It’s not often when Raw is a better show than the pay per view that was on the night before but that’s exactly what happened last night. Now don’t get me wrong I really liked Cyber Sunday, but last night’s Raw was the best show that I’ve seen in weeks, maybe months. The Tucson Arizona crowd added so much to the show, and that’s one of the things that’s been missing for a long time, a good loud interactive crowd. For my part, Raw was just about flawless, notice I said just about. Of course it wasn’t perfect but it was close enough for me to want to rave about it. But first let me quickly say a few words about Cyber Sunday. As I said I liked the show very much even though I totally bombed with my predictions. Seriously let me tell you the best matches of the night and a segment on the show that was beyond pathetic. But first I have one major complaint.
Now mind you I’m being over dramatic here, so just go with it. How dare they put the U.S. title match on WWE.com, and give Shelton Benjamin’s and R. Truth’s time to that miserable Diva Halloween costume contest. Why couldn’t they put that on WWE.com and let the fans watch these two wrestle. This match only lasted a few minutes, and in my opinion it was a total insult not only to Benjamin, Truth and the fans, but also to that title. Vince should have not only allowed this match TV time, but this match should have been given more than 4 minutes. When I think of that diva segment, plus all the time that was given in intervals to show each diva saying a few things about her costume I want to just scream because it was all as waste of time. Ah but that wasn’t the worst segment, oh it was close but the worst was Santino vs. The Honky Tonk man. Not only was this not humorous, the match ended in a minute because of interference by Beth Phoenix. Now I’m glad it ended so fast, but this should never have even happened. This was not Santino at his best and even this should have been on WWE.com instead of the U.S. Title.
With that all said, the opening No Holds Barred match with Kane vs. Rey was good, in fact I liked it more than I thought I would. I really liked the Evan Bourne vs. Matt Hardy match. I thought Bourne really shined, well I did until I saw what he did last night against Rey Mysterio and if he shined Sunday night, well then he blinded me with how much he shined in that match, but I will get into that when I talk about Raw. But back to Cyber Sunday I was really surprised that the Miz and Morrison vs. Cryme Tyme beat out Punk/Kingston vs. Team Priceless. This match was good, but by no means a pay per view quality match. My match of the night? Oh that’s an easy one, it was the Last Man Standing match with Taker vs. Big Show. This was one of the matches that I didn’t want to see this because I figured it would just go on and on, but from the time this started it was non stop action and I have to say Show and Taker really gave their all. This was so much better than their No Mercy match. This was one very hot match. My second favorite of the night was the rematch with Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H. While this match wasn’t as excellent as THEIR No Mercy match this was right up there. I have said this before but these two have excellent chemistry and I really will miss these two going at it. I know many are upset about Hardy losing again, but like one of the main site journalist keeps saying, there is no way Vince is going to give Jeff a title not with all his baggage. I would imagine if Hardy can stay clean in time this guy is going to get that title.
Finally the main event with Batista vs. Chris Jericho and Steve Austin as the special ref started out slow and it was kind of lackluster. But once things started going and we got run-ins from Shawn Michaels, JBL and Randy Orton things definitely picked up. I think the shocker for me was Jericho losing to Batista. Believe me that loss I never saw coming and to be honest with you the Batista win added something this match. So this was another very good pay per view and as I said an even better Raw followed.
You know what? I’m not even going to say anything negative about Raw. I thought the opening with Mr. Pouty, Chris Jericho was very good. He didn’t say much last night but his face said it all about his loss to Batista at Cyber Sunday. I even liked Randy Orton bitching about being stunned by Stone Cold Sunday night. And that stunner pissed him off so much that he looked into the camera and gave Stephanie and Shane an ultimatum that either they fire Adamle or he GOES. Orton came off well last night. After Orton insulted Mike Adamle, Adamle slapped Randy in the face. It was a weak slap, but what the hell, it served its purpose. Is it possible that the McMahon’s will fire Adamle next week? I am going to say no, but then again look at my predictions and you’ll know not to listen to me. But it was a good opener, which was followed by the match I thought we would see at Cyber Sunday. CM and Kofi vs. Team Priceless and yes this match was priceless. This is where the fans really showed their support. This was one cool match. And if I was surprised the night before with Batista’s win you could say I was just as surprised to see the belts leave Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. When Punk and Kingston won the crowd reaction was outstanding. That’s one of the things that Raw has been missing for awhile along with solid wrestling. But we sure got plenty of both last night.
While the segment with Santino again did nothing for me, I will say I got a kick out of Charlie Haas coming out like Beth Phoenix. He was only on a short time but he had her actions down fairly well especially the way he puckered his lips. Oh yes the famous Glamazon pucker. Really this was all about bringing Piper, Goldust and Honky Tonk man, and sitting them at the announce table, which was fine with me, but as far as Santino goes? It’s time to give him a credible opponent. Batista’s short promo with Michael Cole was nothing special, he was a little too relaxed for me. I’m a big fan of his, but I needed just a tiny bit more ANIMAL in him last night. The women’s tag team match with Mickie, Candice and Kelly vs. Jillian, Katie Lea and Layla was done very well, and I have to say this again, Kelly Kelly continues to amaze me in the ring.
And of course THE match of the night was Rey Mysterio vs. Evan Bourne. This was a five star match for sure. And it’s about time that we got a match like this on Raw. This wasn’t rushed and the chemistry between these two were off the charts. Bourne brought back the Rey Mysterio that we all love to watch, and Rey really showcased Bourne to the fans. This was a fantastic match and a hard worked match. AND I loved this so much that when Kane and Mark Henry came out and attacked these guys I liked it I had absolutely no problem bringing these two big guys in. If anyone missed this look for it on You Tube, it’s a MUST SEE. So it’s a go, DX will be facing The Miz And Morrison next Monday night. I never got a column out last week but I got a kick out of M&M saying ARE YOU 50? I though that was a riot and of course being the DX fan that I am, I can’t wait to watch this match next week. I am guessing that we might get DX on ECW tonight since Morrison and Miz will be mocking them. This could turn out not only to be a good mini feud.
And finally the main event with Jericho and JBL vs. Batista was okay, but nothing great and I think that’s because before this took place JBL attacked Shawn Michaels backstage which meant that Michaels was not able to take part in the match. Now this was entertaining to watch but I was looking forward to Batista and Michaels being in there together. The only thing that totally came off stupid was when HBK finally came out, he got tagged in and he went after JBL but the ref tossed him out because he didn’t see the tag. But what really came off badly was once Batista pinned JBL and Jericho walked up the ramp, HBK comes in and kept checking on Batista. I couldn’t understand why Michaels wouldn’t go right to JBL and beat the crap out of him. So the ending was poorly booked but other than that this was a good match and I know I keep saying this but this was one very good show.
Wow I sure said a lot, I will return over the weekend with my Halloween Smackdown thoughts. Did I tell you what I’m wearing for Halloween? I’m going as a 54 year old mother and wife. Not only am I great at predicting matches but also I’m also very creative. I will now leave you guys with a reader’s request. He would like to know where he could find a link or a file with Ric Flair’s Hall of Fame speech where he mentioned Chris Benoit’s name when he talked about the Four Horsemen. You can email him at GrimReeper2185@aol.com
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
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