Yesterday the results from my biopsy came in and I am so happy to say that I do not have cancer. I can not tell you how ecstatic I am feeling. I feel like my life was given back to me. All of you have been so supportive and caring that you have no idea what a difference that made to me while I was really going through a living hell these past few weeks. So thank you so much. Okay I really liked Raw last night. In fact I thought the show was a lot better than what I saw last night. Raw gets two thumbs up from me.
I don’t know if I would have opened the show with the clip from last week’s pay per view of the Eugene/Eric Bischoff match. But it was a way to show that Uncle Eric and his new look the crew cut was in no mood to run Raw last night. This set up Evolution taking over Raw and even better it seemed to really set up a nice revolt by Raw’s faces, mainly Randy Orton, Chris Benoit Chris Jericho and yes Maven. But that I’ll get into later on. Hunter and Ric decided to make the rules and the rules were that Evolution was going to do what they wanted too. This brought out Randy Orton who by the way is so over with the fans demanded a match with Hunter for the title. Ah but that wasn’t going to happen. Hunter made a rematch with Randy vs. Ric and should Randy win THEN he would get the title shot with Hunter at the Survivor Series. So the rematch was on to the fans delight.
The first rematch was Chris Jericho vs. Shelton Benjamin for the IC Title. As this match was going on I’m thinking I wonder if Jericho is turning back into a heel. But that didn’t happen, the match was done very nicely and Shelton again just shows why he should be where he is. Shelton beat Y2J again and again, Y2J shook Benjamin’s hands. After the match Christian came out for a surprise attack on Shelton and I believe the feud is on between these two guys. Even though Eric gave himself the night off he stayed and watched the show backstage with Coach. You think he would have just split but I guess wrestling is in his blood. Seriously things really got good when Batista, Hunter and Ric were harassing Christy. Ric was putting on the old charm and Christy turned him down. This didn’t sit well with Hunter who was just about to threaten her until Jericho walked right into Hunter. Oh that set Hunter off and unfortunately the sound went dead as it looked like Hunter was also threatening Chris. Chris did call them jackasses and the guys weren’t too pleased. Hunter was just about to go after Jericho when Maven came. Things were getting good, Hunter figured Maven was no threat and was ready for him but then the faces slowly started coming out and Benoit seemed to really put a scare in Evolution and they finally left. A really super segment with the roster finally standing up to Evolution.
Shawn Michaels and Edge were going to be in the ring for an interview, only Edge said screw all of you. He continued his rant about the fans not voting for him to take on Triple H at Taboo Tuesday. He went on and on about all the injuries he had gone through to get back and get that title. Edge decided he wasn’t showing up at the arena and he’ll come back to Raw when HE wants too. Edge again is coming off so well so damn bitter it’s great seeing him in a character like this. I had no idea Shawn Michaels would show up since WWE.COM had posted he had knee surgery on Friday, I thought his promo was so strong. He not only put the voting part over at Taboo Tuesday but he made the fans seem like they were Gods. I loved what he said and so did the crowd he had them in the palm of his hand. It really was a great segment. Okay here’s where things got a little off target. Maven is being interviewed by Todd Grisham backstage and before he can continue the interview Batista comes out bragging about Evolution taking over. Maven challenged him to a match and Batista basically laughed and refused. So Maven slapped the big guy and the match was on. Unfortunately there was no entrance music for Maven and I really believe that the music and entrance adds to things but Maven was in the ring when Batista came out and even though the match was good and Maven won the crowd really got quiet during the whole thing. But I will say a Maven win over an Evolution member again makes for a good storyline,
The other match that hit rock bottom was Snitky taking on Regal in uh 30 seconds. It was a worthless match and did nothing for me or the live group. Even bringing Eugene out to help a fallen Regal was blah. Okay but things definitely picked up. Trish was superb as Queen Bitch with Lita. She managed to insult Lita as much as she could. Her insults finally got to Lita and a mini brawl took place. Trish went from a heel that had nothing going for her to a comedic sarcastic heel and boy is it working. We saw Hunter looking a little put out by all the guys that came to out to aid Jericho earlier. This time it was Flair that gave him the pep talk, he assured Hunter and Batista that all was well. And it was off to the main event. Another very good main event with Ric vs. Randy. I loved it and the crowd was totally into this baby. I figured Randy wasn’t winning and that Hunter would be the ref which then would seal Randy’s fate. I was way off yes Batista and Hunter got out there to make sure Ric would win and yes Ric did win thanks to a chair shot to Randy’s head courtesy of Hunter. But this main event only got better. After Ric’s win Benoit, Jericho and Maven ran in took Batista out and went after Ric and Hunter. Ric and Hunter tried to escape but ended up back in the ring. Randy was standing right behind Flair and Flair knew it watching his eyes widen was hysterical. Randy RKO’d Flair and Hunter tried to leave but Shelton, Rhyno, Tajiri and a few others beat up on Hunter and threw him back in the ring. As Hunter pleaded for his life he took a shot at Maven but then Benoit, Jericho, Orton and Maven took care of Triple H.
Hunter took the German Suplexes from Benoit, the moonsault from Jericho and while he’s just about finished Jericho, Maven and Benoit held Hunter up for Randy and Hunter was RKO’d. My God the fans were going nuts during all of this, the faces were standing outside of the ring pounding on the mat, and the atmosphere was off the charts. Watching Hunter get what he deserved just appealed to me so much. Could we be seeing the faction that will put Evolution to rest? Benoit, Jericho, Maven and Randy Orton will they be a new stable on Raw? I could definitely live with that. As I said I loved the show I really liked the crowd and one thing I forgot to mention was the Smackdown vs. Raw commercial with Stacy and Torrie Wilson. For the first time in a long time Torrie came through in this one. It’s a very funny add and it’s a very flattering add for both women.
Okay on to Smackdown and Impact. I read that Kevin Nash is going to show up for Impact. And as far as Smackdown goes I pray there is less time spent on Tough Enough and more time spent on wrestling. And I can’t wait to watch Booker and JBL continue their feud. I’ll be back on Friday with what I hope is another thumbs up column.
Email lvaccarp@hotmail.com
