Hey everyone! It’s been a while, huh? My apologies for the lack of updates last week, but with Thanksgiving around and some personal things I had to take care of, I fell behind. I still managed to post on the TBL Forums, and if you’re not a member, I encourage you to join that place! We are nearing the 400 mark as far as the number of people chatting goes. Yes, I started with a cheap plug, but with Mick Foley back, I think that’s ok.
Which brings us into Monday Night RAW. Wow, what a show it’s been over the past two weeks. I’ve really enjoyed RAW and I thought that the strong showing of RAW Roulette about a week ago was a strong set up for all the heels, as they were obviously headed to the night of the baby faces this past Monday on RAW. WWE did a great job with both shows in my opinion. Last night, Foley’s return managed to bring something new and fresh to the program which it certainly could use. I look at it as just another great addition to the show. Nothing bad, but WWE has to be careful with the way they handle the GM position over on RAW. Ever since last year, it’s been a huge part of the program, and it shouldn’t be as overrated as it is. However, I will also admit that for the past month they’ve done a tremendous job setting up the Team Austin/Team Bischoff match at Survivor Series, and the aftermath of building Bischoff as a super heel and have Foley surprise him this past week has also been done great. Good job by the writers there.
How is it that the ‘net is always on the McMahons when they do something bad but never mention when a positive takes place? I just thought I’d make a mention of the fact that it wasn’t Vince or Stephanie, nor Shane who became the new Co-G.M. of RAW. Instead, they went with someone the fans love and have seen before in a similar position years ago. With the new environment surrounding the show, it’ll allow for a fresh change with Foley around that will definitely escalate some guys when needed to, in my opinion. However, everyone fails to mention that the McMahons weren’t struck by ego this time around, and actually tried to make the show better; not only did they try, but last night they succeeded.
It seems that over the past couple of weeks, the storyline involving Trish Stratus and her relationship with Chris Jericho quickly became the top story on the show! I personally feel that they’ve done a great job with that one. It has been happening alongside a storyline involving Lita and Christian, and WWE has kept a thin line between the two as they’ve had the characters interact with each other, yet keep to themselves up until this past week. I personally think it’s too soon to comment on the twist that storyline took on RAW. For those of you who missed it, Jericho and Christian basically revealed to the world that they had a bet going on over who can sleep with one of the divas first. While you might say that it’s definitely a stupid ending to something great that they had going, I’d have to disagree at this stage. There’s a lot that can happen in the near future, so I think the best thing to do is wait to see how this one goes, and then comment on it. Several possibilities include one of the guys realizing that they actually like one of the divas, or maybe some twist where Jericho says he was just being his ‘heel’ self and doing a big talk with Christian. It should also be noted that Trish felt RAW was “the night” yet we never got an update on whether or not, her and Jericho went out again. For all we know, Trish might have acted up and still went through with being with Jericho. I’m starting to rant here, but bottom line is, there’s several possibilities of how this one may go, so I’d wait and see what happens. If RAW was the end of it though, I’d have to agree that this was an incredible waste of probably the best storyline they’ve had going in a long time where Jericho and Trish are concerned.
Matt Hardy has debuted on RAW, and is in the midst of a storyline with Christian. You have to wonder what happens from here on, now that Christian and Jericho’s plans were revealed, but getting back to V1, I think WWE hasn’t done that good of a job with his brand change. Hardy is the type of guy who is really good at picking up momentum and carrying through with it. A skill he was allowed to, and used to the best of his advantage when he went to SmackDown in the first place. It allowed his Version 1 gimmick to really pick up, as they presented him in a special capacity. He’s still not in the mix on RAW, but I feel that they should treat him as someone special, rather just throw him on TV like anyone else. It allows him to carry through the momentum he got upon debuting, and again, that’s something he’s good at.
Mark Henry and Booker T have been going at it since the Survivor Series PPV, and their feud has progressed to the point where the two will meet each other at the Armageddon PPV event. I personally have enjoyed the wrestling here, as I like seeing Booker in action. There obviously isn’t anything big for him to do right now, so pairing him up with Henry is at least a plus for the World’s Strongest Man, and allows Book to have a fresh storyline going on RAW. I’ve been complaining about this for a while, but I guess WWE completely decided to ignore the storyline they had started before Survivor Series, where Booker T received a note from a “fan” saying “I Still Remember.” I’m over it, guys, I promise! At any rate, I won’t be surprised if they really push Henry in this one, but I have the feeling that Booker will get the pin at the PPV. Maybe I’m wrong?
