I could easily talk about all the good things that Raw gave us last night. I think last night’s show was one of the best Raws that we have seen in quite a while. As I said I could spend so much time talking about so many well done segments, but I’m not going too. Well okay maybe quickly I will list all the segments that I liked so much, but there was one angle that pissed me off so much, that I really want to most of the time today addressing that crap. Listen I am so pissed and I think the majority of you know exactly what I am talking about because the feedback that I have received so far is right with me. So let me tell you what made Raw such a good show last night and then end with what almost brought not only Raw down but what has the makings of making Wrestlemania a bad joke.
With the exception of the garbage that I will get into later, I thought just about everything came off well last night. As I said I’m going to keep this short, but the following segments hyped Wrestlemania very well. It was great to have Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel back. Jericho’s guest Jeff Hardy is not just producing in the ring, but we now have a new and IMPROVED Jeff Hardy. One that has come a long way with his mic work and I think more importantly Jeff is no longer a laid back easy going guy, when push comes to shove Hardy is now standing up for himself. And that’s just what he did last night when Jericho was getting in his face about beating Hardy and the others in the Money in the Bank match. This was a nice segment showcasing Hardy as well as Jericho who at times came off a little heelish. And speaking of the MITB match I was so glad that there was a qualifying match with Carlito vs. Cody Rhodes last night. Now I knew that Carlito was going to win, but I have to say I thought both men put on a very nice match.
Another very good segment was with Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair. While their match against Cade and Murdoch was just okay, and that’s only because Cade and Murdoch have never really gotten over with the crowd it was what happened after the match that made this good. Kind of like Chris Jericho we got to see a somewhat serious side of HBK when he again pointed out to Flair why he doesn’t want to be the guy that retires Ric. Shawn went from Mr. Nice Guy to Mr. Cocky in a matter of seconds. Of course this match is still on but what I like about this whole thing is that we aren’t going to get the I love you stuff between both men for the next few weeks. Instead I think it’s safe to say that Michaels demeanor has now given Flair that extra something that he needs to give his all and make sure that HBK doesn’t retire him at the pay per view. I happened to like the John Cena vs. Mr. Kennedy…Kennedy match. I thought it came off very well, but again Kennedy is losing it with me. It’s like one week or two he’s showing signs of being the Kennedy that he was before his suspension, but other times like last night something is missing and he’s not quite there. I still think maybe just maybe the push needs to stop and he needs to get himself together. He’s just not consistently good it’s like he’s on a roller coaster ride. He has good moments and then not so good moments. Santino had a few good lines last night when he tried to get Maria to leave with him after her sabotaged her Playboy cover with his face on hers and then on certain parts of her body. I didn’t see that coming. This might not have been Santino at his funniest but he was still good.
I liked how William Regal announced that for the next three Raw’s Triple H, Randy Orton and John Cena will take over his job. Last night John Cena had the honors and he booked the Triple H vs. Randy Orton main event. WWE.com has posted on their site that next week Randy is in charge which means the following week it’s Hunter’s turn. I thought this was a nice change of pace. I liked the main event because he did just what was needed. Cena was kept on the mic with Lawler and JR to do commentary while the match was going on. And Hunter and Orton were able to get the best of each other in the ring. This played out nicely especially when Orton was going to leave, and Cena left the booth to stop Orton. As that was going on Triple H stepped out of the ring and attacked Orton from the back and that attack caused Cena to fall. Now things were really looking good, because once the match got back in the ring, Cena came in, picked Hunter up and gave him the F’U. And that was just what I wanted to see, it’s definitely Triple H’s turn to get pay back from Cena. And while that was going on Orton took advantage and RKO’d Cena. This all seemed to appeal to the Indianapolis crowd a lot as well as me. I think these three are playing off each other very well. The tension is there and hopefully creative will continue to do a good job with these guys. Okay and now here we go.
