Thank God for Wrestlemania, well at least I think that’s the main reason why WWE has finally turned things around in such a positive way for both shows, especially Raw. Each week Raw has come alive and we have seen some very good matches and even more importantly the main feud for Wrestlemania, John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels has gotten better each week. Better and stronger. I will be very honest with you, when Hunter was injured and I think I made it clear back then that I was very down on what Wrestlemania would turn out to be, but I cannot believe how much I’m looking forward to the show and that’s because Vince and his creative team have finally realized that mediocre shows are just not going to cut it not when you have the top pay per view coming up. I loved Raw this week, and there was very little I didn’t like. And what I didn’t like still was okay, let me explain.
I didn’t mind the segment with Vince and Trump, with Trump naming Lashley as his guy to represent him. The only problem I had with this was that we had to see pictures of Trump with those weird hairstyles again, and it wasn’t any funnier this week than it was last week. I also thought that Vince talked a lot longer than he needed too, but other than that Lashley and Umaga going at it really got the Fresno, Cal., crowd going. The brawl was done very well and the segment did work for the most part. While the thought of another Master-lock segment made me want to scream things turned out well when The Great Khali accepted the challenge. Did you notice the crowd really seemed to be behind Khali? I know I was. This Master-lock challenge became old soon after it started, and I wish to God it would finally come to an end, but Khali made it good and the appearance by Kane topped things off so well. Again I could not get over how much the crowd popped for Kane and Khali’s interaction. This was another segment that started off shaky but came off a lot more entertaining than I could have imagined.
Now everything else on the show was gravy. I’m going out of order here, but Johnny Nitro the guy that shows me week after week that he is the future of WWE, showed me another excellent side of him Monday night. First I might be getting my hopes up, but you have no idea how much I loved the tension between Nitro and Melina. I want to see Nitro get away from her and work solo. I compare that to Edge and Lita. Edge was good with Lita, but with Lita gone, he’s just outstanding, and I really believe Nitro would shine so much more without Melina with him. Second, I thought Nitro taking out all his frustration on Super Crazy because of his loss to CM Punk in the Money In The Bank qualifying match was excellent. In a way he reminded me of Hunter with the angry look on his face and the non stop beating. I’m telling you this guy offers so much with his wrestling. And I believe in time he could turn out to be the total package.
The opening with the supposed Tag Team Title match with Shawn and Cena vs. Edge and Orton was off the charts. Not only did I like Orton and Edge putting the match on hold until later in the show, but the video package showing Shawn Michaels turning on his partners was great. What a super way to make us wonder if Shawn Michael the face is nothing more than a heel just biding his time before he turns on Cena. How cool was it to put all of this in Cena’s head. Just an awesome opening! Also I think Jerry Lawler becoming the newest HOF inductee is nice, however I kind of felt that the segment lacked excitement. Maybe it’s because Lawler is on every week, but I would have liked to have had some of the wrestlers talk about Lawler on the video. There were three matches that I totally enjoyed and one was Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin for the Money In The Bank qualifying match. It’s a given that when you have Hardy and Benjamin against each other that you are going to get a hell of a match and that’s what we got. But I was sick when I saw Benjamin take that horrible slip off the ropes and land funny on his neck and head. I read one report where they said that the match ended abruptly because of this. I haven’t read any update about Shelton’s condition; I’m hoping that’s a good sign. But the match was excellent. I also thought Carlito vs. Kenny Dykstra was another strong match. Carlito looked extra good out there and Kenny just was Kenny and that’s a good thing. I also thought having Ric Flair come out after Carlito’s win and applauding him added to this segment. It’s nice to see Carlito far far away from Chris Masters.
And finally we got another outstanding main event with Edge and Orton vs. HBK and John Cena. I was so glad that they held this one off until the end of the show instead of opening Raw with it. I love the mind games that Shawn is playing with Cena and this was just one very good match. You have to say that the Cena/HBK feud is working so well, and next week I’m thinking that things are only going to get better. Also JR made a comment that Randy Orton doesn’t have a spot at Wrestlemania; I bet we will see Orton get a spot in that MIB match.
This was a hell of a show and things as I said are coming together so well for Wrestlemania. I read the spoilers for Smackdown and it’s fair to say that I’m ready for this show as well. I will be back over the weekend with my thoughts on Smackdown and if I can I will try to put something out before that. Now I will leave you with this. In case you didn’t know WWE released Test yesterday. I never understood why they took him back but supposedly he rubbed Vince the wrong way by continuously complaining about jobbing to Bobby Lashley and that along with not passing the Wellness test was the end for Test. You think TNA will take him? Last time Test was released the rumors were that TNA wasn’t interested, so let’s see if anything changes with his recent release. Okay I will leave you with a reader’s request. He would like to know where he can find No Way Out 2003. That is the pay per view with Stone Cold Steve Austin taking on Eric Bischoff. You can email him at preppride70@hotmail.com.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
