I liked Raw better than last week’s show. In fact there was really only one miserable segment and I’m not talking about the Diva segment. And there was one excellent segment that had me laughing so all in all a good Raw. Not a great Raw but a good Raw, and a super live group from the Mohegan Sun. They were “ON” last night, I really enjoyed them. I’ll start with a gimmick and match I didn’t like at all then on to more pleasant things.
Is it possible that Rob Conway’s gimmick now makes Chris Masters and his Masterlock look a lot more appealing? I say yes, I cannot stand this gimmick it’s like watching Buff Bagwell 2005. He’s doing it the Con-Way, wow that’s original. I guess we can thank that wonderful group of Hollywood writers that Vince has hired for a gimmick that is so amateurish, so pathetic that it makes you want to just go get a snack when Rob Conway comes on. The match with Val went nowhere, and it’s sad that Val Venis is nothing more than a jobber. You know when he’s in the ring, that no matter whom his opponent is he’s going to lose. I really hated watching this and while it stunk, thankfully it didn’t ruin the show.
I cannot tell you how thrilled I was that Chris Jericho showed nothing but hate and anger for John Cena last night. That all really played out during the main event, but things were starting up when Jericho got Raw started. I loved the opening with Y2J trash talking Cena and showing the replay from last week’s match when Jericho called it “fairly” as the referee. What I also liked about this was John Cena running out and attacking Jericho. There was no smile on him, and no mic work. The serious side of Cena came off very well while this was going on and I do feel it set the tone for what was to come. The first match of the night I liked, that’s right I liked it a lot. It was Big Show and Shelton Benjamin vs. Snitzky and Chris Masters. Now first let me say I won’t lie to you I would rather see Shelton feud with Kurt Angle or Jericho, but he worked very well with Big Show. And as slow as Show is he still had the fans popping for him and I didn’t mind him in the ring at all. And speaking of the crowd, this match got such a strong reaction I was shocked. It was great to see the fans so into this. And Snitzky and Masters held their own and I was very pleased with the whole thing.
One of my favorite segments had to be the Eugene Invitational. Again Kurt Angle and Eugene had nice interaction. I loved the comedy that both of these guys brought to this segment. Watching Eugene ask Kurt what’s your name and where are you from repeatedly just had me laughing so hard. Even funnier was watching Kurt’s reaction to all of this. Kurt is just coming off like the Angle I love to watch, and Eugene does a super job as the guy that bugs the crap out of Kurt. Now I started watching wrestling around the middle of 1998, so I never saw Tatanka. I have no idea how he was during his days with the WWF, but for the little he was on and for nostalgia purposes I liked the mini match. But my favorite part had to be when Eugene started copying Kurt’s moves and Kurt losing it and causing a DQ, with Eugene still hanging on to Angle’s gold. Watching Eugene pretend to pull down his straps and then put the ankle lock on Tatanka was a riot. After Angle went after Eugene, Tatanka along with Eugene clothes-lined Angle right out of the ring. Yeah this was one of Raw’s highlights. And after the match we saw Kurt livid about not getting his gold medal back. He vowed that next week in his home town of Pittsburg, he will break Eugene’s ankle. Oh you can bet I can’t wait to see next week’s next installment of Kurt tries but can’t get his gold medal back.
Now things get a little complicated. First they replay Kane giving Lita a tombstone last week. They show him kidnap her and leave with her. Then JR, Coach and Lawler tell us he was arrested for stealing a van and assault. Okay fine. However this will all turn out for nothing and I’ll explain that in a little bit. Vince McMahon comes out with a very important announcement. First he gloated about Raw having the record for the longest running weekly entertainment program. That is a nice milestone to celebrate. He then tells the audience that he would like to thank, Vincent K. McMahon because of his vision that led to tonight. Then he says something I’m sure he meant about how he does what’s best for business. Like why would he hire that SOB Eric Bischoff? Because it’s good for business. Or why did he give ECW a new life? Because it’s good for business. That’s when he announced he was bringing back a former WWE superstar and it’s none other than Matt Hardy. Matt comes out of Vince’s limo, walks into the ring shakes Vince’s hand and then delivers what I thought to be Matt Hardy’s best promo ever.
