The first Raw of 2005 was a great way to start the New Year off. I loved the show from beginning to end. And believe me even though I have been looking forward to New Years Revolution, but Raw did one hell of a job getting me even more hyped for the show. The crowd from Uniondale Long Island was hot just about all night. I’ll tell you I wish I could have been there last night that’s how appealing the show was to me.
Eric Bischoff set up three hot matches with each member involved in Elimination Chamber on Sunday. It would be Chris Benoit vs. Batista. Edge vs. Chris Jericho and finally Triple H vs. Randy Orton. And this last one I didn’t expect to see until Wrestlemania. So this makes me wonder if Batista has replaced Randy and will take on Hunter in April. But back to the show. This all worked for me and the opening match was a good one. It was that monster Batista taking on Chris Benoit. You know watching Benoit week after week just makes me want more. His in ring work is so brilliant that he really has become one of my favorite wrestlers. And Batista as so many of us have noticed has improved so much with his wrestling. So with Batista’s improvement’s and Benoit’s expertise this one wasn’t going to fail. Batista did win and truthfully I figured he had too. Otherwise how could he keep bugging the hell out of Triple H? It’s Batista’s winning streak and his beat the clock victory that is totally getting the best of Hunter.
After the break, Flair and Hunter were backstage. Flair was just ecstatic about Batista’s win, remember it was over Benoit. Hunter seemed happy with the outcome as well. Dave walked in and again we have another strong segment between Hunter and Batista. After he enters Flair tells Hunter that all Hunter has to do his beat the four guys in the chamber and Batista will be there to see to it that Hunter is the champion. Hunter knows he can count on the big man, yet again I’m not buying this at all. I see a very worried and unsure Triple H. He doesn’t know if Batista is really with him. So things are going fine and then things explode. Batista out of the blue wants Hunter to pay the $100.00 that he owed Batista for beating the clock last week. Oh my God, the face on Triple H is worth seeing. This man is fuming that Batista would even think to bring that up. Hunter tells Flair to pay him, and there’s Ric all smiles taking the money out. But Batista wants it from Hunter not Flair. He tells Hunter that the bet was between them not Ric and Hunter is getting hotter and hotter.
Hunter finally takes out a $100.00 bill and gives it to Dave. Then Dave with a smile on his face says that he was only kidding, and asks Hunter when he is going to get a sense of humor he was only joking. I think at this point Triple H is ready to kill the guy. Batista is playing mind games with the Game and it’s getting better and better each time they interact. Batista wasn’t done he had one more game for Hunter a little later in the show. Also while this is all going on the fans are cheering for Batista, they cannot wait until this guy turns totally on Hunter and puts Triple H in his place. Okay now it’s another backstage segment with that freaky Snitzky being interviewed by clueless Maria. Maria asked him if was surprised that Kane was alive, and then Gene wanted to know if Maria liked surprises, and he whispered a few choice things in her ear. And that was all she needed and she RAN. After she left, Snizky then said that he had a surprise for Kane and that whatever happened yeah wasn’t his fault. Hey you have to hand it to this guy. His mic work is so weird that it’s funny. The guy is a total creep yet fun to watch and listen to on the mic.
Having Edge complaining non stop about Bisch naming Shawn Michaels as the ref for the chamber match definitely appeals to me. I want the heat to keep building between HBK and Edge because I would love to see these two in the ring together. I did enjoy Jericho vs. Edge. This was another sweet match. Raw lately is giving the fans matches that are almost pay per view quality and this one falls into that category. We’ve seen Jericho and Edge go at it before but watching them last night made me want more. If HBK and Edge aren’t on the menu then I would love to see Jericho and Edge continue. Edge beat Jericho only because he CHEATED by holding the ropes. As you can see Raw is just sailing along beautifully. Randy Orton really got serious last night. I feel that the creative team really screwed up something good with Randy. As of late I haven’t been that into him as a face, but last night he kept a straight face and focused on taking out Hunter. So I will give Randy thumbs up for not over doing it. Shelton Benjamin vs. Sylvan Grenier was next. And to be very honest with you, I didn’t follow this one. I guess I am just plain tired of La Resistance. But I did listen to Maven as he sat with Jerry Lawler and JR. As a guy gunning for the IC title I thought he did a cool job coming off like a cocky heel. And it’s now official it will be Shelton defending the title against Maven who seems to think that the title should be his. Okay and now for that great debate. I’m going to tell you, as much as I’m against all of this, I was mesmerized by this segment. There is no doubt that Hassan is a natural on the mic, in fact Daivari is no slouch either, but it was Hassan along with Lawler that really got me into this. Oh and wait the fans, how could I forget the reaction to the fans. My God it was like Rock and Austin had just re-appeared. The place was on fire. I still hate the anti American sentiment but the debate won me over.
