Oh do I have a lot to talk about today. This column is going to be a little like my Sunday column. I definitely want to talk about last night’s Raw. I mean who isn’t talking about it? I also want to talk about Rob Van Dam and something that means a lot to me, Dory Funk’s Bang TV. So bare with me and hopefully you will find this to be a very positive column.
First I hope that you all caught my interview with Rob Van Dam. I posted it very late on Sunday. So if you missed it please check it out. Rob was kind enough to talk to me by phone and I want to tell you a few things about this guy. First he is so damn nice, so down to earth that he immediately made me feel at ease during our conversation. Trust me I was a nervous wreck but as soon as we started talking I calmed down immediately. Second. Rob’s passion for ECW and the business is so strong that at times when he would talk about something, I would be nodding my head in a yes gesture, because he said so many things that made so much sense. And finally, even though I can’t wait to see One Night Stand, I told Rob I lost some of my excitement due to this WWE invasion angle. But Rob pointed out so many positive things about this ECW pay per view, that I now am looking so forward to it on Sunday. So please check the interview out if you haven’t and I can’t thank Rob enough for making “my first time with him” and I do mean by phone so fun and educational.
Okay now if you all get a chance please check out http://www.dory-funk.com/bang-tv.html, and click on !BANG! Show 213 High Speed Click Here
Dory and Marti Funk vs. Carlos and Stacey Colon / Puerto Rico Battle Royal highlights.
You will see Dory and Marti Funk taking on Carlos and Stacey Colon. Carlos for those who don’t know is Carlito’s dad. This is a fun match, mainly because Marti and Dory show just how much they enjoy doing what they do. Watching Dory out there really appealed to me because he tells a nice story in the ring, and with Marti, Dory’s wife cheering him on it just shows that Dory Funk hasn’t lost his zest for wrestling. Also after his match with Carlos you get to see the Puerto Rico Battle Royal. This gives you guys an idea of some of the students that work with Dory at the Funking Conservatory. This is the same Conservatory where RVD goes and works with the young talent. So as I’m watching this I am looking to see who might be the future of WWE or TNA. The Bang TV show will be a weekly show that will be seen on the Funk’s website, so I hope you will give it a try. I know I enjoyed what I saw very much.
Okay on to Raw, and the two hottest angles of the show. I want to definitely spend the time talking about the draft and the ECW invasion that we all got to see last night. The matches really didn’t amount to much. So let me just go through the matches and the contract signing and then it’s on to Raw’s new member John Cena and ECW! ECW! The first match of the night was Shelton Benjamin taking on Hassan and Daivari for the IC title. Now lately I’ve enjoyed Hassan in the ring. But last night he seemed off, and I wasn’t liking what I was seeing. I didn’t think this was terrible, yet it wasn’t exactly a good one either. The more I see Daivari wrestle the more I see Smackdown being the perfect place for him because of the Cruiserweight Division. But all in all this match didn’t send me but it certainly didn’t take away from the show either.
Now this might surprise you, but I thought Chris Masters vs. Val Venis came off really good. Yeah I’m complimenting Masters. I believe I said last week that Venis might be the perfect guy to put in and work with Masters, and Val definitely came off looking very strong last night. I think both men complimented each other very well and I was surprisingly happy with what I saw. We got a very small glimpse of Victoria the heel last night. She was teamed up with those kooky guys, The Heart-throbs in a tag match against Hurricane Helms, Rosey and Christy accompanied by Stacy. Okay so we see nothing major going on here since its really short, but what we do see is Christy going ballistic on Victoria. Now see I ‘m okay with that as long as Victoria defeats her probably at Vengeance. But now I’m reading that Vince wasn’t happy about the fans last week cheering Victoria on when she took out the diva’s, so last night having Christy beat up Victoria was a way maybe to set things right, like in other words last week’s fans should have booed Victoria like crazy but they didn’t so last night we will let Christy get revenge on Victoria. I think there’s just too much focus on making Christy a star. Granted she’s getting paid a lot, granted she won the diva contest and granted she’s working hard to train to wrestle. And I’m not taking a thing away from her, but Vince needs to realize that he’s screwed up the women’s division so badly that he seems way to focused on making Christy just about the whole thing on Raw. So as I said I’m hoping that Victoria will have a chance to bring down Christy, and Christy can start a nice little losing streak.
And the main event was Chris Benoit vs. Gene Snitzky in an ECW rules match. All I can say about this one is, Chris Benoit looked terrific out here, and Snitzky just seemed out of his element. I hate seeing these so called extreme matches with garbage cans and garbage can lids as weapons. But Benoit carried this and it was what this match that made the main event so damn awesome, but you will have to wait a little longer before I get to that. The contract signing between Hunter and Batista was fair. Batista didn’t take any crap from Hunter, but again Hunter came up with the same old stuff. I would have loved for Hunter to come out, call out Batista, yell that he wants to get this signed, and that’s it. Honestly this was a segment that could have waited until next week. And Edge and Lita didn’t do it for me last night. They kind of got on my nerves taunting Kane. I didn’t seem to have patience for Edge or Lita, and again Kane just standing in the ring near tears did nothing for me. I was very disappointed the way this all played out. So everything that I mentioned above was basically all filler because it was Raw’s opening and Raw’s ending that ROCKED THE SHOW.
