What a SUPER opening and a damn good Raw last night. I have to say with only a few bland segments Raw did a great job getting us ready for Sunday’s Survivor Series. At least I’m all set for the pay per view. I’ll start off with what I didn’t like and as I said there’s not much and then tell you what segments REALLY appealed to me. Ah another column that I can’t wait to share with you.
I would not have had a problem with the Dusty Rhodes vs. Nicky match had it been way shorter. I had very low expectations for this match and honestly I was fine about seeing it but it just got way too much time and because of that I found myself losing interest fast. Well a few weeks ago Carlito was stuck in a match with Rob (is he still with WWE) Conway. I said the next day that it was a step backwards for Carlito. But I would see if this was a one time thing before I said anymore. And thankfully it was. After that Carlito was back fighting for a spot to get the IC title back. So I thought okay Carlito is safe, but last night, oh boy we saw Carlito go back in time. It seems like he’s back in a program against Chris Masters. This is not something I want to see again. I remember these two started something right after Wrestlemania 22, and their match at Backlash was in my opinion carried totally by Carlito. This feud really was nothing special at all.
So last night we get Carlito running out to save Torrie from Masters and Carlito falls once again to the Master-lock. This is not good, not just for Carlito but for the majority of the fans. The Master-lock died months ago and since they have brought it back and since Masters has the body of old again, I would say that WWE is lost when it comes to this man. They don’t have anything for him so what do they do? They go back to something that didn’t work over a year ago. And finally, I was so disappointed that in the Sabu vs. Umaga match they didn’t let Sabu show off some of his cool moves before Umaga beat him. I needed so much more offense from Sabu and this match just didn’t have that. But that’s all that I didn’t like, everything else came off so well.
The opening was just off the charts. This had to be one of the strongest and best openings in along time. I totally loved how they brought each team and team captain out. I liked how one team, Cena’s team hit the ring, Big Show’s team came out on the ramp and Team DX, Team Rated RKO , Flairs Team and the Spirit Squad Team came through the crowd. This really was awesome and having the Team captains introduce their members was a nice touch. You couldn’t ask for a better opening and while it looked like everyone involved was going to go at it in the ring Vince McMahon made a short appearance, thankfully, stopped everyone from going at it, and set up the matches for the night. Now if I thought the opening was outstanding then what can I say about the Ladder match with Jeff Hardy vs. Johnny Nitro for the IC Title. Oh I know what I can say; I have one word for you, FANTASTIC! I had no doubt that this would be a show stealer, and not only did Jeff Hardy come off so very well, but Nitro was just as good and for his first ever ladder match he showed so much. There was no other match on Raw that could come close to this baby. We got a pay per view match without paying pay per view prices, and for being in the business for such a short time, Nitro just keeps upping his game each week.
Another very bright spot on the show was probably the best ever promo by Lita. Yes she is leaving the WWE after Sunday’s show. And it took her just about 7 years to come off with a great non wrestling performance. I don’t remember her EVER sounding as good as she did last night. She didn’t come off forced or fake, this woman sounded as natural as one can sound. I was knocked off my feet by her mic work last night. The match was okay, but what I couldn’t stop thinking about was the knee to Mickie James’s blindfolded face from Lita’s Moonsault. I saw her immediately turn and grab her face and I thought the worse, in fact I think JR and most fans did too. I read on one of the sites today that’s she’s okay and she wasn’t seriously hurt, so that’s a very good thing.
And finally I thought the 8 man tag team match with John Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair vs. Big Show, Edge, Randy Orton and Kenny was very entertaining. I would have liked this match to have been given more time, hey maybe they could have taken some of the time that Rhodes and Nicky got, but anyway, I liked every participant in the match and with the Baltimore crowd reacting so favorably this was a can’t miss main event.
I’m all ready for Sunday’s show, but wait I think I should wait and see what Smackdown is going to do to add to all the Survivor Series hype. Smackdown has Taker and Mr. Kennedy… Kennedy in a First Blood match, Batista vs. Booker for the World Title, and Chavo Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit for the U.S. title. And since Smackdown has been on a roll I’m expecting another good show Friday night. I will be back on Sunday with my Survivor Series picks. Feel free to start sending me your predictions. Some of you have already started which is nice since I still need so much more time. And finally I would like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you that celebrate the holiday.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
