I had no intention of doing a Raw column today. Why? Because the show did nothing for me. In fact, the show didn’t change my mind about ordering Sunday’s pay per view. I always order Raw pay per views, but this Sunday it’s not happening here. Unforgiven too me seems to be a very weak card with a few exceptions and because of this I honestly expected very little from last night’s show and I was right. Now keep this in mind. My cable went out, I missed the Cade/Murdoch match against Eugene and Tajiri, John Cena playing a fast one on Eric Bischoff, and it came back right when Edge and Lita were kissing. And this bothered me, because I really hate to miss anything that’s out there. It’s one thing to channel surf if you don’t like what’s going on, but when it’s out of your control it does ruin things. So let me just let you know my thoughts, and in advance, I apologize for being so negative and such a downer.
I had no problem with the opening match. Big Show vs. Edge really didn’t take off because first Gene Snitzky and then Matt Hardy got in there and it was made into a tag team match, which was fine with me. I thought it was a good match and I had no problem with Lita giving Matt the Twist Of Fate, because I really believe Matt will win on Sunday. Raw started out okay, I was ready for more. One of the only highlights of the night for me was the sizzling Shawn Michaels promo. Shawn as far as I’m concerned has carried Raw since he imitated Hulk Hogan on the “Larry King” show. That was like the beginning of a very hot Shawn Michaels and he was on fire again last night. Watching his face and body language as he trashed talk The Masterpiece was done so well. And then to top things off out came Ric Flair totally on his game strutting so proudly as he got us all ready for his match against Masters. Having both of these men standing together and getting the fans hyped for their up coming matches on Sunday was by far the most entertaining segment of the show.
Many of you know that I have been looking forward to the Kerwin White/Shelton Benjamin feud. But last night while their match wasn’t bad it wasn’t good. Something was missing, maybe it’s called chemistry. Nothing seemed to click between these two, so this match definitely disappointed me. But I expect things to really get better, how can it not when you have two very good wrestlers in one ring together? After this match, Kurt Angle did a backstage interview and it was dynamite. The nerdy Kurt totally seems to be gone and now he’s a man, a man that is so violent, so intense and so focused about getting what he wants. He was brilliant as he informed John Cena he’s the greatest wrestler in the business. Kurt Angle was all business totally serious and into this character and along with HBK and Flair this was another highlight for me. Okay now my husband asked me last night if I thought Trish would return. I said in that way that I do, “nah, she wasn’t on last week and with this being the last Raw she won’t be on.” I guess that shows you just what I know. So when Candice/Torrie and Victoria came out and started with Ashley again I didn’t expect Trish. However when Ashley said she brought someone than I knew it was Trish. And I applauded. It’s been a long four months without her and it’s good to have her back. By the way again Victoria is just there. It breaks my heart to see how she’s nothing more than a third wheel. But anyway it’s great to have Trish back.
Ric Flair was not only “on” with the mic but his match against Chris Masters was done well. And I’m giving Flair total credit for all of it. He carried Masters all the way. I’m sorry to say I still can’t get into Masters but because of Flair I was enjoying this match. I was not surprised to see Carlito come out and go after Ric nor was I surprised that HBK came to Ric’s rescue. So Shawn fell to the Masterlock again, so you know that it’s going to be broken at Unforgiven. But again I enjoyed the match a lot. As I said I missed everything else except for the main event due to cable problems. So let me get to the main event. Or maybe I shouldn’t bother. Again it was the same match with a different cast. Last month it was Chris Jericho, (whom by the way I miss a lot and so does Raw) and Carlito vs. John Cena in a handicap match. Last night it was Kurt Angle and Tomko vs. Cena in a handicap match. At first the only bright spot was there was no Eric Bischoff screwing things up. But as I thought that low and behold Bisch came out and stood on the ramp cheering Angle and Tomko. So naturally I wasn’t pleased with this rerun. And like last month, Cena was able to take care of Angle and Tomko, only to get the hell beaten out of him. It seems like he’s been the victim for the past two months. I was disappointed with this match and basically the show. Okay so there you have it, a sub par Raw which is so sad since it was the last one before Sunday. But now I’m getting hyped for Smackdown. I am hyped for Friday’s show thanks to a few readers that were there and had good things to say about it. Since Sunday is Unforgiven, I won’t do a miscellaneous column on Friday only because I’ll do a column on Saturday with my Smackdown thoughts then on Sunday I’ll have my pay per view predictions. So I really do hope you’ll check both columns out. Okay a reader of mine asked me to share the following link with you. When you go there you’ll find an article from the The Herald of Arkansas. There was a house show at the University on Friday and the newspaper has an article up and few pictures so please check it out. You’ll find the story at the bottom of the page, www.asuherald.com.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
