real-life girlfriend Lita, as the two broke up on RAW, in a pretty surprising moment. I’m glad WWE is keeping Hardy heel, because that’s the role he wants and he has proven that’s the role he’s good at. It also allows them to try something new for Christian as they insert him into this program. The truth is that Christian has been with the company for quite some time now, and since his push earlier this year has really brought his game up inside the ring, and WWE is behind that. I don’t know if they’ll turn him face or not, but I’m interested to see how all of this plays out. It’s also worth to notice where Molly Holly stands in all of this, as she’s involved too.
They didn’t continue the storyline they started two weeks ago with someone sending Booker T a notice that said “I Still Remember.” Let’s see if WWE “still remembers” about it this Monday.
Over on SmackDown, things are slowly picking up, but Vince McMahon remains to be a problem. It’s not that I dislike Vince so much, it’s just that his current character is something that shouldn’t be on TV. The best thing that could happen right now is for McMahon to take some time off and return as his old self, or rather rediscover his roots in some fashion through a storyline, or even a strong segment. The current role Vince has is so horrible, and quite frankly has absolutely nothing to do with his old Mr. McMahon persona if you think about it. They’ve really dropped the ball with him. Or should I be saying he really dropped the ball with himself? I thought that Kane and McMahon will be a duo, and I recently read somewhere online that this was in the plans, but I can’t confirm anything as of this writing, so let’s just watch and see, I guess.
WWE has done a tremendous job with John Cena. His face turn has went well so far and I have no complains. They had him confront McMahon and defeat Big Show yet again on SmackDown, which added to his heat. He’s certainly someone WWE needs to use, as he’s established himself to the point where he’s very over with the fans. He’s the next main event wrestler the company needs to push, but now is not the time to have him cross Brock Lesnar’s path. The two have already wrestled for the WWE Championship, earlier this year, when Lesnar as face beat the heel Cena. Lesnar also needs to be built up again because as of late he’s had to do a lot of jobbing.
It looks like they’re setting up Benoit and Lesnar for a feud, but the latest news from house shows is that Cena took Benoit’s place in one-on-one competition against Lesnar, so we’ll see how that goes.
I absolutely enjoy Tajiri’s new friends on SmackDown, which I like to call the Japanese Mafia. Akio had a tremendous match on SmackDown against Rey Mysterio and boy did he take some horrible bumps to the head. He sold well, worked good inside the ring and Mysterio carried him to a near-perfect bout. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these guys as soon as possible.
I like that the World’s Greatest Tag Team is back in action. SmackDown felt empty without them, since these two guys are always able to bring some good in-ring action to the plate.
Kurt Angle had a surgery this past Tuesday to repair a problem in his neck (a chipped bone). He’s said to be doing good and will be back pretty soon, with some saying 2 to 3 weeks. However, he’s not supposed to be taking bumps or wrestling anytime soon, so wait for him to get back into the ring around the Royal Rumble PPV.
I think I’ll call it a night for now!
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
