Monday Night RAW went off the air here on the west coast several minutes ago, and I have only one word – Wow. That was, without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest surprise that WWE has pulled this year.
Tonight was a pretty good show, although I would say it wasn’t as good as last week’s episode. There were ups and downs, pluses, and minuses. However, it all ended with what nobody saw, and nobody thought of – Shawn Michaels, after having won a tag team match with Hulk Hogan against Kurt Angle and Carlito, super-kicked his partner to hell. What followed was something that every pro wrestling fan should watch at least several more times. A very few people in this business have the ability to do what Shawn Michaels did today. You never saw it coming. And when it did, all you could do is just sit there with your jaw hanging wide open. That’s what I love about professional wrestling. That “soap opera for men” line that everybody likes to throw around is so much more than that. When veterans like Michaels, who know what they are doing, are at it, it’s so much more than just a “soap opera.” The way Michaels played off his own actions was amazing. This was, without a doubt, the best heel turn on WWE TV I’ve seen in a while, when it comes to the surprise value. Eddie Guerrero had a tremendous turn earlier this year, but it was difference, since there was quite the built-up there.
There’s one very important thing to say right off the bat. Turns in professional wrestling work when a few conditions are met. First off, and most importantly, the turn has to matter. This one will. You can bet your bottom dollar that WWE will make a huge deal out of HBK’s turn and use him in the future. Also, the man super-kicked Hulk Freakin’ Hogan. The strongest babyface there could be. What more do you need? Second, a turn is good when the appropriate build-up, as well as time to develop, is given. Since WWE went for the surprise value here, this isn’t applicable that much. However, they did set it up well, having Michaels and Hogan work together as a team, and making it clear that there’s a great amount of mutual respect between the two. Third, a turn is good when there’s a good explanation and reason behind it, which will make it matter (back to first reason). It’s very important what they’ll do with HBK next week to justify his actions. There’s been many cases throughout history of people who turn heel/face on almost monthly basis, which has done a lot of bad for their characters. (Kurt Angle is a good example of that.) HBK has been a face ever since he came back, years ago. This completes the “theory” and makes this a great turn.
With no Triple H on RAW this week, and with a heel HBK, you can’t help but start speculating what’s going to happen on RAW in the months to come. We’ll see what happens from here.
Quick Look at the Top Guys:
Heels – Triple H, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Edge, Carlito
Faces – John Cena, Shelton Benjamin, Rob Van Dam (injured), Kane, Big Show
There should be some shake-ups soon. As usual, TBL is the place to be to catch it all!
Eddie
Levski11@aol.com
