WWE presented RAW on Monday night. Going in, expectations were high following a much-better-than-expected WrestleMania the night before that left a lot of unanswered questions. They’re going with Edge vs. Triple H vs. Cena for Backlash, which is an interesting move. The fact that Triple H hasn’t won the championship yet is certainly what they’re playing off of. If I were WWE, I’d go with Edge at Backlash, and I’d have him pin Triple H. That already sets up two singles matches for the new champ against Cena (since he can claim he was never pinned), and against Triple H (who would want his win back). On RAW, Hunter got his though and pinned Cena in the main event, which was supposed to be a Handicap with H and Edge against Cena. The boos for Cena continue, and he is still playing the same character, trying to be cool about them. They also added a Rock-like mannerism to him this week, having him do his “The Champ is Here” phrase as if he’s The Rock. He’s not. Anyway.
Looks like they decided to turn Carlito face, and it also looks like they have something on mind for Show and Kane (singles feud with each other, or go in different directions), since they gave the Spirit Squad the belts on RAW, instead of Carlito & Masters at ‘Mania, and Carlito attacked his partner on RAW. They’ve already messed up this face turn, which should have been a big deal. It’s incredible how easy-going this company is when it comes to important matters for the long term, but how hard-at-work they are when it’s crunch time. The fans will get into Carlito as face because he’s well-liked, and has already cemented a connection with the audience, but again – the idea of this business is to make money, and you can only make money with characters that people care about. The turn they did on RAW wasn’t successful.
The Spirit Squad as tag champions makes sense, I guess. Seeing that the tag belts are all but done with at this point in time, they might as well put them on someone fresh. As goofy and pointless as this gimmick is, they have the opportunity to do some unique stuff with it (incorporating trampolines during matches has been an interesting and unique breath of fresh air, for example). It also has the great potential for them to turn “street” some day and drop the “cheerleader” gimmick for a “posse” gimmick or something of that nature. Just a thought…
They introduced Umaga on RAW. I don’t know why. I don’t know what is it we’ve done to deserve this. He’s managed by Armando Alejandro Estrada (OVW’s Osama Estrada), who for my liking did a really good job and caught my eye. It’s unfortunate he’s booked with this pathetic gimmick. Anyway, this one’s not worth my time, but I shuold note that Estrada did well.
They did a horrible Chavo Guerrero storyline, where he said that he won’t disappoint Eddie and the Guerrero family and he’ll go for the IC Championship and win for them. That, of course, didn’t happen, though he got a decent match out of Shelton Benjamin. Afterwards, he quit. I’m scared to think where this is headed, and hopefully it’s not headed anywhere, and that’s the end of it. I like what they’re doing with Shelton Benjamin, but they are half-assing it as of right now. Dropping Mama was a good move, and the new cocky attitude and look is a great touch. They don’t follow up on it though, as they’re not giving him more depth and air time than that.
RVD did a promo, where he basically confirmed that he’ll challenge the WWE Champion at ECW One Night Stand. This wasn’t all that good, actually. I feel like this is the last chance for Rob. I doubt they’ll let him run with the ball, but if anyone deserves it, it’s him. Also, they’d be surprised how things will change around if he got the belt, ratings wise.
Then we go to that one segment that everyone’s been talking about all week. McMahon booked God on a wrestling PPV. I’m not kidding. You know, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that. Although it would have been awkward to drop the Michaels-McMahon feud after their ‘Mania match, it would have been the right thing to do. This needs to end as soon as possible. UGH.
RAW ended up doing a 4.1 rating this week, which is a solid number, but considering the fact that it aired the night after WrestleMania, you have to consider it somewhat of a disappointment. The truth of the matter is that they lost the buzz this year. The last few WrestleManias have had an amazing buzz to them. I don’t have the WrestleMania buy rate yet, and I’m sure it’ll be a solid performance (though not better than last year’s), but face it – a lot of people simply didn’t care this year. That could come back to bite them big time for next year’s event.
Randy Orton‘s suspension has made a lot of noise online lately. Randy was suspended for 60 days due to some “unprofessional conduct,” which was described to me as Randy being Randy. The suspension starts on April 12th, and management had no choice but to go with it. He will be back, and perhaps it’s a good thing he’s getting some time off, as it leaves the opportunity for him to be freshened up as a character upon his return. He’s been good about “taking it,” from what I’ve heard.
There’s a lot going on this week on SpikeTV, but for the wrestling fans, it’s the debut of TNA Impact on Thursday nights that matters. It’ll be interesting to see how they do, what number they get with that time slot, and all that good stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if the numbers don’t change much from their Saturday ratings, although you have to believe with UFC as the lead-in, and Thursday in general being a good TV night, they’ll improve.
They’re bringing the King of the Ring back on SmackDown! Lashley is expected to be given a push here, although no word on whether he’s winning it or not. One guy who’s kind of been “on the side” of things lately is Matt Hardy, so they could perhaps use the tournament to boost him up, as well. The tournament begins this week, and I’ll probably have more about it later on.
I’ve gotten a few e-mails asking me about the future of Stacy Keibler. I believe I saw an update somewhere on TBL this weekend about it as well, but in case you missed it and also to confirm, she’s pretty much done with the company. Her contract expires this summer (in July, I believe), but nobody in WWE is expecting to resign it. Ever since she did “Dancing with the Stars,” offers have been flying in Stacy’s way, and the fact that she didn’t win the competition perhaps helped her more than she thought. She’s already hosted several celebrity events, and has been attending many celebrity gatherings, shows, presentations, and such. To answer the rumors – she wasn’t asked to appear at WrestleMania as they felt that’s stealing the spotlight from other Divas they could use in the future. She didn’t ask to be on the show either.
That should do it for this week. Feel free to e-mail me with any topics you want discussed, or with any questions on the news and happenings that you want answered!
