This could be one of those VERY long columns because there is so much to say about Night of Champions and last night’s Raw. But I hate to make this pages and pages of me gushing over both shows, so what I plan on doing is keeping NOC short and focusing on some of the fantastic segments from Raw. Finally Vince McMahon seems to have gotten the message that ratings are dropping because the product needs some help, and giving away a million dollars isn’t the answer. Ah what a fantastic Raw last night, but let me tell you why I liked NOC so much.
For the most part the show was cruising along until the last two matches. In all fairness nothing was really bad, however one match disappointed me and that was Matt Hardy vs. Chavo. I expected some night high flying moves and a fast paced match and none of that happened. And I really thought Matt’s fans would be totally into this and they weren’t. And I really believe it was because of Chavo. Chavo received very little if any reaction, and as I said over the weekend whatever positive this guy had with his character he totally doesn’t have it now. Also the Kane vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry match was nothing to write home about it was just about what you would expect. But the other matches came off well but not great until Edge vs. Batista. What a terrific match this was. Batista never looked better and along with Edge these two guys put on one hell of a match. And after Batista got screwed by La Familia Batista unleashed the animal by grabbing Vickie by the hair picking her up and throwing her over the ropes onto Chavo, Ryder, Hawkins and Bam Neely. What a move this was and really it just topped off one fantastic match.
My match of the night was the main event with Triple H vs. John Cena. Edge vs. Batista was right up there but I found this one to be one of Cena’s best, or maybe this was his best match with his one hour match against Shawn Michaels last year right up there as well. I was there two years ago at Wrestlemania and this match totally outdid that 2006 match. I was floored by Cena’s work in this one and Hunter never looked better, well he has because I would say he was just a little too tan, but as far as wrestling goes Triple H was totally on his game. This match was just brilliant to watch and the more this went on the more I found myself respecting John Cena. I guess that’s because he didn’t do any of his obnoxious silly moves he was totally focused and serious. I had no idea Hunter would win that was a total shocker to me, but I have to say I saw John Cena in a different light Sunday night and I just wish this is what creative and Vince would give us each week. I will explain that sentence when I get to Raw. But this five star match and Edge and Batista’s hot match definitely made NOC worth watching.
If any of you missed Raw last night you have no idea what you missed. The first 25 minutes alone ROCKED. It’s hard for me not to go into so much detail about the show, but I’m just going to try to keep this short and hit the segments that I totally loved. As I said the first 25 minutes were just fantastic. I was so worried when I read that JR was coming out to say good bye that Vince would find a way to make a “monkey” out of JR, but thank God that didn’t happen. JR gave a wonderful farewell speech. He not only put over his move to Smackdown but he had nice things to say about Mick Foley, Jerry Lawler and even Michael Cole. It was such a great segment, and when JR was done things really erupted when Edge came out. Edge first insulted JR, then he put Raw down and bragged about holding the World Heavyweight Title and no one from Raw is taking that from him. He then walked away saying he will never return to Raw and then it was like a volcano hit, hey I’m pretty poetic here aren’t I? Batista came out and beat the hell out of Edge. What a way for Batista to get revenge on Edge from what happened at NOC. But it was the appearance by CM Punk that really made this a wild segment. Punk came running out with his MITB suitcase in hand ready to take on a semi conscious Edge. Oh my God the fans were going crazy. CM lifted Edge and then hit the Go To Sleep on him and WOOOO we now have a new World Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk. Oh m God I did not see that one coming and I loved it. I marked out like never before, I was at the edge of my chair screaming Punk is the new champion. And yes my husband heard me and came running down. That poor man puts up with so much from me. This opening segment reminded me of 1999-2000 when we would get surprises and things were exciting this definitely set the tone for a hot show.
Granted there wasn’t much wrestling but between the Punk victory, JR’s farewell to Raw promo, the start of the new heel tag team of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, and a good women’s match I would say this was one very solid Raw. I also want to say that Kofi Kingston the new IC champion showed a lot in his match against Chris Jericho on Sunday night. I thought the match was all Kofi. Last night their rematch wasn’t anything to rave about and then you add that lame ending and this was one of Raw’s weak spots. But I am so into this guy’s push. I really hope Kofi comes through, and I think he will. We also got a new feud going with Rey Mysterio and Santino. I think Rey might be able to make Santino look good in the ring so I’m anxious to see this feud take place. I laughed so hard with Jamie Noble coming on to Katie Lea and then trying to put Kane in his place. This guy is just a riot to watch. Okay now I said I saw John Cena in a new light Sunday night because he was so good in his match against Triple H. And I would like to see that Cena every week. Well last night we got the Cena that turns me off, the good guy that has nothing but cute things to say like when he said Punk would have said yes to anyone and he started rattling off names, you know forced unfunny stuff. That is so typical of the creative staff to have him say dumb things but once JBL got into the picture and started bullying Cena I started to cheer for Cena because I hate the JBL character. So a theory hit me. You give JBL power to run things and you have him mouthing off to Cena and fans like me that are so against Cena start rallying in Cena’s corner. I know I did. I might not have liked the Cena promo, but I totally changed once JBL got in there. So I would say this is what Vince is hoping will happen.
JBL was a true SOB last night and I really thought Punk was going to lose to him I really did. I don’t mind JBL being a GM or just taking over, but I do not want to see this guy get the title anytime soon. That’s why I was somewhat upset because as I said I saw Punk losing the same night that he won that title. WOW I was not only thrilled, but also relieved that I was so wrong and Punk remains the World Champion. I also thought it was cool having Cena return with his posse Cryme Tyme and take on JBL’s security team. It was like everything that we are so used too was just tossed out and youth, quick title changes and different types of run ins was the theme. What a concept, what an AWESOME SHOW. Last week we had an off the charts Raw with the draft and last night Raw was even better. As I said the ratings going down so far has turned out to be a blessing.
I’m hyped as you can tell, and I’m already for ECW and Friday’s Smackdown. I will be back over the weekend definitely to talk about Smackdown and what do you want to bet now with Edge no longer the World Champion the wheels are in motion for him to turn on Vickie. I cannot wait to see what Edge is like this week and now with Triple H holding the WWE title I wonder who is next opponent is. I don’t think its Edge I’m guessing they are holding that feud off for a little longer. Rumors have it that Big Show will be facing Hunter for the title at house shows in August. I can’t say that I would like to see a Show/Hunter feud, I’ve seen enough of those two go at it. And I’m looking forward to seeing Jeff Hardy and Mr., Kennedy….Kennedy make their first appearance since they were drafted to Smackdown. Hopefully we are in for some more GOOD WWE programming.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
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