While this wasn’t one the best Raw’s ever, there were a few very positive things that happened last night, and there were also a few very negative things that took away from the show. The Calgary crowd was totally awesome, this group was ON, and I loved that. Again like last week, I’m only going to quickly go over the matches first, and then hit you with the parts of the show that made Raw strong, and the things that made Raw rather dull.
I enjoyed the Hurricane Helms/Rosey match against those wild and crazy guys, the Heart-throbs. While Antonio and Romeo aren’t quite the MNM of Raw, it’s nice to see them coming through each time that they are on TV and making the tag team division a little more fun to watch. It’s also very nice for Helms and Rosey to be the tag team champions and basically have some on air time just about each week. I really like Stacy being a part of the super hero’s gimmick and the match for me worked, and I definitely can see a nice feud building with these guys. I’m hoping that once the draft takes place, the tag team division on both shows will be revamped and brought back to life. The next match also put a smile on my face. I’m talking about Shelton Benjamin vs. Sylvan Grenier vs. Rob Conway in a triple threat match for the IC title. You know why I liked this match so much? Because Rob Conway and Grenier on their own looked very sharp in the ring and showed why they don’t need to work as a tag team anymore. I was especially pleased with Sylvan’s performance. This proves that they need to break them up which seems to be happening send one to Smackdown and let them work one on one matches. All three of these guys did a terrific job in the ring, and the tension between La Resistance played out even stronger than it has in the last few weeks, this was another short but important match, because it showcased Conway and Grenier in a very positive way.
I loved the tables match with Edge vs. Chris Benoit. These two seem to have IT when-ever they face off in the ring, and last night was another classic match by Benoit and Edge. The tables match was a small tease just to get you ready for the ECW pay per view. Edge beat Benoit thanks to a few guys that will be joining Edge in invading the One Night Stand pay per view. Gene Snitzky, Maven and Tyson Tomko were called out by Eric Bischoff to give Edge a little assistance in making sure that Chris Benoit was the one that would go through a table. As I said this was my match of the night, and I have more to say about Edge along with Lita in a little bit.
Chris Masters did nothing for me again last night. Instead of Val Venis and Masters wrestling a “real” match, it was Masters putting the Masterlock on Venis and coming out the winner. Trust me I’ve had enough of Masters and his Masterlock. The main event though short served it purpose well. It was great seeing a very calm Batista beat the crap out of the two most confident guys on Raw, Hassan and Daivari. Both of these guys were burning that Hunter got the title shot against Batista. Naturally Hassan mouthed off to Bischoff about it, and Batista shall I say requested a match with Hassan later in the night. This match did what it needed to do. Batista totally lost it and lost it because of the beating he took from Hunter the week before. He took it all out on Hassan and Daivari. I can’t tell you how much I liked the way Batista handled himself out there, and it was great that Hunter and Flair didn’t run out to stop Batista. Dave seemed to be very over with the Calgary fans and this all played out beautifully.
Okay now here’s where I’m going to start with the good and end with the bad. The first bright spot last night was the heel turn of Victoria. For way too long this woman, a very credible women’s wrestler and former Women’s champ, has been made to look at times like a new kid on the block trying out to get signed by WWE. She has been thrown in numerous eye candy contests with the diva’s that don’t wrestle and always looked like she didn’t belong. Her wrestling ability seemed to be played down, like it never existed. Victoria became basically a nothing in the eyes of the WWE. Well thank God last night things changed. While taking part in a swim suit contest along with Christy, Candace, Lillian and Maria, Victoria finally came to life. With Christy winning yet another contest, Victoria finally let loose and let Christy and all the other diva’s have it. Man the crowd was so behind Victoria it just made for a super opening segment. Now with the heel turn and the storyline that Victoria is tired of Christy winning everything, and getting Playboy shoots and money for the diva contest, this should all play out perfectly. Hopefully now Victoria will be back in the spotlight, a spotlight that she should never have been taken out of.
Eric Bischoff set things up nicely once again for the upcoming ECW pay per view. Eric again promised to end this One Night Stand and was very proud to bring up Kurt Angle’s name. Kurt is bringing a group of guys from Smackdown to invade the show. And not to be outdone Bisch introduced Edge as one of Eric’s Generals to represent Raw in the invasion. Eric is doing a cool job by not backing down about his feelings on ECW. For the few minutes he sat with Lawler and Ross I liked the way he handled the situation. And finally Christian again SHINED. His maybe 3-5 minute promo of why he should go to Smackdown was flawless. Christian has turned his boring character into a heel with humor, filled with cockiness and sarcasm and when he talks trust me the majority of us not only listen but we know he’s going to come up with something so good that he’s going to make us want more the following week. In the short time he had, he made what he had to say so damn entertaining.
Now I wish I could say that about The Highlight Reel. First Edge and Lita were terrific during this. I don’t remember ever seeing Lita funny. Imitating Kane’s laugh and just making faces about being married to him was good. Edge had some nice moments during this as well. Like them together or not, they have chemistry. They click so well together. Like Hunter and Stephanie, and Jericho and Trish this twosome has it and because of this you watch both of them especially Edge will make an impact on the show. Now they were the highlight of the highlight Reel, but Chris Jericho and Kane were the flops of the segment. Jericho has this new attitude it’s all about Chris. And I’m fine with that but having Kane as a guest did nothing for either man. I didn’t mind Kane rocking back and forth and crying over Lita’s betrayal last week. But last night, Kane not uttering a word and Jericho trying to make things funny just didn’t work. Why didn’t Kane go after Lita and Edge when they were backstage? Why didn’t Kane go after Edge and Lita during Edge’s match with Chris Benoit? Kane was made to not only look weak but who the hell would care about his anguish when the man says NOTHING. This was a segment that didn’t need to be done and for the sake of Kane’s character it shouldn’t have been done.
But if you want to talk about a segment that should have been shelved it was Hunter’s interview. Not only did Hunter repeat the same crap that he does week after week, but the fans were so turned off by it, they had to cut the sound so none of us would hear the ruckus that was going on in the arena. Hunter did nothing at all to make me want to see him go against Batista in the Hell in a Cell Match. He didn’t scream and rant and say “I never lost a Hell in a Cell match and I’m not losing this time.” No nothing came of this at all. Hunter didn’t need to be on, not for this segment, because it went nowhere. Hunter can talk, he’s one of the best on the mic, but lately this man recites the same crap and it’s gotten to me big time. I say unless he can change his character like Christian has changed his, have Hunter wrestle and keep him off the mic as much as possible. And this is coming from me, a Hunter mark, but his boring and uneventful promo’s need to come to an end. So there you have it there was enough that made this a good show, thanks to some nice matches, a long awaited heel turn by Victoria, and a terrific promo by Christian. So it’s on to Smackdown and Sharmell vs. Kurt Angle. Funny that I should mention that match first. I mean we still have Rey Mysterio wanting Eddie Guerrero’s blood, and JBL wanting to destroy John Cena. I can’t wait to see more hype for One Night Stand, so hopefully Smackdown will deliver.
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