I have so many things running through my head after watching Raw that I swear I do not know where to begin. So if you all wouldn’t mind I would just like to approach this column with my out of order thoughts. I think there are a few things that need to be mentioned immediately and I want to get them out while they are fresh in my mind. I also want to thank all of you that sent me your thoughts on No Mercy. The feedback for the most part was not very positive so when I did get favorable reviews it was a treat for me. I only missed one which was the L.O.D. match. I went with MNM, I had no idea that LOD would take it, other than that I did okay. On to Raw and one hot Corpus Christie crowd they really came through last night.
First I will start with the opening. Stephanie McMahon did what I feel was one of her best if not THE best heel promo of her career. I couldn’t help but notice how here words just flowed and how relaxed she looked out there. Maybe the two years she took off helped make her character a lot more tolerable to watch. All I know is that Stephanie gets two thumbs up from me for one hell of a super promo. Her ending with “the bitch is back,” was perfect. She was definitely into her character last night. Now with that said I have to get right into the whole firing of JR. I am very upset about this whole thing. First I wasn’t all that pleased with Vince and his family being the main event and taking up so much time with JR’s demise. Now here are a few things that hit me about the McMahon’s. I see the shows revolving around them like they did a few years ago, now I’m not so sure I’m happy about that. But I remember from the time I started reading wrestling news on the net which would be about 6 years ago, the rumors were, if the ratings were down and the shows were in trouble you could count on Vince McMahon or other members of the McMahon’s returning to TV.
It has been two years since Stephanie has been on, Vince has only been on sporadically and Linda I really don’t count since she never really showed up on a weekly basis. I’m fine with the return of Vince and Steph but I’m not so sure I want them to be the focal point of Raw. Last night was a good example of why that bothers me. We all knew that someone was getting fired, and most of us read the rumors that JR was the guy. Yet for a good I don’t 8 minutes or so Vince just spewed out words and had nothing of importance to come up with. When the only thing he could pop with was that all of us the fans were fired I thought I would hit my TV set. I was worried that that little announcement was all Vince would have to say. But he stuck to his promise and brought out the announce team of JR, Jerry The King Lawler and The Coach blaming each one for not running out there last week to stop Steve Austin from taking out the McMahons. While this segment didn’t do much for me it was Coach that had me laughing. He’s such a kiss ass that he said just what Vince wanted to hear and that kept his job secure. Lawler too apologized for not being out there and he was safe.
With JR left I knew that the rumors were true, he’s gone. And you have no idea how much I was hoping I was wrong. As much as Stephanie totally rocked in the opening I wasn’t that interested in her with her dad when it came to abusing JR. And I don’t know about you, but as soon as Linda McMahon came out I knew she was the one that was going to fire Ross, I could tell she was turning heel immediately. I don’t get the heel turn, most importantly I could care less about it and this segment went on too long for me. But what really bothers me is that JR is out and supposedly someone young and with good looks is taking over. You know I’m reading a lot of news that’s out there, or should I say rumors, and I’ve been to WWE.Com where JR has been interviewed. All this just seems like such a big work. Maybe JR wanted time away. Maybe he’s got so much on his plate that he needs time away from broadcasting. This is all playing out like nothing more than an angle, a bad angle. One main site says we have seen the last of JR as a broadcaster, yet another major site feels JR will return.
I wonder if Vince realizes how he’s turning away so many fans with JR out. I know I’ve gotten quite a bit of email today and many have told me that Vince made it easy for them to stop watching WWE. Others are telling me that they are finished with WWE and it’s now on to TNA. I think so many fans out there feel this way. I said this Sunday and I’ll say it again JR has been so outstanding there was no reason to do this unless as I said that it was JR that asked for this. If not Vince has really hit an all time low. And I guess because this is all so upsetting to me that’s maybe why the McMahon’s main event totally turned me off, I didn’t find it entertaining what so ever. However, I did find most of Raw very entertaining. Oh you will love this. John Cena was fine last night. That’s right I have nothing rotten to say about him at all. They let him rap and while it might not have been the greatest rap, it had its moments. And one of those moments had to be hearing the Corpus Christie crowd chanting Lita, Lita, so Cena would rap on her. And he came through with a very funny one. Prior to the Cena’s appearance we were treated to Carlito’s Cabana with guest Kurt Angle. Leave it to Kurt to get mad at Carlito for saying there was no winner last week during the Iron Man Match. This was one time Carlito was right, yet Mr. Braggart, saw himself as the clear winner. Naturally Shawn Michaels came out and they kind of argued about just who is the number 1 contender for the title. I was very surprised to see Big Show then make his way out and then out came Edge with Lita.
