In comparison to last week’s show, WWE Raw would have been hard pushed not to make an improvement and, at a time when Smackdown had the single-brand PPV all to itself this month, Raw needed to make a statement as a singularity and as a build towards Summerslam. The key for Raw’s potential success this week relied on turning what didn’t work previously into what would work now using fine tuning, without seeming to be rejecting the old ideas en mass and starting again from scratch. Too many changes and the writing would have lost all its continuity in the run up to the second biggest WWE supercard of the year. Too few and I’m right back where I was last week, wishing I were doing something else.
Ultimately, Raw was all about its two main events; Edge and Kane in a stretcher match and John Cena against Carlito with Chris Jericho as the guest referee. The Edge/Kane match perfectly demonstrated how the writers had booked themselves into a corner. Kane had been so negated up to this point that it was vital that they give him the advantage (if not the win) in this feud but now Hardy seems less necessary and Kane’s character is to blame for stretching out the story long enough for the WWE to persist with this overdone charade. I feel the time is right to refocus Matt Hardy, maybe using Vince or Bischoff as a boss ‘protecting’ his show in the same way they did with Austin, thus putting up bigger obstacles between Hardy and Edge than just a few road agents and some security guards on their day off. With Kane out of the way and Matt’s journey just beginning rather than coming to an end, they could wipe this feud’s slate clean and start again using the past as motivation, not an obsession. Shame really, because the stretcher match was fun to watch. Some good spots and bumps and an improvement on last week’s cage match in all aspects. It’s unclear as to what will happen next as wwe.com is promoting Kane’s ‘arrest’ and Hardy is still not officially recognised as Raw talent yet. Anything other than Hardy/Edge for Summerslam will be perceived as a wasted build up so it will be interesting to see how they get from this point to the PPV.
I hope you all enjoyed your main event on Raw this week because Cena and Carlito were the two most mentioned names in the run up to the draft lottery so we can’t complain that we didn’t get what we asked for. Unfortunately for Carlito, he was just the third wheel in the machine as the WWE decided to keep a skewed focus on the Cena/Jericho championship feud. After Jericho aborted the battle of the bands and planted himself as guest referee for the finale it was more a matter of when, rather than if, Y2J would stop calling it down the line and interject in the match. The match itself played to the strengths of each wrestler. Carlito took the offence in the early going allowing Cena to use the rallying crowd as a bolster for his weaker assault towards the end. The dynamic speed at which Cena performs his moves seems to be slowing with every month that passes but it’s difficult to figure out why seeing as he has such good power and quickness. It’s not a physical thing so logically it must be a mental issue, most likely brought about by the pressure of being champion and the distraction of being expected to carry the company outside of the ring. Anyway, Jericho kicked Cena in the happy-sacs when he had Carlito up for the FU. Bulldog and Lionsault later and Carlito has a title match next week on Raw. Anybody want to bet that Cena keeps the belt? No?
You’ve got to give credit to Shelton Benjamin, he’s either going to cure his high-risk execution problems or die trying. The suicide-somersault he landed during his handicap match with Snitsky and Chris Masters was a thing of beauty. Regardless of the outcome of the match, which didn’t do much for anyone, it looks like we’re going to get a situation that we’ve indirectly been asking for. Benjamin is away from the IC title and the writers have to give him something to do because they can no longer hide behind “He’s got the belt, what more do you want?” And, assuming they won’t lumber Masters with the Big Show (and more challenge crap) for too long, we get to see the Masterpiece in a proper feud so we can judge if he’s worth investing in or just pray we see the Masterlock Challenge on an OVW screen near you soon. And Snitsky’s future? Well those two words just don’t look right together to me.
In-keeping with HBK’s recent desire to ‘phone-in’ his performances, he joked around backstage again during his promo and then proceeded to ‘low-5’ members of the crowd whilst walking to the ring. If he needs any help in remembering that he’s a HEEL then maybe the WWE should give him a black cape or a curly moustache? After a few minutes of some decent stuff he started to talk about ‘shooting’ and saying things that he ‘wasn’t supposed to say’, completely failing to realise that no one cares if it’s a shoot or a work or a worked-shoot as long as it’s interesting – and I wasn’t interested. DX at MSG winding Vince up about “the old man turning in his grave” had impact. DX re-enacting the Montreal screw-job with a midget dressed as Bret Hart was good television. Shawn Michaels tacitly implying that Hogan might not be the best guy in the world just doesn’t do it for me. Apart from anything else, ‘Hogan knows nothing’ is doing a pretty good job of that on its own. I can’t blame Michaels for not feeling this one. He turned last week’s garbage into something worth listening to but a ‘dream’ match (albeit ten years too late) deserves more than this. If a fire isn’t looked after, it will fizzle out.
So some of you guys are annoyed that Eugene beat Kurt Angle? Personally, I think this is one of the few times in recent months where a 1+1=2 logical booking style has come through and worked at such a fundamental level. In terms of character, Angle is everything that Eugene is not (proud, conceited, easily embarrassed and driven solely by achievement) and that is what makes Eugene the perfect person to beat Kurt and deservedly walk away with his coveted Olympic medal. I share some disappointment that Kurt most likely won’t be involved in a five-star match or a title contest at Summerslam but the main event’s loss is the under-card’s gain and a potential feud between the two will work from both a wrestling and a storyline point of view to some degree, if booked correctly. Eugene’s character is one of only a few well-handled WWE gimmicks over the last few years (anyone who just said ‘Mordecai’, go and sit at the back) and if you’re ‘too cool’ to support an optimist then there are a plethora of psychopaths, loners and warriors who will live your lives vicariously for you.
I’m actually happy with the Diva Search now. I’m not stooping so low as to care who should win it (Ashley) but it’s done within six minutes and nothing gets hurt (apart from their dignity). While it was on this week, I took the opportunity to make a few phone calls but none of the women I rang would tell me what they were wearing so I gave up. Oddly, when Vince probably told the finalists a few weeks ago in his office that the winner would be the one who ate the most sausage – I don’t think this is what he had in mind.
I’m not sure how I’m supposed to react to a match between Viscera and the Heart throbs, regardless of the ‘midget’ part of the equation. Cloacas or Clitoris or whatever his name was and the bald guy in red (why was he bald if Romeo and Antonio aren’t?) added little (no pun intended) to what was only ever going to be a mess of a match. I’m trying to imagine how the discussion went at the writer’s meeting before Raw this week. “Okay guys, last week’s show was terrible and we’ve messed up storylines with Matt Hardy, Kane, Cena, Jericho, HBK, Angle and Benjamin, to name but a few. We’ve got the Diva Search, the Angle Invitational and the Masterlock Challenge using up huge chunks of airtime and we don’t know our asses from our elbow-drops. We need an idea this week that’s sharp, modern and appeals to everyone. Ah screw it, ‘Charlie and the chocolate factory’ is out now, let’s have some ‘Oompa Loompas’ on the show.”
I would bow to their creative genius, but I’d worry they’d shove the WWE up my ass – rather than just up their own.
Lee