Never in my wildest dreams did I expect John Cena to be drafted to Raw. What a super way to open that show up. Having him come out as Jericho’s guest was great. Jericho even looked surprised. I’m not sure that Chris new who the first draft pick would be or if he’s just a very good actor but I liked the surprise on his face when he watched Cena make his entrance. And the crowd’s reaction to John Cena was amazing. Last night Cena came off extremely well and extremely professional. I have to say that when the show opened and Eric Bischoff looked so happy I was praying they wouldn’t make us wait until the end of the show to find out who the draft pick was. So I was so glad that they put the draft pick on as soon as the show began. Cena and Jericho had a nice little exchange of words not only did the crowd pop big for Cena, but when Christian came out with Tyson Tomko the fans were just as loud. I found Christian’s interaction with Cena really good, Cena’s rap response wasn’t as strong as what came out of Christian’s mouth but it all worked very well. Now I have a few theories, one is mine, one is my friends Joe and the other is from my friend, Jennifer. So let me share them all with you. I wonder about Cena remaining on Raw. I see Cena and Jericho being buddies, until Jericho turns on Cena because Y2J will now become a full fledged heel and be totally jealous of Cena’s success with his CD. I see Jericho being drafted to Smackdown and Cena traded back to Smackdown where they can start up a huge feud. I see Cena being traded for Kurt Angle. I still believe Kurt will be a regular on Raw once this draft is over.
Now my friend Joe thinks, Cena is here to stay, and it will be Batista that goes to Smackdown. Joe feels that Cena was made for a live show. While being on Smackdown is more suited for Batista. Now Jennifer has something that makes a lot of sense and I kind of hope this isn’t the case. She says that after Hunter was drafted to Smackdown last year and the next day traded back to Raw, it would not sit well with a lot of fans to pull that with Cena. She thinks Batista will hit Smackdown, and that Hunter will then go for Cena’s title. That’s what I don’t want to see. So there’s three scenarios’ about this Cena situation, but no matter what happens Cena looked damn good on Raw, and his interaction later in the show with Eric Bischoff came off well too. Eric feeling just a little bit too good about having Cena on Raw, figured he could also take Cena with him to invade ECW, but Cena set Eric straight and refused. Naturally Bisch didn’t like that so I’m sure Bisch will find a way to punish Cena for not taking Eric up on his offer. All in all Cena was a STAR last night.
And now for an ending that I have watched over and over again. Did any of you get the chills watching the Dudley’s come out of nowhere and put Snitzky through the table with the 3-D? Just watching them come back and get the crowd going was a treat. And from there on things just got so much better. Watching big tough Coach getting in The Dudley’s face and then Paul Heyman’s face with a bunch of “security guards” was good. And then as Coach had the guards handcuff Heyman and the Dudley’s only to show them that Bischoff didn’t fear them just made you know things were really going to get good. Paul Heyman was outstanding last night. When he addressed Eric and Eric’s mercenaries in the ring, you could feel Paul’s passion for HIS ECW. I’m telling you Paul Heyman was total GOLD last night. Everything that he said I believe came from his heart and I hung on his every word. So when the Dudley’s took Eric’s challenge to face Edge, Christian, and Tomko I was just waiting for things to erupt. I loved how Paul Heyman kept telling the WWE guys ECW never backed off from a fight. And when Bischoff called out the rest of his troops, which consisted of most of the heels on Raw, it looked hopeless for Heyman and the Dudley’s. But it was when Heyman pointed toward the fans, and Tommy Dreamer, Rhyno, Sandman, Balls Mahoney and Axel Rotten came down and entered the ring that I got so excited. I’m telling you that I sat so close to the TV, I didn’t want to miss a thing.
It was great seeing Rhyno and all the others, and it was even better watching Heyman’s guys take out Eric’s group. Maven got the worst of it, but it was the fans that got the VERY BEST of it. Then ending of Raw just makes me want to see Smackdown more than usual. I can only think that ECW’s hype is going to be just as good if not better this Thursday night. I’m so excited about the way ECW has been handled and I’m telling you Sunday cannot come soon enough for me. So John Cena the first draft pick and Paul Heyman and a few of ECW’s best made Raw a show that I know I’m glad I watched. Both of these segments made Raw a thumbs up show. And now who is Smackdown going to draft, could it be Batista? This draft is another reason why I can’t wait to see Smackdown this week. I’ll be back on Friday and share my Smackdown thoughts with you.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
