I don’t know what to say about last night’s Raw. Without a doubt Maven’s Raw so far has been the best since the faces took over three weeks ago. While there were some bright spots on the show, Raw basically didn’t do it for me last night. The crowd was okay, but I would say more on the quiet side, but the reason for that could be that there wasn’t much to cheer about.
I’m being honest with you when I say that it was no surprise to me to see Vince come out and take Hunter out of the Battle Royal. I couldn’t see Hunter in that one and coming out victorious, I expected some change to take place. And how insulting was it for Vince to put Stevie Richards down by saying if Hunter was in that match a guy like Richards could be your next Champion? The Battle Royal was a typical one, the only cool parts were Maven be taken out by Eugene. You could see that Maven was livid. Batista going nuts and cleaning house with Ric Flair as one of his victims. But it was at the end with Chris Benoit and Edge fighting to the end to get that title shot that made this match worth watching. Now I figured Benoit would win since he never got Hunter in the ring last week, so once Edge and Benoit both went over the rope you knew that the main event was going to be a triple threat which by the way was fine with me.
Naturally they played up Benoit and Edge’s exit from the ring over and over again. Randy Orton was watching backstage and looking rather puzzled about just who won. Vince walked in and like the big man Vince is and I say that with sarcasm he would not tell Randy how he would handle it. No, Vince told Randy he was the GM the decision was his. Funny how Vince seemed to forget that when he opened the show announcing that he taking Hunter out of the Battle Royal. Okay so now Randy is more puzzled than ever just what should he do? Well if a not so bright person like me instantly calls for a triple threat match, I’m wondering why that very simple decision isn’t coming to Randy’s mind. As Randy is contemplating this very tough call Edge comes in and begs for that spot, but Randy isn’t giving in. The more he tells Edge he’ll think about it the more Edge is ready to kill Randy. Not one of the best segments of the show but at least we had a little excitement with Edge’s actions.
A backstage segment that I did like was Maven talking to Shelton Benjamin about Eugene throwing him over the rope. Maven could not shake it off at all. Maven really lost it when happy go lucky Eugene came in with a doll. Maven laid in on Eugene. Insulting Eugene’s mind and just going off on him. That brought Regal over to step in and this was the start of a Maven heel turn one that he’s needed so badly. I think the theme of last night’s show was SEX, you know eye candy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but when it’s not done well believe me it can hurt a show badly and that’s what happened last night. Instead of having Randy get into it with Hunter, Batista or Flair. Randy is Mr. Stud for the night and it didn’t work at all. All the good that has come out of Randy just about went out the window last night. Candice the new “makeup lady” needed Randy’s approval about her low cut dress. Naturally the stud approved but it didn’t matter because it was such a waste of time.
Thankfully there are a few women on the roster that still wrestle and Trish/Molly taking on Lita/Victoria was a good match. Lita seemed a lot more relaxed in the ring and it was great seeing Victoria, I thought she disappeared and joined the circus. Why she hasn’t been used in while I have no idea, but at least Victoria along Trish, Lita and Molly gave the fans something other than bodies to look at.
And just what we needed a video recapping all the wonderful highlights from Hassan and Daivari. It’s not enough we have seen each one in full but last night we needed to be reminded of just how disgusting this gimmick is. I hope that was it, and now Hassan will get in the ring, I’ve had enough of their promos to last me a life time. Legend vs. Legend, Jerry the king Lawler vs. Ric Flair. Not a bad idea for a match. The match itself went on too long for me but I liked the concept, a little shorter and more humor would have won me over. Another video aired about Shelton Benjamin’s life. Again it was done so well and it just makes you so happy that he had such great support to help him get where he is today.
We don’t see Randy interacting at all with Evolution, but as I said why would he was on a diva kick last night. Let’s see Vince dumps Jazz, Gail Kim and Nidia and brings in Candace and Maria to losers of the diva contest, and Melina Perez, whom is supposed to be damn good in the ring but last night she’s just another diva. Then you add Christy Hemmes and Stacey and you have this god awful Lingerie segment. You know it’s bad when the fans that are there live could care less and the feedback that I’m receiving and the feedback that I’ve read on other sites are 100% against what they saw. It was one of the longest and most boring segments you could ask for. Why was it so important to make Randy a ladies man last night? I’m not saying that the show hurt Randy permanently but it sure hurt him last night. They could have booked a decent match during this segment, Randy could have wrestled, but that wasn’t to be. I can’t tell you how gypped I felt while watching the time just go by. Once this fiasco was over La Resistance vs. Eugene and Regal was next. It was a match for the tag team titles and it was a good match, something the show was lacking throughout the night. It was refreshing to see a match and not some lame segment with Randy flirting. While the match was short it still was very appealing. And speaking of appealing, how fantastic was it to see Maven the heel come out and bash Eugene into the steel stairs? And then leaving angry yet a small smile appeared on his face, what a super night for Maven. I liked watching Chris Jericho and Trish backstage. Trish with her nose guard on and Jericho getting in as many digs as he could was sweet. With Raw being hosted by Jericho next week, not only should it be a better show but Trish now must defend her title against Lita. Is that going to be the show where Lita wins? I’m thinking yeah that’s going to happen.
What a night it was for Batista. He was an animal in the ring during the Battle Royal. And again really showed a lack of interest with Evolution when Ric was reading him the riot act about how both guys should have remained in the Battle Royal to help their “mentor” Hunter. And when Hunter entered the room and complained about the triple threat, immediately Flair consoled Hunter by telling him he had his back. But Batista was silent. And don’t think Hunter didn’t notice that. Batista then quietly said he had his back but you just know that Batista could care less about Hunter. Batista has definitely grown in the last few weeks and you could even hear the disappointment from the fans when he was thrown over the rope at the beginning of the show. He’s the guy that the fans or at least many fans wanted to see against Hunter. The triple threat match was excellent. This could have been a pay per view match. I have to compliment each man in there. Benoit, Edge and Hunter worked their asses off and this was by far the match of the night. I don’t know about you, but I did not expect the show to end the way it did. Talk about a cliffhanger, I cannot wait to find out what the decision will be next week. My opinion is that Hunter will keep the title since it was a tie with Benoit and Edge. But who knows maybe there will be a rematch with all three OR just between Benoit and Edge. Whatever happens it was a super main event.
So not the best Raw, I don’t need to see Randy and his women and I need to see Randy the wrestler. Jericho has a party theme planned for next week. So we will see who will be partying along with Jericho. Will it be Chris Benoit, Edge or Hunter? Okay Impact is on today, I won’t be able to see it since I work but I’ll watch the show when it’s back this Friday. As far as Smack down, I have to admit right now there’s not too much to entice me. The Tough Enough contest does nothing for me although it’s been a little better. Big Show vs. Luther Reigns doesn’t exactly make me count the hours until the show is on, and the Angle Invitational Tournament is a waste of time. Could I be more negative? While the show Thursday night wasn’t terrible there’s just nothing right now that’s really hot. Cena is out again, and with Carlito injured it takes away from what they could have. But as nasty as I sound I will be watching and hopefully the show will come off fairly well.
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