Once the talking stopped, Hassan and Davari went on a rampage and took out Lawler and JR. and it wasn’t a pretty site. Okay seriously what a way to make you hate these two guys even more. Because of this Bischoff made the following match for Sunday. Jerry the King Lawler vs. Hassan. I have to say that I can do with out this match, but the debate was one strong segment. It was back to wrestling and Trish vs. Victoria was next. I liked this one a lot but I feel so bad that Victoria for some reason was pushed so far down. This is the woman who held the title a few times and played the whacko so well. And in the last few months she’s really used only when needed. She and Trish put on a tough match with Trish getting the win. I was glad to see that the creative team decided to build up heat between Trish and Lita. Too many times they let the women just slide by without any buildup when a pay per view is coming up. At least last night things were different. Trish was ready to give it to Lita on the mic and Lita came out to give it to Trish in the ring. Lita and Trish really went at it and then that weirdo Sniztky came out, and attacked Lita. He was already to do to Lita what he did to Kane back in October. He had her neck in the chair and just as he was about to do some damage to Lita, Kane’s music hit. And Kane came out and Gene and Kane brawled for a short time and then Snitzky escaped.
Kane then checked on his “wife” and Lita got one of those crazy smiles on her. I have to say having Kane come out even though I expected it was neat. And I would like to think that this Sunday Kane will beat the hell out of Snitzky. I don’t know about you, but I thought that Christy posing for pictures was a little much. And what a thrill Lindsay Lohan is one of Eugene’s favorites. But the thing I enjoyed was the segment with Regal alone with Eugene’s CD player and really getting into Lindsay’s song. Regal has a wonderful sense of humor, and it’s nice seeing it show up every now and then. So now it’s Eugene vs. Christian with Regal in Eugene’s corner and Tomko with Christian. I liked this one too. While it wasn’t the match of the night Eugene and Christian worked very well against each other. And add Tomko’s shot to the mouth of Regal and all of this turned out very well. Sunday Tomko and Christian will be going for the tag team titles against Eugene and Regal. This will be another match I will want to see.
Remember when I said that Batista wasn’t quite done screwing with Hunter’s mind? As Hunter was getting ready for his match against Orton, Flair wanted to make sure that he and Batista would be there for Hunter. Ah but Hunter didn’t want Batista out there. He made a flimsy excuse that Dave wasn’t needed because Hunter was going to prove that Randy was just a tag along with Evolution. Dave was fine with that and said he would watch and watch Triple H do his thing, and with that Hunter starts to leave and Batista then said, unless Randy kicks your ass. Oh Hunter wasn’t happy with that and Batista then said but we know that won’t happen, and he tells Hunter to lighten up. I’m telling you this has all be written so well I pray that the writers don’t screw this up this almost feud.
The main event was awesome. There were slow parts but the majority was done perfectly. I liked the match much more then Hunter and Randy’s match back in September. I watched both of these guys work their asses off and again this would have made for a nice pay per view match. These guys really got things heated up toward the end when Flair tried to interfere, and then Hunter managed to move out of the way causing Randy and the ref to bump heads. Naturally the ref was knocked out and this gave Hunter and Ric time to put Randy out of his misery. Hunter didn’t have his sledgehammer handy so he used the next best thing the ring bell. Only Randy was wise to that and was able to use it on Hunter. But Randy wasn’t safe because Batista hit him with a clothesline. That move brought out Benoit and he and Batista fought outside of the ring. And then HBK made his appearance dressed as a ref and goes to check on the fallen referee. As he’s checking, Edge is in position to spear Michaels. And just as Edge is about to work his magic Jericho saves the day by knocking Edge down and throwing him out of the ring. And then just like a HBK move Jericho goes over the ropes and lands on Batista and Edge. This is all so thrilling so exciting.
As Hunter wakes up he sees HBK and starts mouthing off to him unaware that Randy is waiting to lay the RKO on him. Finally Randy gets the chance but Hunter counteracts and then tries to pedigree Randy but Randy manages to take Hunter’s legs out from under him and tries a pin. That fails BUT, once Randy and Hunter are standing the RKO hits its target, Triple H. And Orton gets the victory, a well deserved victory. As I said this was a damn good main event and the buildup for New Years Revolution was just about perfect. I can’t say really one bad thing about the show, there was just too many good matches, some terrific backstage segments and a very heated debate that made it all work.
So on to Impact and Smackdown. I just read that Paul Heyman is expected to be at the tapings tonight. I guess they feel Heindenreich needs him, and he probably does. I am looking forward to “my” Kurt Angle; you know the big dope that thinks he’s EVERYTHING. I hope we have less diva’s out there and more hot matches. And since the holiday’s I haven’t watched Impact, so I don’t really know what’s going on, but I hope to catch it this Friday. Okay, one last thing in case anyone is interested and lives in the area, I was asked to post this. WWE Hardcore wrestling legend Mick Foley will be signing autographs on Saturday, January 22, 2005 from 1-3pm at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 191 Market Street in Kenilworth N.J. (just minutes off the Garden State Parkway, exit 138) For more information, contact Lenny Tripodi @ TripL1124@aol.com, or call 908- 447-9012. Pre-sale tickets are available for a discounted price. I have seen Mick in person and believe me he’s worth seeing. Okay I will be back on Friday and hopefully have nothing but good things to say about Impact and Smackdown.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
