Raw was a much better show than last week. Sure there were a few minor things I might not have cared for, but it really was a very entertaining show. I was totally pleased with so many things including the Omaha, Nebraska crowd that seemed to be having good time. It was really a fun Raw.
The opening match really was a match that I got into. Chris Jericho and Shelton Benjamin taking on Hassan and Daivari really got things going. The more that Hassan works with the top guys the better he looks in the ring. I’m totally impressed with Davari’s work and Shelton and Chris did their usual terrific job. This was a really good match, and having Jericho get pinned for the loss set up a very weird yet interesting angle between Benjamin and himself. This match definitely got me hyped for the rest of the show. And Chris Benoit and Tajiri definitely did a sweet job in making us all get ready for the ECW One Night Stand pay per view. Just seeing these two guys together got me a little emotional. Even though I caught ECW in the last couple of years of their run, I loved the shows and I can’t wait for that pay per view.
So Triple H was sticking to his I QUIT attitude, and he wasn’t on last night. Watching Eric Bischoff’s interaction with Ric Flair was quite appealing to me. Eric did not back down at all when Flair tried pressuring him to call Hunter and bring him back to the show. I like it when Eric has BALLS, yeah I do. I also loved Ric and Batista’s short but very impressive backstage skit. Ric couldn’t wait to blame Batista for Hunter’s leaving. But Batista in that cool calm manner that he has, just about managed to convince Ric that Hunter’s leaving was his own fault, not Batista’s and not Flair. And then Dave told Flair by that he didn’t owe Hunter he owed Ric. Then he paid a sweet tribute to Ric by doing Flair’s patented WOO. You could see that this got to Ric at least a little bit and Ric corrected Batista’s version and showed the World Champion just how it’s done. A truly excellent segment and one in which you just have to wonder if Flair will finally split from Hunter and join forces with Batista.
The next match was Captain Charisma along with Tyson Tomko vs. Ric Flair. This match was short but it definitely came off well and did what it needed to do. Which was to make Ric the face during all of this. And then once Flair won by cheating you had to know that Christian and Tomko would make Flair pay for that victory and they did by attacking the hell of him. This attack brought out Batista who seemed to be so over with the live crowd. Batista took care of both guys and left the ring with Flair just looking at the man that rescued him. That was it for the night as far as Flair went, and really except for Batista watching the main event on the monitor both men were done for the night. But they played off each other so well, they made the fans wonder if Flair will turn on Hunter, and it makes Hunter come back with what I hope is a lot of anger toward Ric for socializing with his enemy, Batista. Now the next backstage vignette was definitely what made you know that Kane would lose is his match and his wife Lita to Edge.
When Edge saw Lita talking to Christy he became rather nasty telling her that what he did to Shawn Michaels with the briefcase was nothing compared to what he would do to Kane and that she could bank on that, you just knew that this was all for show and that Lita was going to be a part of Edge’s plan. Christian was super as he walked with Tomko fuming about what Batista did to them. And to make matters worse our girl Maria asked them if Batista hurt them. I guess it’s safe to say that Vince is going to make sure we all see Maria has eye candy but the elevator doesn’t go up to the top floor. After she asked Christian if he was hurt, he came up with a good line. He wanted to know if she got her journalism degree from a box of Cocoa Puffs. After she left Christian said that it’s not over with Batista. So I have this all ready set up for next week. I’ll tell you what I have in mind near the end of my column. Christian came through again in the ring and out and added to the highlights of Raw. I am going to be totally honest with you now. I saw Chris Masters do that crap on Heat the night before, so when he came out last night, I walked over to my computer, checked some mail and basically didn’t look at TV. I would on and off glance over to the TV thinking well maybe he’ll wrestle. But when he called out another “innocent victim” for the Masterlock, I refused to watch. Week after week the same damn stuff no wrestling and I have had it. But thankfully it was Stevie Richards run in that made me want to watch. Thank God they have him back. Now there should be no more Masterlock contests, have Masters wrestle and I’m not talking about a one minute match. Let’s see what this guy has. Kane choking Edge for talking to Lita I adored. Edge’s face was fairly red and seeing Kane come off that way is the way I like Kane. He needs to be creepy and violent, and he showed that with Edge.
Up to this moment Raw is one hell of a show, but here’s where things start to change. I mentioned that earlier in the show we see Benoit and Tajiri set up an ECW match on Raw. They started building up ECW’s One Night Stand which will air June 12th. What I didn’t mention is that when Eric and Ric were talking Coach ran in to tell Bisch about Benoit and Tajiri’s plans. But at the time Eric didn’t want to be bothered. Okay so now in ECW style it’s the Benoit vs. Tajiri match. And trust me this match had a lot going for it. In the short time it took place both men worked their asses off. Things really got good when Tajiri was flat on a table out of the ring, and Chris Benoit was on top of a ladder in the ring just waiting to dive off to land on Tajiri, Eric Bischoff suddenly came out, stopped the match and the fans started booing and chanting asshole to the GM for stopping the match. Eric doesn’t want this ECW show to take place, he said he will not allow any of his wrestlers that were once in ECW to show up for the show and there will be no ECW chants, or ECW signs and finally he ended with the only participation WWE will have in that show is when he brings his volunteer group of Raw superstars to put a stop to ECW once and for all. So the build up for the ECW show was strong last night but it was a definite let down to have Benoit and Tajiri’s match stopped.