Now let me say this, while I feel it could have been more powerful, Matt was extremely natural and relaxed on the mic. He was able to get out things that have been eating at him. And while many feel that this whole Edge/Lita affair and Matt’s firing was nothing more than a work. I still feel it was all very real and still is. But remember one thing, when Matt was fired, Vince never EVER realized that Matt would have the fan support that he had. And once Vince saw that he wasn’t going to let TNA grab Hardy. But Matt got out what he wanted too, but I thought one of the stupidest things that could have been said was the following. Now this is from Matt but I’m sure it came from that mighty creative team. “While Lita was “married” to Kane on TV, she came home to me every night.” See this bugged me. Why put that in there? That remark made the whole storyline a waste of time and the so called arrest of Kane senseless. Why continue to play that up when Matt made it clear that the storyline was just that. Also I really could have done without wishing Adam would get killed in a car crash. But other than those two remarks Matt played up his match against Edge or should I call him Adam at Summer Slam and I can bet a lot of fans that were hesitant about ordering the show, will now want to see these two go at it. I’m very glad that it was Vince that brought Matt in, and we didn’t have to see another week of Matt attacking Edge and getting arrested.
Was I the one that said Kerwin White would die before it got started? Yeah I did, but each time Chavo does this character I laugh. I’m not sure if this will work at all, but you have to hand it to Chavo, he’s playing the white guy so well. He wears that Ivy League look perfectly, and when he asked Vince about buying a home in Greenwich, Ct., he’s very convincing. I would just like to see them give Kerwin a feud and get him in the ring. Do you know why I didn’t mind the Diva contest last night? Because it was short, but it was Rob Schneider that made it fun and entertaining. This guy added so much to what would have been a real dud spot. Watching him interact with these women was gold. As far as the main event, I didn’t care for it. I thought Carlito and Cena’s match last week was better. But, the ending worked so well for me. This is what I mentioned earlier. Finally Chris Jericho was an animal. He attacked and beat the hell out of Cena. I have been waiting for this for weeks. Jericho last night shined, and I really hope this side of Chris continues right through Summer Slam.
Now I’ve saved the best for last. Shades of the Attitude Era showed up last night. When Shawn Michaels came out with a walker as Hulk Hogan that was it for me. As “Larry King’s” guest this was the highlight of all of Raw. Watching Michaels do Hogan’s poses, and putting Hulk Hogan down, by saying things like he only wrestles in big towns, and saying he feels like 157 naturally made me laugh. But for me the funniest part was when, we all saw another excellent WWE video highlighting Shawn’s career and they go back to “Hogan” and he looks like he saw a ghost. He’s in shock of what Michaels has achieved. “Hogan” then says he has to do some politicking with Vince. This segment was so outstanding and the crowd seemed to be eating it up and behind Shawn. I loved how this ended with Shawn taking off the makeup and getting serious, and asking Hogan what’s going to happen when reality kicks him in the face. And then Shawn kicked “Larry King.” I cannot stress enough what a wonderful job Shawn did, and now with Hogan coming back next week, I think he should imitate Shawn’s entrance. Oh wait, he can’t because if he kneels he won’t be able to get back up. So forget that, the two will go face to face so that should be interesting to watch. A good Raw and a fabulous segment. Raw did a nice job of building up their Summer Slam matches and again the Jericho/Cena feud came off the way I was hoping it would. So I look forward to more next week.
Before I go, if you go to WWE.Com you will read this Lesnar update: negotiations break down After verbally agreeing to terms with WWE, Brock Lesnar has decided to withdraw from any involvement with the company.Check back here for more on this developing story. How true this is I don’t know. I’m reading some feel it’s a work, I’m thinking it’s a shoot, so I guess we will have to just keep checking. Okay it’s on to Smackdown. Now I’m going to be straight with you, if this show is as horrible as last week’s show, I might not have a column up. I’ll just have to play it by ear. I’m hoping we see a major improvement and I’ll be back on Friday.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