Before I get into what has me so pissed I could have done without the JBL visiting Hornswoggle at the hospital segment. No it wasn’t horrible but honestly JBL vs. Finlay at Wrestlemania is nothing that I need to see. I guess having Finlay as a part of WM works for me but in the ring JBL just doesn’t have it. So now we know that Finlay is the little guys’ dad and maybe this will all end the night after Wrestlemania, now wouldn’t that be nice? So even this part of the show really didn’t hurt Raw but there was one storyline and one man that makes me wonder what the hell is going to happen at Wrestlemania. Listen I was one of the first that just loved how Mayweather and Big Show’s interaction went at No Way Out. I thought it was all done beautifully. But last week on Raw, what was HOT at NWO was kind of lukewarm during their segment. But last night? My God what an atrocity we got last night. It wasn’t bad enough that they bring in the Big Show and have him face off with a guy that looks like Mayweather’s clone. And these two are going to have an authentic MMA match. OH MY GOD, this was pathetic. It was this massive guy just picking up this Brandon the thrill Hill and throwing him around. Wow if that’s an authentic MMA match than we are all in trouble. But as bad as this was, and it was, things only got worse when Mayweather was watching at “home” and started talking to Big Show. Big Show and Mayweather talked on top of each other and Mayweather just didn’t know when to stop. Hey did you know he’s going to break Show’s jaw? You must know because he said it several times during this segment and then to make matters even worse he repeated the jaw line a few times to Lawler and JR when they interviewed him. This interview was even worse than the opening segment. For a guy that was supposed to play the face he came off as just a jerk telling Lawler that he’s not the king, Mayweather is the real king and this isn’t WWE its MME Money Mayweather Entertainment. This was just crap.
Mayweather has shown me that he’s out of his element when it comes to wrestling. He has shown that it’s all about him and no one else and I worry about how much time this so called match will get at Mania. My mind is racing because there is just so much that I want to say. For instance, I’m not a Big Show fan, but I don’t dislike him, however the guy has been gone for about a year, and I just wish they would not have brought him back for Wrestlemania. Between Show and Mayweather getting all this hype it bugs me that guys that work all year round and bust their asses either have no spot on the show OR are a part of it, but are in the background because of the so called HOT ANGLE. I started feeling this way last week when I watched the press conference in L.A. John Cena, Triple H, Randy Orton and Edge were there but it was like they were second class citizens. The stars of that conference were Mayweather and Big Show, well Mayweather took over and some thought he stole the show. While I watched this I was burning because I’m a wrestling fan, not a boxing fan. I was livid when Edge stepped up to talk and in about 30 seconds he was done and went to sit down.
The conference should have just been with Mayweather and Show and the rest of the guys should have just not there. I know this was done for main stream media attention, God knows Vince craves that, but this is taking over the shows and the hype for Mania while the top matches are just there. Like last night, as much as I liked the main event and the beginning with Cena, Hunter and Orton why didn’t we get more build up for this title match? Why? Because they had to give more to Mayweather and Show. I am just so disgusted because even though last year it was Vince and Donald Trump with Lashley the fans that attended the shows seemed to be into it for the most part. Did any of you happen to hear the crickets while Big Show was MMA fighting? Please this is turning out to be a terrible decision not only by Vince but by Shane McMahon the true boxing and MMA fan. I read that this was his idea and while at No Way Out he looked like a genius, now he looks like nothing but an idiot for going with this. Hey next Monday it will be a weigh in with Mayweather and Show, oh wow that’s something that will probably take more time than needed, time that WWE wrestlers should be given. As long as this is going on they need Rey Mysterio to get back and be Mayweather’s mouthpiece. A quiet Mayweather is something that is so needed especially after last night.
I wonder if the buy rates are high if Vince will say it’s because of this miserable garbage. But I wonder if the buy rates are down if Vince will have the balls to come out and say that maybe they were wrong going with this feud. Oh yeah like Vince would admit to that. And by the way this 20 million dollar payoff I read and heard on a few hotline reports that it’s not happening. Maybe Mayweather is getting 5 million. Did you notice how Big Show brought up that amount last night? Just Show saying it made me think right away that the 20 million is definitely just part of the storyline.
As you can see I’m angry and disappointed in the way things are going. Now what? This week on Smackdown are we going to get more of this? I hope not, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Now speaking of Smackdown here again in Chicago we are getting the show Saturday night because the Bulls are preempting Smackdown Friday night. I will try to have a column on Sunday with my thoughts on the show. And before I forget, I am so HAPPY that Mae Young was named as the next HOF inductee last night. Here’s a woman so deserving of this honor. She really has dedicated her life to wrestling so this was another very bright spot on Raw last night.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
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