Have I got a column for you! I couldn’t wait to write this one. I really liked Raw last night. Could it be the phenomenal opening? Or was it the extremely HOT crowd? Or could it be that everything gelled so well? This was probably one of the most entertaining Raws I’ve seen in weeks and I mean weeks.
Well where do I begin? The opening of Raw reminded me of when I started watching 7 years ago. The Montreal crowd wanted to make sure that all of us watching would hear them, and they did a hell of a job. Montreal’s number 1 enemy Shawn Michaels really got things going with one of his best promos ever. This time he was going to be a full fledged heel. And the more the crowd chanted “You screwed Bret,” the more they played right into Shawn’s hands. He soaked up the boos, the x-rated chants and anything else the crowd wanted to yell to him. And the more they gave it to him, the stronger and more fun this opening became. And let me tell you, when Shawn kept bringing up Bret Hart’s name and then Hart’s music hit, I marked out like never before. I was yelling to my son Bret Hart’s coming and my son ran into watch.
When that crowd thought their hero was showing up I swear the noise was unbelievable. While I felt bad that it was a tease for the crowd and really for most of us, watching Shawn laugh his ass off on fooling so many of us was great. And when he did it a few minutes later making us think Hogan was coming out and he fell to the mat in hysterics, this was like watching Shawn Michaels in his DX days. The beginning of Raw set the tone for the night. It kept the fans in Montreal and it made me look forward to maybe a Bret Hart appearance, well I though it was possible. So a terrific opening. Now the first match of the night was weird to me. Big Show took on the Heart Throbs. I will admit I have become a Big Show fan. Just seeing him come out is kind of nice. But since he’s not in a match at Summer Slam I don’t really see why this was booked. Naturally the match showcased Show’s strengths as he pulverized Romeo and Antonio but there was really no substance to this one. I did not hate, I just thought it was what it was, a filler.
This time I enjoyed the Eugene Invitational. It was only fitting for the local guy to be Renee Dupree, but I loved it when a very irritated Kurt Angle ran in and threw Renee out and started attacking Eugene. As JR said, Kurt was very intense last night, getting his medal back brought out a very angry and focused Angle. I enjoyed this and I know I keep saying this but this is one of the reasons I’m ordering the pay per view on Sunday. I just have a feeling these two will put on an exceptionally good match. Okay now let me say this. Again I DID NOT enjoy the segment with Eric Bischoff, Chris Jericho and Carlito. In my books, Jericho is a top guy but with Eric he’s just playing the second banana. I will say right now and I mean this only for this storyline. I do not enjoy watching Eric take over. And having him come up with stupid idea like telling Carlito and Jericho that for the night they will be Canadians. This way John Cena will be booed out of the building.
Does it get more infantile then that? Coming up with something so lame not only makes Jericho look week, but it makes the General Manager of Raw look like a complete moron. Also, while I really liked the Cena vs. Carlito and Jericho handicap match, and believe me I enjoyed this match very much, I had a big problem watching Eric standing out there slapping Cena now and then and just being part of all of this. Again putting Chris Jericho in this type of storyline for me as weakened the strong heel and wrestler that we all know he is. Bischoff as I said weeks ago is no Vince McMahon and this feud with John Cena and Y2J should have been just that. It should have been between the two of them, and no one else. Eric Bischoff has been given way too much TV time, which isn’t always a bad thing, but in this case it’s been a very negative thing, and he seems to be more of a focus than Chris Jericho. Now I saw a match last night that I totally loved. And that was Edge taking on Val Venis. I have always known that Val has it when it comes to wrestling and believe me he did not disappoint last night. Edge and Val put on a hell of a match with both men complimenting each other so well. I really would have loved to this to go on a lot longer but trust me I’m satisfied that we at least got a good five minute match with quality wrestling. This was my match of the night. The only thing I didn’t get was where the hell was Matt Hardy? Now I will say WWE again put out an excellent video recapping the whole Matt, Lita and Edge love triangle. But you would think right before a major pay per view; Matt would have at least gotten a part of Edge. But other than that this was a terrific match and I don’t want to forget that this Montreal crowd had some pretty hilarious X-rated chants for Lita. Yeah she got a ton of heat from that crowd. Now Rob Conway is another guy that I know can wrestle. In fact I remember many times bringing that up when he was part of La Resistance. He always showed a lot of promise. And last night against Hurricane Helms he looked decent in the ring. But that gimmick is bringing him down. It’s very hard to get past that when you have a horrible entrance theme, a stupid weird strut to the ring and mic work that leaves a lot to be desired. And didn’t we go through this years ago with Test? When he thought he was prettier than the diva’s? Well whatever, I liked the match but that gimmick is a killer and if you noticed this was the only time the crowd was silent. So I think that says something. And finally, and yes I’m thinking that Bret Hart will still show up, it’s time for the main event.
I have to give it to Hulk Hogan. He lasted a lot longer than I thought he would against Kurt Angle. This was another match that worked for me. Hogan took a beating but of course he was able to turn it around and do is infamous repertoire. You know the pointing of the finger, the punches and then the big boot and it was over for Kurt. Or was it? Just as Hogan was about to do his leg drop HBK that showed up and took Hogan down. Shawn had us all believing that Hogan was walking into Sweet Chin Music, but HBK stopped, knocked Hogan down and put the Sharpshooter on Hulk. I saw the crowd looking to see if Hart was coming out, and I’m waiting and that’s it no Bret and the show ends with HBK coming out on top. I’m telling you Shawn stole the show last night along with the crowd. I expected another poor show but thank God I was pleasantly surprised.
Okay now as many of you know I wasn’t home for Smackdown last week due to my nephews wedding rehearsal that night. So I taped it, only I screwed up the timer and I missed the whole show. I will be home this Thursday and I do plan on watching Smackdown. I will be very honest with you, while a few of you thought last weeks show was good most of my readers and other feedback that I checked out said it was just a horrible show. So again I’m expecting very little this week and maybe like Raw the show will deliver. I’ll be back on Friday with my thoughts on the last Smackdown before Summer Slam. Okay now for all of my very intelligent readers. I got an email and this reader needs some information. Now if any can help him you can email him at prowrestlingundertaker@yahoo.com. Here’s his question, I am looking for a wrestling game (prefer wwe) for my game boy advance. I would like a manger mode. Where I do everything but wrestle. Can you ask your readers for any ideas? There is one for WWE Survivor Series. But I don’t know about a manger mode. Thanks.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
