Maybe three hours of Raw was a little too much, but for the most part I enjoyed the show. I have a lot of very positive things to say about Monday’s show and a few not so nice things to say about certain segments. Before I get into Raw, I just want to update you on what’s going on with our house. Major work got started on Friday and it’s kind of busy here. Yesterday our Internet was on and off from late afternoon until early evening. That’s why I’m doing this column today. So That’s why I’m doing this column today if you don’t see anything from me over the weekend, or even early next week, it will be because of the work going on here. Now let’s get on to the three hour Raw and the segments that should never have been put on TV.
Sure I’m talking about that hideous dancing segment with Fu Naki, Hornswoggle, Boogeyman, Goldust, Dusty Rhodes, Jesse and Festus, Sgt. Slaughter, Lillian, and Michael Cole. This was beyond embarrassing. It was like being at a local wrestling show and watching a bunch of fans just dancing to waste time. This was so bad, so amateurish. I expect more from WWE. If this is Vince’s way of being child friendly then fine, do these kind of horrible segments during commercial breaks, do it for the live crowd not for the rest of us. Words can’t even describe what was going through my mind when I watching this. Also I was not pleased with the 16 Diva Tag Match. I get a kick out of Mae Young and anytime she’s on Raw I look forward to seeing her. And I did this week too, but to have her take out the heels and especially the very tough Beth Phoenix was just ridiculous. They could have used Mae in some other way without making Beth Phoenix, Maryse, Layla, Victoria, Lena, Katie Lea, Jillian Hall and Natalya Neidart look worthless and weak. These two segments were by far the worst of the night.
But there are a few other items that didn’t quite sit right with me. Like CM Punk’s match against Randy Orton. This could have been a hot feud, had it been built up right, but instead it was rushed. This match could have been gold but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. This match lasted about two and a half minutes and Punk the former World Champion and now current Tag team champ was made to look like just another guy on the roster whom was thrown in to give Randy Orton someone to beat. This was Orton’s first match since his injury back in the summer and it should have really been set up as something major and it wasn’t. So I guess you can say this was another disappointment for me. The eight-man Battle Royal was nothing special but it did two things. It gave William Regal the win and he meets Santino next week in his homeland, England for the I.C. title. And we saw Ted DiBiase throw over his buddies, Cody Rhodes and Manu. In fact it looked like DiBiase was going to face Santino, until Regal returned and tossed him over the rope. I found it weird that DiBiase got as far as he did, and then it was DiBiase later on during the Orton/Punk match that interfered and took Orton out, only to receive an RKO from Orton. So of course I’m wondering if Team Priceless is splitting up and DiBiase is going out on his own. So anything dealing with Ted DiBiase definitely had me interested Monday night.
I really liked the opening with Randy Orton and the opening match with the Hardy’s vs. The Brian Kendrick and MVP. Orton came off well Monday night especially during this segment by demanding that Stephanie and Shane come out and decide who stays, Orton or Mike Adamle. Orton refused to leave until they made the decision so he stuck around and watched the first match. As I said I enjoyed watching these four and even though it was another loss for MVP, and believe me I expected it, this was nice way to start things off.
Before I forget I thought the highlight videos from the past years of Raw were done very well. It was nice to see some things that I missed, and other highlights that I did see, but it was nice seeing them again. By the way, I was there live for the Rock/Hogan encounter and I was there live when John Cena made his debut against Kurt Angle at Smackdown. So seeing the footage brought back some nice memories. Okay now back to Orton and his ultimatum. Shane McMahon came out and I have to say I thought Shane did an awesome job Monday night. I’m not a Shane fan but he sure stepped up this week and every time he was on camera I thought he came off well. This segment with Orton, Shane and Mike Adamle was one of the main highlights of the night. Adamle’s resignation was something that needed to happen. His character never really took off and I figured if anything he was going to get “fired” so having him resign I think played out better than firing him. This was a very solid segment and of course I think most of us started wondering just who the next GM would be.
Vladimir Kozlov has made it big. Because Monday night he appeared on Raw against Brett the Hitman Haas. Okay I didn’t put this in my negative section because I have to say that Haas really had Bret Hart’s mannerisms down well. However the crowd wasn’t exactly into his character this week. I think if they are going to continue to have Haas come out as a WWE star it has to be someone to mock, that seems to get the crowd going. Of course this was a quick one, like if you blinked you would miss it. Kozlov gave Haas a head butt and that was it. Okay so maybe this kind of goes in the negative part of my column. Kane and Mark Henry vs. Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston was okay, but again it’s what happened once the match ended. We saw Rey taking a beating from Kane, and that brought out The Great Khali to save Rey. I really like Khali the face; it’s something that should have been done a long time ago. ARE YOU READY? Hey the DX segment rocked, that’s right I said it ROCKED. I thought Hunter and Shawn Michaels material was funnier than ever. The jokes about Triple H’s nose and HBK’s lack of hair came off so well. I re-watched this and laughed as hard as I did the first time. And as far as their match against the Miz and Morrison goes? It was a good match, a match that I knew DX would win, and I don’t believe for a minute that the loss hurt the Miz and Morrison at all.
I have to admit when JBL came in to talk to Shane McMahon about becoming GM I got excited. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but for a long time I have been saying keep JBL out of the ring and make him the GM. That would be a perfect role for him. Now after his talk with Shane, JBL vs. Taker was next and this again was a very fast match, and to be honest with you the match was nothing it’s what happened toward the end of the match that I found very cool and very interesting. I’m talking about JBL walking away from Taker and HBK coming from behind and tossing JBL back in the ring. And then Taker Tombstoned JBL for the win. And now for the cool part. Once the match was over, Taker just stared at Shawn Michaels. And Michaels stared right back at Taker. I would love to see Taker vs. HBK at Wrestlemania 25, and those stares are giving me hope that that match could happen.
There was a lot of interaction between a face Shane and his sister heel Stephanie. I am guessing that Stephanie will take the GM spot and I’m also starting to think that Steph maybe was behind the accident that Vince had. She definitely came off like she has an agenda and that agenda has no room for her dear brother. This family angle could give Raw another good meaty storyline, like what we had with Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. And speaking of Jericho I never in a million years thought he would beat Batista and become the WWE champion again. And you know what, as much as I would have loved Batista to remain champ, the only reason why I am okay with the switch is because it was done on Raw and not a pay per view. I think every now and then a main title change on Smackdown, Raw and ECW is a nice change of pace. The cage match was okay, but I think we are starting to get too many of cage matches. This wasn’t one of the best but it was still good. And as I said Jericho’s victory was a shock, but a pleasant shock if that makes sense.
I know I complained quite a bit, but really most of Raw was good and worth watching. We got the start of a possible McMahon feud; we have a new champion facing John Cena at Survivor Series. Randy Orton is back in the ring, and Team Priceless could be a thing of the past. There’s a lot going on and if creative follows through this could really help Raw. I will end with the following. I listened to one of the hotline reports and they say that the reason Jericho won was because they want to save Cena and Batista for WM. And I just read that Super Crazy was released. Well there’s no surprise there because he hasn’t been given anything good for a long time. Okay hopefully I will be back over the weekend with my thoughts on Smackdown. And remember it’s Taker vs. Kozlov for the number one contender for the WWE title.
Email lindarobin3@yahoo.com
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