There’s also been some wrestlers complaining of Henry’s stiff work inside the ring. Bubba Dudley was unhappy with the way the big man worked with him recently. I have heard of no reported complains coming from Booker T so far.
WWE has done a great job of elevating Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak as of late. I’ve really enjoyed the in-ring these two have offered, and their storyline with the Dudleyz has also been interesting to me. There’s a Tag Teams Turmoil at Armageddon, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Cade and Jindark got the belts, but I have the feeling that WWE is going to spread this one over a couple of months or so. All I can tell you at this point is that there’s some huge plans for Cade and Jindrak, as WWE is very high on them. Cade, especially, has become one of upper management’s favorites and will definitely be getting a push, whether in singles competition or as a team with Jindrak. Again the ‘net fails to mention it, but there’s two young new superstars that the company has actually been successful in elevating, at least in my opinion.
Then we go to the main event picture, where WWE has really pushed three big upcoming PPV matches. First off, RVD defends his IC title as he faces Randy Orton at Armageddon. After having Orton work with Michaels for a bit, and then be a part of Team Bischoff at Survivor Series, I think the next step that would make sense is a feud with RVD. The question here remains whether WWE wants to go ahead and give Randy the belt, resulting in a title reign, after which he’ll probably be thrown into the World Title picture. The other obvious choice is to keep the belt on Van Dam and pro-long the feud. Of course, they can also do that if the belt was on Orton. Anyway, I believe it’s a great feud and it has been good so far. From character standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to see these two guys feud over the IC belt.
Elsewhere, WWE is taking advantage of the great performance Shawn Michaels put up at the Survivor Series PPV (By the way, I honestly think that this was Michaels at his best in recent times. It was amazing!) by using the legend to give the rub to Evolution member Batista. The big man has been impressive since returning from his injury problems, and this feud has also had a great start with Batista already doing a number on HBK. The point here is simple and that’s to elevate the other Evolution member through the sky, but I’m guessing WWE might want to slow it down before Batista gets the pin, because otherwise his push will pretty much be the same as that of Orton, when he feuded Michaels. I still believe the conclusion will see Batista getting at least one win over Michaels, and maybe it could be as soon as Armageddon if WWE feels that Survivor Series managed to build Michaels after losing to Orton in previous months.
We wrap things up with the World Heavyweight Champion — Bill Goldberg. Man, WWE has really been pushing Big Bill as of late. I just wish they would have done it earlier. However, I still think that it’s better late than ever and that for what it’s worth and for what they could have done, it’s been good. Although it doesn’t build much credibility to Goldberg, it does build a lot of credibility to the World Title and Big Bill’s reign, and that’s a good thing. Having your champion be damaged goods is never a good thing. Just ask Brock Lesnar. At Armageddon, it’ll be a Triple Threat with Goldberg defending Triple H and Kane. I saw that one coming, and believe even discussed it in this section, but for now it’s pretty much all they can do. They’re building up towards a Kane/Goldberg program and are taking it slow to see how the fans react and allow the two men more time for their feud. So far, the fans seem to enjoy it, as that was quite a pop Goldberg got when he and Kane had somewhat of a mini brawl on RAW. House show reports indicate that WWE wasn’t too happy with the work of these two on non-televised events, but I feel that they can pick things up. As far as Triple H goes, it’ll just look goofy for him to move back from the World Title picture so quickly, after holding the belt with that gimmick for so long. However, I do expect him to step back for a bit. He’ll take more time off, and I believe I read some rumors of him feuding with Booker T in 2004. Take that for what it’s worth.
And that will do it for this report, folks. Hope you enjoyed it! In one last plug, you probably saw it on the main page, but myself and TBL’s Trevor Hunnicutt were a part of the AfterBurnWrestling.com radio show. Make sure to check that out! You’ll really enjoy it!
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
