If Vince McMahon wanted a template on which to base all future episodes of Raw, assuming he still gives the fans ‘what they want’, then he could do a lot worse than last night’s edition. For my money, it was the best Raw show in nearly a year and as an individual event compared favourably to Sunday night’s Backlash, which was a step in the right direction too. It had the right balance of good wrestling matches, interviews and skits with the emphasis placed very much on the in-ring action, and that’s just how it should be.
Opening match was Christian against Kane and this bout demonstrated that Kane can be involved in an entertaining contest (albeit a short one) given the right opponent. Christian ran circles around Kane, bumping and selling, and that’s the idea of putting a lighter, faster wrestler against a larger, less mobile man. To his credit, Kane is not a ‘big man’ in the traditional wrestling sense and put against guys like Viscera or Big Show he fulfils the more active role but his strength is in matches like this where he can be the centre point around which the other person revolves. Despite losing to Kane, quite easily I might add, Christian is blessed with one of those characters that doesn’t suffer from the effects of a poor win/loss record. This would obviously have to change should he make it to the main event scene one day (which he should) but for now CC is a good foil for those who need victories (Batista, Kane) and more often than not is one of the stars of the show based on his presence and charisma alone. After the match, there was a nice spot with Flair backstage and I hope this is the start of a mini-feud between Christian and the ‘Nature Boy’ in the run up to the draft lottery. They’ve got good chemistry and the match, like the interaction, would be fun to watch.
Simon Dean then lost about 5lbs, most of it when his brain shot out of his head after being shove-slammed by Viscera. Whilst the move was obviously pre-planned, Vis has a history of being clumsy and a little over zealous in the ring (notably at Summerslam ‘95 when he sat on Diesel’s back with so much force that it briefly kept him out of action whilst WWF Champion). We all know that wrestling is a tough business but if he injures everyone on the roster then there’d only be him left and no one wants Viscera as champ. I also hope that WWE isn’t going all out for a ‘sexual chocolate 2’ character for Vis. I know I said he needs something but one of Mark Henry’s failed gimmicks isn’t going to work. Maybe he could be the invisible man and disappear? No?
Next up was Shelton Benjamin v Shawn Michaels, which has to be a candidate for Raw match of the year so far (maybe joint first with Orton v Christian 14/02/05). Two generations of ‘show-stealers’ going for it with so much energy and talent that you really didn’t care about ‘wrestling’ and just enjoyed watching them physically interact. Equally matched and putting eachother over like it was the end of the world, the match built slowly from a solid start and contained some of the most fluid exchanges I’ve ever seen. Michaels especially seemed fired up by his younger, more athletic opponent and shades of the old HBK were clearly visible. The last few minutes of the match were outstanding with believable near falls and creative variations and the final springboard into the super-kick was jaw-dropping (for us and Shelton). I was pleased to see a nice rub from HBK after the match and hopefully actions like this will go someway to getting Shelton over as an athlete without having to resort to stereotypical black gimmicks of which the WWE has been guilty in the past (do you have the awful feeling that Vince has rough sketches of his ‘gangsta’ costume somewhere?). Let’s hope not. Great match, more of the same please.
Hurricane and Rosey then defended their newly won tag team championships in a contest fair in quality but devoid of meaning or reason. It’s frustrating that any performers, not just tag teams, are given air time without a motive and if that’s what the WWE has in mind then I’d rather they gave more time to the wrestlers who are on-screen with a reason to be there. Of course, the better solution would be to have tag team number one contenders, move the other teams to Heat or as fluffers on Raw for the two main combinations and run a feud between them with angles and spots to build up interest in a potential PPV match. You know, the BASICS.
It’s difficult to know what to make of the Edge/Jericho match. On the one hand, two young, experienced athletes with character depth and good chemistry wrestled a nice match in a solid style that ended with heat and a possible knock-on effect for a future storyline. On the other hand, it had none of the sharpness of the Benjamin/HBK match and one could conceivably expect more from performers of their calibre. After Raw finished I rewound the tape and watched it again to try to pinpoint why the match didn’t quite work for me and I’m still not sure. Maybe it’s just perception. Edge is currently getting his strongest push to date and, while the result moves him on in the ‘gold rush’ tournament, it does little to improve his standing with the main event players. Jericho has been floating for a while and you have to question his recent motivation levels based around the contract negotiations with WWE. That’s a shame because, when backed and pushed by management, Jericho is an exciting character and a damn good wrestler. Despite what he said on Raw, maybe Jericho IS happy being a WWE mid-carder, Fozzy’s lead singer and host of ‘The Highlight Reel’?
The main event (so to speak) was HHH v Chris Benoit in the last quarter final match of the number one contender’s tournament. Any match between these two is going to be a good match and there’s no point in me analysing the physical chemistry that they have. It’s fairly safe to say that when two wrestlers call matches like this in the ring you know it doesn’t get much better in terms of connection or ability. With the winner of the tournament presumably getting a shot on Raw, and not the next Raw brand PPV which is about two months away, it was a good bet that HHH wasn’t going to emerge victorious but it was still nicely done with Batista pulling the ropes away from HHH’s outstretched hand and bringing about the tap out finish. I’ll give HHH credit, he knows that his losses are going to induce a positive crowd reaction and he plays it up for all he’s worth to ring out every last drop of unsympathetic derision from the fans. Whilst I still rate HHH and consider him a valuable asset to the WWE, the tournament has a fresh feel to it with HHH gone and I look forward to the semi-final and final matches.
You’ve got to admire Vince, the Edge/Lita backstage tease was a work of genius. Granted, most of his ‘apologies’ come in the form of an extended middle finger but this was so blatant that you had to laugh. Also, seeing as I’m sat here in my black jeans and ‘Pull my finger, see what happens’ tee-shirt, I’m in no position to make fashion statements but Lita’s outfit just shows what you can achieve with Santa’s red sack and a yard of tit tape. I’m not complaining, the underneath of a woman’s breast is a seldom displayed body part, but they could have at least saved it for the next divas dvd from Texas – “Divas do Dallas”.
I’m hoping that they’re not already sewing the seeds of a Hassan/Daivari split. Fair enough, the focus has to remain on Hassan and this puts Daivari back in his place behind him but the break up of their partnership should be at least two years away – if at all.
I’m done talking about the ‘Masterlock challenge’. Bottom line: I think Masters has some in-ring talent and a modicum of charisma which is being absolutely buried in these garbage segments. It’s way too early to condone or condemn him on the strength of these spots and I’ll reserve my comments for when he gets something of worth to do.
Happy birthday Rock? If the WWE wants to kiss his ass, give him some money.
Oh, and I know that Vince lives vicariously through his champions but does he have to make every new title holder a womaniser? Orton you could just about get away with but Batista should be all about business, not pleasure.
RAW AWARDS
Match of the night – Benjamin v HBK.
Worst match – Viscera v Dean.
Star(s) of the show – Benjamin/HBK/Edge.
Moment of the show – Edge/Lita tease.
Best sign – “I CAME TO SEE CHRISTY”.
Best quote – “Go home!” (Audience member to Hassan/Daivari).
Lee