This was a good segment and with Cena coming out to face them and rap on each one it all worked very well, as did the six man tag team match with Cena/HBK and Big Show vs. Kurt Angle/Edge and Carlito. I thought this match had a lot of energy going for it and again the crowd was totally hot during while this was going on. I wish this would have been the main event instead of the JR firing. Okay so if I didn’t bash Cena are your ready for the next thing I have to say? Make sure you’re sitting down; I have nothing bad to say about Chris Masters. And you read that right too. Masters vs. Tajiri was another good match, one that I found myself really enjoying. The more Masters wrestles and the less he talks about that Masterlock the better he looks to me. He did a good job along with Tajiri and I look forward to more from both men. I did notice that HBK and Masters seem to be done, and that kind of surprises me I really thought they would have a rematch at Taboo Tuesday, but that’s okay the more Masters wrestles the better he looks out there.
Doink The Clown vs. Rob Conway I have to pass on. I was on the phone and I was watching but not paying enough attention to what was going on. I did notice Eugene came to help Doink and now it looks like it’s a Conway/Eugene feud which might not be a bad thing. I thought that Trish vs. Victoria was a damn good match. It’s nice seeing a decent women’s match again, I was very happy with both women and even happier with the debut of Mickie James, or maybe most of you know here as TNA’s Alexis Laree. I saw Mickie in TNA once maybe twice so I wasn’t sure if it was her. When I saw this woman beat up Victoria I thought she was doing a nice job with her moves. I’m thrilled that Vince has finally brought James to Raw and I know she has it when it comes to wrestling and I hope to God Vince gives this woman a chance, a real chance. Okay finally I thought the backstage segment with Hunter was brilliant. I loved how he walked backstage with a big smile on his face and most of the Raw roster was just looking at him with nothing but disdain. But that didn’t matter to Hunter; he was in an awfully good mood from beating up Ric Flair last week. His face to face interaction with HBK was gold. Shawn lectured Hunter about his actions against Ric last week and Hunter took his time, looked at Shawn and just laughed his ass off. And things got even better when Mr. Smug bumped into Big Show.
Hunter has a great way of coming off like a total arrogant jerk, yet he can show his weak side when someone as big as Big Show is right in his face. I thought this was just perfect. But I think the best of all was what I believe was the first meeting between Hunter and John Cena. Cena told Hunter that he lost respect for him because of last week, and Hunter responded with a good line that the last thing Cena wants to do is get Hunter’s attention. Cena came right back with his if you want some come get some, and Hunter immediately answered with when “I want it I’ll take it.” See I loved this, I really did. Hunter wasn’t going to let Cena push him around and I saw in that short time there was chemistry with these two, something that I haven’t seen anyone have with Cena since he came to Raw. But then again that could be because Eric Bischoff has been with Jericho and Angle and I really believe that hasn’t helped Cena’s opponents. After the Hunter, Cena meeting, Hunter left but not quietly he showed just what a rat he is by taking a WWE employer and shoving him into a wall. This segment was dynamite. Now I can’t say that about Hunter’s promo. Many of you felt this was one of Hunter’s best, for me I couldn’t follow it. Maybe I should blame myself and not Hunter; honestly I had no idea what the hell he was talking about when he explained why he took out Ric Flair. I finally got it that he was basically pissed at Flair because Flair can do it without Hunter. There were times when Hunter had a strong delivery, but I just couldn’t follow most of it. Embarrassing for me isn’t it?
So other than JR’s firing which still leaves a bad taste in my mouth I liked Raw and I’m anxious to see what unfolds next week. I will be back on Thursday or Friday so I hope you will check out the column then. I’m sure between now and then there will be plenty of news and rumors to discuss. I have a feeling this is going to be a very newsworthy week for both WWE and even TNA.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
