I thought Raw started out on such a strong note and continued looking really good until YES that so called main event. Well this isn’t going to be a totally negative column. How could it be when you had a very hot Nashville, Tn., crowd in attendance, a fabulous opening match and a few other things that just came off really well? I think Raw with the exception of that ending and the new ECW champion all over my TV was one of the best shows post Wrestlemania. And before I get into Raw, let’s not forget Backlash. Granted I didn’t order it, but from all the feedback out there and the feedback that you sent me, Backlash sounded like a total hit. I wish I could say that about my predictions. I missed three and the loss that really shocked me was Benoit beating MVP. I really thought MVP would walk out the winner. Anyway I am just thrilled that this show came off so well. Okay and now onto Raw.
As I said I did not order Backlash, but I do know from what I read that after Cena pinned Randy Orton thanks to HBK’s super-kick, Shawn Michaels was furious. I was told by a few friends that he made it very obvious just how angry he was. I am bringing this up because last night I was expecting to see Michaels coming after Cena screaming for a rematch. But what do we get? We get Vince McMahon, just one of many Vince appearances hamming it up as the ECW champion talking like he’s a part of Cryme Tyme with John Cena. Cena insults him and THEN Shawn comes over and I’m waiting for Shawn to really go crazy, but instead we have HBK calm, doing a double take of Mr. Cool McMahon and just wanting a rematch with Cena but demanding it in such a friendly way I couldn’t believe this, I was expecting so much more. I guess creative slept on the win over night and decided to make Shawn all fuzzy and kind even thought if it wasn’t for Michaels Cena probably wouldn’t have won at Backlash. Man this irked me it really did. And when Vince made Michaels vs. Cena for later on in the show I knew there was on way that match was going to take place, I just didn’t know what the reason would be for the match not happening. But of course I will get into that later.
I was a little concerned because the whole interaction between Cena and Michaels disappointed me so much I figured we were in for a long night, but I was so wrong. The opening match with Edge vs. Randy Orton was just excellent. This match was worth waiting for since it didn’t happen last week. While I’m not happy with the way Randy Orton has handled himself throughout the years, he worked a very good match as did Edge. This was just a great way to really get things going and I wasn’t surprised by Edge’s win. But I have to be honest with you every now and then I would find myself cheering on Orton, I think it was because so many of the fans were chanting Randy’s name. The match I believe made a lot of us forget about “Immature” Randy and we just saw “Talented” Randy out there. This was a great opening match.
And while I am anything but THRILLED about Vince as the new ECW champion I did like the angle with the ECW Originals expressing their anger about McMahon having the title. I’m very happy about the way that RVD, Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman and Sabu have been brought into this storyline. I was also extremely pleased with the RVD vs. Umaga match. Unfortunately I wasn’t pleased watching Shane McMahon out there annoying me with every move he made outside the ring, but the match itself came off very well. And that’s because RVD had so much offense most of the time. I don’t know about you but there were many times when I thought that Van Dam would get a win over Umaga. This was a damn good match, way better than I expected.
Another good match was Jeff Hardy vs. What Ever Happened To Johnny Nitro. Oh I knew Nitro wasn’t winning but it was sure good to see him back on Raw in a match with someone like Jeff. And this might surprise you because it surprises me, but Cade and Murdoch did a cool job coming off like faces. I loved how complimentary they were about the Hardy’s and how well they took their loss at Backlash. Well I didn’t buy any of it but they showed me a side of them that I didn’t think they had, personality. I liked this segment very much.
I think we all saw the heel turn coming with Carlito last night. In a way it was a little TOO obvious, but I’m fine with it and I thought Carlito/Flair vs. TWGTT was a good match, not a great match but a good match. I was preoccupied with Carlito making the complete turn so that’s what I was focused on. I loved how Ric Flair after being attacked by Carlito left the ring and went right after Carlito as Carlito walked up the ramp. I thought Flair and Carlito did a good job and now I’m ready for things to continue. Okay now with the exception of too much Vince Raw was going very well, and then things kind of started to go downhill for me.
While I knew HBK vs. Cena wasn’t going to happen as soon as we saw Shawn unconscious I wasn’t happy. I am not one for the Who Did It Backstage segments. They happen to often and I’m bored by them. So when Shawn was out I figured it was Edge, and then when Edge was found knocked out I figured it was Randy Orton, and finally when Orton was down I had no idea who it was, until Mr. Kennedy…..Kennedy came out with a big smile on his face. So right away I said to myself of course he did it to get that title match. But when he said it wasn’t him, I really couldn’t think of anyone else and then my friend Molly emailed me and said it’s Khali. Now she said this way before Kennedy was done in the ring. When I read her email I responded with NO NO please not Khali. And sure enough she was right. Way to go Mol. I never thought of Khali and I sure don’t want to see Cena vs. Khali for the title at any pay per view. Do you know why they put Khali in there against Cena? I say it’s to get the fans behind Cena. I read that Cena got booed at Backlash and now with Khali in there, you have to think most of the fans will be with Cena. I really believe that’s why we have Khali in there and also because we all know Vince loves his big guys.
I am put out by this because I feel so strongly that Shawn Michaels should beat Cena and have one last title reign. I won’t go into my usual how hard Shawn works, but if Khali is put in the title match at Judgment Day I’m not going to be a happy fan. So this ending really brought me down. But I have to admit I do want to see what happens next Monday night. I want to know if it is Cena and Khali or if HBK will be right back in there. But really excluding the ending Raw was a lot of fun to watch. And a couple of quick notes, did you notice that the Condemned was only on I want to say twice instead of 4-5 times like usual. Could that be because it did so BAD at the box office? And Santino Marella? I liked his interview last night. He came off so sweet, and so innocent I just hope this character isn’t ruined like so many others that start out so well and then sink so fast. I want to leave you with the latest about Undertaker. I feel so bad about Taker’s torn biceps. From what I have read the muscle rolled up to his shoulder and he could be out for quite a while. It looks like the rematch between Batista and Taker for Judgment Day is off. This kills me because Taker has looked so good in the ring. He has been so much quicker than I’m used to seeing, and he did a great job getting back into shape. And because of the great job Taker has been doing Smackdown and the fans are going to be lost without Undertaker.
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