I had my doubts about Sunday’s Survivor Series. With such little build up I felt the show would be another average pay per view. However last night’s Raw did a great job building things up for the show and I’m thinking that Survivor Series just might be worth watching. As good as Raw was there were only a few things that came off kind of poor.
But we were given something that Raw hasn’t given us in a while, two super matches. So Raw definitely delivered.
Okay so Hunter returned and came out with Batista, and was blaming Eric for Ric Flair not being there because of an injury from last weeks match. Again I am so happy with Eric’s character. As Hunter grabbed Bisch throwing his power around, Eric wasn’t taking it. It was amazing to see Hunter lose the grip after Eric threatened to strip Triple H of the title. Eric with a smile told Hunter to focus on the Survivor Series match and keeping his title after the pay per view. Hunter immediately said no one can beat him and Bisch said then Hunter had nothing to worry about. Hunter showed that ballistic side of him during this and Bisch again showed the new side of him not taking any crap from Hunter.
This was a nice segment and it led right into a Batista vs. Randy Orton match. This was a very good match; a match with commercials lasted almost thirty minutes. It’s really a thrill to watch Randy wrestle and Batista hung in there with him making for one of the best matches of the night. Naturally Hunter was standing out there to make sure Randy wasn’t going to win, but after Hunter interfered he was immediately thrown out. Again Hunter went nuts to the fans delight. Oh and the fans, well the Austin, Texas fans were hot just about all night. Batista again was pinned by Randy, and you could just see the anger and humiliation in Batista’s face.
In fact, Batista’s anger carried backstage where Orton, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Maven were all talking about the Survivor Series. Batista attacked Orton, and it took a bunch of agents and refs to break it up. This match and backstage segment were great way to focus on Batista. I’m telling you his character just gets better and better as time goes on. I loved the video from last week with Chris Benoit all bloodied from his beating by Edge. Benoit was totally intense about what he had planned in his match that was scheduled for the following week, which was last night. Things would get so bad that Chris didn’t want his wife or son in the arena to see what would take place. I totally loved this, you could not ask anymore from Benoit he looked like a man that would do just about anything to get back at Edge.
Okay last night was the first night that I could see that Tyson Tomko just doesn’t have it. As good as Shelton Benjamin was and he was, Tyson looked like he was working in slow motion. Had it not been for Shelton’s great effort in carrying Tomko this match would have been a total dud. I don’t know if Tomko would be released but he definitely needs to leave Raw and maybe go back to OVW. And hallelujah Shelton got Christian by kicking him off the apron after Christian tried very hard to stop Benjamin from continuing. I am looking forward to their match at the pay per view, I got a nice preview at my Raw a few weeks ago and I know that we are going to be totally entertained by both men. So the highlight Reel was back with Trish and Lita has Jericho’s guest. Trish was her usual bitchy self which came off well. Lita? I still can’t get into her character at all. I sure hope that Sunday in the ring she makes a wonderful comeback because out of the ring she’s just not cutting it. Gene Snitzky came out with a “baby” and Lita was shocked. I don’t now what else to say but he took the baby that was crying and kicked it into the audience. Wow what shock, and I’m being totally sarcastic here. Lita naturally was stunned and he started to walk toward her and Jericho stepped in and this led to Snitzky taking Jericho out. We then see Lita just sitting on the floor in shock. See I don’t get it, what happened to that tough strong Lita that wanted Kane to go after Snitzky? I am curious to see just what Lita brings to the ring at Survivor Series so I do look forward to watching Lita and
Trish. Last week I laughed hard watching Simon Dean insult the crowd. Last night it just didn’t work for me. Simon definitely has it when it comes to mic work and sure their were humorous parts but I would like these long drawn out segments to end and get Simon into a feud, which I’m guessing will happen after Survivor Series. Triple H vs. Tajiri was next only it never took place. You kind of figured Hunter was out for blood after Tajiri mocked him last week, but Hunter didn’t plan on wrestling him he got Snitzky to take care of Tajiri. And Snitzky came through; Hunter was so pleased with Gene that he welcomed Gene to his team with opened arms. The best part? Snitzsky isn’t a team player and when they win it’s going to be because of Snitzky. And then this is what I loved Gene told Hunter that after the win he’s going for the title. Hunter not only looked mad but he looked a little bit worried. And this was just the beginning, Hunter had no idea what was in store for him.
Another vignette aired with Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari. Again you can just see where this is going. To bring up September 11 again is in such poor taste. There was no praise Allah this time which worked for me, and there is no doubt that the creative team will make these guys heels. You can just tell how hated these two are going to be. You can say goodbye to La Resistance and hello to Muhammad and Daivari. Maria interviewed Edge and Hunter strolled by again welcoming Edge to the team. Hunter told Edge that they need to keep any eye on Snitzky and Edge did the Snitzky thing. Telling Hunter that HE will win for the team and then he’s going after the belt. It definitely wasn’t a good night for Triple H. Hunter then when to his buddy Batista and told him he has to talk to Edge and Snitzy, he needs to talk some sense into them. As Hunter left Batista slowly picked up the title staring at it, making us wonder if Dave is thinking the same thing that Edge and Snitky are thinking. It was a great night to showcase Batista; it certainly put some depth into his character. Let’s see $250,000.00 was given to Christy Hemmes and last night her appearance was as a ring announcer for the Edge/Benoit match. They dump 30 wrestlers total since 2004, not that all didn’t deserve it. Remember they did it to save money yet they throw out this money for the Diva contest and are paying a million dollars to the winner of the Tough Enough contest my God what is wrong with this picture?
The main event was absolutely awesome. Edge and Benoit did what we all expected they rocked the house. Another lengthy match and that just added to things. Hunter and Batista came out to check things out and then Maven, Randy and Jericho made their way out. Things really got going outside of the ring as well as in the ring. Benoit won on a DQ thanks to Batista and Triple H’s interference during his crippler crossface. This started one nice brawl with both teams. The faces came out on top and believe me all of this really go me excited for the pay per view.
So a really good Raw with just a few flaws and now it’s on to Impact and Smackdown. I read that Diamond Dallas Page is showing up on Impact and I’ll have a few things to say about that and a few other veterans that have made their way to TNA. And on Smackdown it’s Kurt Angle vs. Big Show, this should be good. And the Torrie Wilson Sex Test with the Tough Enough contestants will be just terrific. Oh yeah right. Anyway I’m hoping for a strong Smackdown going into Survivor Series. By the way over the weekend Bob Holly did it again. In a match against Carlito Cool I guess he got a little to stiff when throwing him out of the ring and CCC separated his shoulder. I just read that it looks like Carlito will have surgery and be out for three months. WWE is hoping he can wrestle on Sunday but that’s not a definite. I guess we will know more when Smackdown tapes tonight.
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