I sure expected a better Raw last night than what we got. I wasn’t crazy about the show. I’ve seen worse but I’ve seen a lot better. The East Rutherford, N.J. crowd was good but I’ll tell you they’ve been a lot louder in the past. I have a feeling that’s because they sat through Smackdown first and by the time Raw got on they might have lost some of their energy. I think one of the reasons why Raw didn’t really appeal to me had to do with Vince McMahon taking up too much on air time. We did get a few good matches with one being very good. But compared to last weeks Raw this one just didn’t have it.
Before I get started, let me just get right to the Diva contest. I don’t know any of these women personally. They may be the sweetest and nicest girls out there but I’ll tell you I have never seen a group that seems so out of place and like they don’t have a clue about what’s going on. Every year I bitch about this contest, but this time I’m telling you this is one of the worst things I’ve seen on TV. And to have them on throughout the show picking who they would like to see go was a joke. And this Miz guy gets worse week by week. He fits the contest perfectly. I’m not even going to mention this fiasco again. I just can’t wait until it’s over.
Now back to Raw. I always say I like Vince when he interacts with someone and comes off like a comedian. It’s the Vince that is on and on and on that I can’t take and that’s what we got last night. The opening was okay with Vince, Shane and DX. DX was funny, but, they’ve been funnier. I would have liked a little more “X†rated humor thrown in there buy Triple H, but all in the entire segment was good. And it set up the McMahon’s vs. DX at Summer Slam which I believe will FINALLY end this Vince McMahon vendetta. But going back to DX. I think we got a preview of things to come with the creative team’s poor writing for the rest of the show. And I’ll definitely get into that in a little bit.
The first match and my match of the night was Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Johnny Nitro for the IC title. Again these guys put on a super match. And you have say Nitro is showing the fans that he can compete with top guys. I look at Carlito and Benjamin and just hope that these two continue to get pushed. I’m telling you if Benjamin had more mic work time he could do it. He’s too damn good to keep as a mid carder. The only negative thing about this match was that it was too short. We got very little considering that most of the match was going on during the commercial break. But what we got I really loved. All three of these guys have been so consistently good that I just want to see more.
You know what the worst segment of the night was? On the count of three say it with me. One, two three, Orton Knows Best. This was another segment where the writing was a disaster. I’m wondering how Randy felt being out there and knowing this was a giant dud. I figured Hogan wouldn’t be there since he has a pattern of not showing up every week. So a no show Hogan I expected but I sure didn’t expect the crap that they gave us. What a lame and worthless segment and to make matters worse because of Randy slapping Jerry Lawler, we get a Lawler/Orton match next week. Wow that and more Diva’s aren’t we lucky.
You want to talk about a diva that really deserves props? Then you have to give it to Candice. I could not get over how good she looked in her tag team match with Trish vs. Mickie and Victoria. She really puts her all into what she does and I was very impressed with her. I liked this match very much and I’m wondering if Trish is kind of playing less of a part in the women’s division because she’s getting married next month. I’m thinking they are just putting less focus on her until she returns, or is it because the rumors are true and she’s leaving in the next few weeks not only to get married but to start a career in Hollywood? I would like to think she’ll return but honestly I could see it going either way. I really would hate to see her go. But back to the match. As I said Candice showed a lot last night, and no I don’t mean she exposed herself, that’s Kelly’s thing over at ECW.
Okay here’s where things get weird. Mick Foley and Ric Flair had one interesting face to face meeting. Flair was quite animated and Foley was right up there too. Now I thought these guys really came through, however there were times both men lost me in what they were saying. There were times when Foley came off kind of like a face but then would get right back into it and go back as a heel. Flair said a few things that I can’t repeat since I kind of missed it. Yet like Foley he made comeback after comeback. See this all reads like what the hell is she saying? That’s kind of how I felt about this segment. The guys lost me but then they had me, but no matter what, once they came face to face you could feel the heat and that’s what counts.
The worst match of the night? John Cena vs. Matt Striker. Thankfully this was a short as it gets. I’m not blaming Cena for this one. I don’t like the Striker character and I’ll tell you I probably would have taken a snack break had Striker been wrestling someone else. But I figured with Cena in there things would get good with Edge. But that wasn’t exactly the case either. Edge and Lita did come out and sat and made comments but really none of this got things going for Summer Slam, so I was a little disappointed. No a lot disappointed. Another match that was fair was Rory McAllister vs. Johnny from the Spirit Squad. There was nothing special about this one it was an average match. I will say this. I did notice that after the other Spirit Squad members were thrown out by the referee and then Johnny lost, JR made a comment saying I wonder how the other members will feel about this loss. That small comment makes me think that the Spirit Squad split is definitely in the works.
I’m telling you the creative team must have taken the night off, because we got that old “let’s frame a wrestler and have him go to jail†routine. Earlier in the show Armando Alejandro Estrada gave the McMahon’s Cuban cigars. And then Vince asked Estrada if he had anymore, and Estrada said he had three boxes in his car and Vince right away asked for them. Oh yeah Vince’s brain was working overtime. So later on we have the police arresting Hunter for stashing away these illegal cigars. Of course Hunter is innocent but this will keep him away from Shawn’s match against Umaga. As Hunter was taken away he realized what Vince and Shane did. Now I figured maybe Hunter would find away to get “released†and make his way back, but that didn’t happen. Oh by the way, WWE is reporting that Hunter was “released†shortly after midnight. Wow what a relief.
The main event with HBK vs. Umaga was good. Ever since Umaga’s match with John Cena he’s been looking a lot better in the ring. Probably because he’s working full length matches. Anyway this had good back and forth action. Unfortunately this was another segment where Vince and Shane had to show up. And Vince more than Shane got to me. McMahon did the famous break the cigar in half so Umaga would do his finishing move on Shawn. Vince was all over this one. Umaga kept his winning streak going, and Shawn then got it from Vince and Shane. Shane kicked a chair in HBK’s face to knock him out. Vince then yelled to Shawn who was unconscious that next week Umaga would face Triple H. This was I think the first time DX went down and the McMahon’s came out on top. I liked the match and the ending.
So see there were a few good things but I wish there would have been more. Okay tonight is ECW with Batista vs. Big Show for the ECW title. Kurt Angle returns and we all get to finally see CM Punk wrestle. Now this all sounds like ECW should be a good show. Before I go I have two requests from readers. Any help you can give them I would appreciate. Could you ask your readers where I can find a link to the video with John Cena vs. Undertaker on the last Smackdown which was right before the Great American Bash from 2004? They can email me at koreybigred@yahoo.com.
This is from the second reader. My friend and I are both Batman and Superman fans and we both have only Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain and neither of us like the newer ones because you have to do so much to get things. Anyway, I was hoping you could ask your readers if they have any Create-A-Wrestler or CAWs for Superman and/or Batman. Very detailed too, I
searched online for hours and I found nothing. I hope you can help me.
Thanks._maddox20@hotmail.com
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