Too bad they stopped this great match for a worthless pillow fight with Christy and Candace Michelle. By the way Candace looked exceptionally pretty last night. But the lingerie pillow fight still stunk. So let me pass that up and get to Viscera. Now granted this segment was a little long but I will tell you I laughed so hard, and I totally enjoyed watching Lillian Garcia react to Vis. When Vis had Lillian sit on the bed and he tried to sing like Barry White that was it for me. But even better was when Viscera gave Lillian his hotel room key and told her the room was 469. When the words 69 came out of Viscera’s mouth Lillian fell of the bed. Both Lillian and Viscera did an extremely nice job. I have no idea where this is going and if it will amount to anything but I liked this a lot. It was good comic relief. I also was fascinated with Chris Jericho’s little talk with Shelton Benjamin. After Chris lost to Hassan, instead of going by Benjamin Jericho just left. So now we see Shelton asking Chris is he’s okay about the loss. And if this isn’t the beginning of a heel turn I don’t know what is. Jericho was like in his own world.
He fluffed off the loss telling Benjamin that he’s been around long enough where losses don’t mean a thing. He told Shelton that now he has bigger and better things in his life. Things like his radio show, his CD and his TV appearances on VH1 everyweek. While he’s going on and on the look on Benjamin’s face says it all. It’s a look of, “what is wrong with this guy?” Jericho then gives Benjamin a copy of his new CD and tells him he will get him a backstage pass when he performs in St. Louis. This showed that Jericho for now has lost his humor; this also showed that Jericho has so much more in him that just the happy go lucky face Jericho. A heel turn for Chris is a must; he has always come off excellent as a heel. Hurricane and Rosey now have Stacy with them. She came out in a cute outfit and they faced Maven and Simon Dean. This was a good match and it was great not seeing La Resistance anywhere around there. I also was pleased that Helms pinned Maven and the super hero’s won. This was a short match but a good one.
Bringing out Randy Orton was a total shock to me. Randy gave one of his best if not THE best heel promo ever. He came out to cheers and a standing ovation, but he managed to turn all that around. I was thrilled that he said once he could wrestle he was coming back for Batista. I also liked it when Mr. Cocky took himself out of the draft because he’s on the injured list. Randy was amazing, this guy is a natural as a heel and having him show up was a brilliant move. And having Vince McMahon make an appearance just made things even better. Vince immediately put Randy in his place. He informed Orton injured or not EVERYONE is going to be included in the draft. Vince then made a little fun of Randy’s appearance. I mean it was obvious that Randy lost a lot of weight due to his injury and not being able to work out, and Orton also had a new look, I guess you call it a crew cut. Vince made sure to knock the body, the hair and his neck. It was typical Vince and this was a dynamite segment. Also we found out when the draft will take place and how it will work. If you want to know more about it go to wwe.com it explains everything. Just like Vince and Christian’s segment a few weeks ago, Randy and Vince’s segment added so much to the show.
We finally have the main event with Kane accompanied by Lita vs. Edge. I changed my thinking Sunday figuring the turn by Lita would take place last night. But I still knew it would happen whether it would be this week or next. The match itself was okay nothing outstanding. As I said earlier there were enough clues to make you know the turn would happen during the main event. And sure enough it was Lita throwing in Edge’s briefcase that allowed Edge to clobber Kane with it for the win. And just like we all thought Edge and Lita hugged and then kissed and really played things up. Was this a way to punish Matt Hardy for going public with the breakup? Yeah I think that is the main reason for this happening. Also the Matt chants against Lita were taking away from her being a face. So the only way to go would be to turn her heel, and finally it is also the talk of the internet and remember good or bad Vince loves controversy. I laughed when JR did his thing by acting hysterical as this is all coming to and end calling Edge and Lita names. And how could he do that to a married man, things like that. JR was great he put his all into really making us feel sorry for Kane. I will say Lita’s turn was rather lackluster, but it’s happened and I see a Kane vs. Edge feud happening after next week. So here’s what I see next week. Edge vs. Batista. You can bet that Kane will come out and take out Edge which will keep the title on Batista. And as Kane is taking out Edge, Christian will be run out and take care of Batista. And look for Batista vs. Christian maybe the following week.
So a good Raw. I liked the first hour better but the second hour had some good moments as well. So it’s on to Smackdown. Will we see the perverted Kurt Angle or is it the humorous Kurt Angle pretending to be a pervert so he can continue to get the best of Booker and Sharmell again? Will Rey Mysterio show up since it’s the last Smackdown before Judgment Day. And I have a feeling Big Show vs. Carlito will be made for Sunday’s pay per view. Smackdown should be really good since they have a lot of building to do for Judgment Day,
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
