Raw Musings: Life After WrestleMania
First off, I'd like to apologize for being a bit slow going with the blog postings. I was out of town for a few days with sparse opportunities to blog. And truth be told, after last week's send off on Raw for Ric Flair, anything I would add would be anticlimactic.
But with WrestleMania clearly in our rear view mirror, it's time to focus on all other things wrestling. And luckily for us, WWE has kept things interesting even after the company's annual creative peak.
Here's some of what I like:
Shawn Michaels vs. Batista
Like with all great screen couples, it's hard to define chemistry, but you know when it's there. From the moment these two eyed each other down at last week's Raw, you got feeling this could be something special. That was proven on tonight's Raw during the fantastic Highlight Reel segment between Batista and Shawn Michaels.
I'm not sure who deserves most of the credit - Shawn Michaels or the WWE writers - but HBK's recent mic work, going back to the hype for his match with Ric Flair, has been among the best of his career. His exchange with Batista tonight was intense and dramatic and built on a foundation of real emotions. The storyline of Michaels having "blood on his hands" for ending the career of the greatest wrestler in history, and Batista's resentment of Michaels for doing so is compelling and original. I've got a feeling their chemistry will be just as good in the ring when they wrestle at Backlash.
Triple H - Cena - Orton Feud Continued
I'm a big fan of JBL's work, especially on the microphone, but I could do without him in this already established feud. He seems like the odd man out, and his work in the ring since his return in December is not worthy of a main event run. I'd rather see this spot go to Chris Jericho or even Matt Hardy. Better year, leave it among Triple H, Cena and Orton. Their issue was far from settled at WrestleMania. In fact, without being sandwiched between the spotlight-stealing Flair-Michaels and Mayweather-Big Show matches, this match could have a lot more heat than the first time around.
Edge/Chavo vs. Undertaker/Kane
This is a clever way to utilize the top feuds in WWE's B and C brands. Edge and Chavo have their connection through Vickie Guerrero, while the two men who beat them for their respective titles at WrestleMania - The Brothers of Destruction - have one of the most storied histories of any two wrestlers in WWE. This could be a lot of fun.
Matt Hardy
I can attest to the fact that Matt Hardy's pop when he ran into the ring during the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania was one of the loudest of the night - as was the crowd's reaction last night when he ran in and attacked Randy Orton on Raw. Maybe Jeff Hardy's loss is Matt's gain. Fans are hot to see WWE go all the way with one of the Hardy boys, and the time may be right for Version 1.
C.M. Punk
I'm not sure what it will mean for him, but we all know the track record of former Money in the Bank Winners. Similar to the old King of the Ring crown, the honor is usually awarded to somebody that WWE brass sees as a main event level competitor in the near future. Maybe in 2008 Punk will swim in a bigger pool than that of ECW
E-mail
Facebook
Digg
Delicious
Comments (20)
Did anyone else notice that Punk only gets the duke when someone gets nicked on the Wellness Policy? First Morrison and now Hardy. He's the WWE's straight-edge fire extinguisher: whenever someone gets suspended, WWE breaks the glass and put out the flames by saying "this guy is clean, and we're pushing him!" If you don't believe me, recall that in Punk's first ECW title match he was supposed to face Benoit. When Benoit didn't make the PPV Punk was instead beaten by Morrison, a guy who wasn't in the match to begin with. Morrison wasn't booked to win; Punk was booked to lose. If you think this is the start of a big push for Punk, recall that he's made it's clear he's challenging for the ECW title, which is only a step above challenging for the tinfoil belt my brother and I made when I was 8.
It should also be said that the winner of the MITB matches have lost significant time in the ring as well (for various reasons) during the year they won, if I remember correctly...
Any comments?
Have you been watching the same Raws I've been? When Batista eyed HBK last week wearing he biker outfit from the Village People (sans mustache) I though Batista wanted to bang Shawn Michaels, not fight him. The Highlight Reel yesterday blew. The acting was bad, even for wrestling. The only part that even made me perk up my ears was the part where HBK said Flair didn't think Batista could get the job done. Past that, all I heard was "Blah blah blah recap incase you haven't been seen the package we replayed one all 3 shows last week, not to mention right before the commercial break." We get it, HBK's conflicted and Batista's pissed off. It's not a feud I'd particularly like to see. Of course I've never been a big fan of Batista. Although I've never been a big fan of two guys in their 40s going at it. I got enough of that in WCW.
At least you admit your biased and your opinion really has no credabilty!
At least you admit your biased and your opinion really has no credabilty!
At least you admit your biased and your opinion really has no credabilty!
And the guy who can't figure out how to not triple post has more credibility? Doesn't my admission of bias give me more credibility because I'm honest? The Highlight Real was so devoid of emotion that me and my roommate passed the time by debating who was dressed gayer, Jericho with his purple shirt unbuttoned to his bellybutton, Batista with his painted on tank top, or HBK wearing a sport coat with a cowboy hat like he was some rich oil tycoon.
It was totally devoid of real emotion because Batista isn't really mad at HBK for ending Flair's career. So Batista's anger is fake. HBK's not really sad he was the one who ended Flair's career because it was going to happen anyways. The only real emotion involved in this entire angle is the fact that we're all kind of sad Flair's gone. Some freaking foundation of real emotion. I'm usually able to overlook the fact that it's all a work, but that "Do you think HBK did the right thing?" poll was downright insulting,.
Don't even get me started on how stupid it is to even consider JBL a title contender when he jobbed cleanly to Jericho 2 months ago on Raw. Inserting JBL into the Mania rematch is basically saying "Orton's going to retain but there's no way in hell Cena's jobbing at freaking Backlash. So he's going to go over on JBL instead, he was champion for a year, remember that? No? Oh, well then let's have him remind you during every promo he gives." Somebody needs to send Tits McGee back to the announce table where he belongs.
I miss this blog. I wish Seth and Alfonso would bring it back...
Raw was OK on Monday. Batista-Michaels is something different. I'd rather see Triple H-Cena and Orton-JBL the throwing them all into one match.
I don't know how much lomger I can watch Cena and Orton. I think the worst thing I can say about them is that they are boring. WWE needs to bring in some new talent. I am getting the early 90's feeling about thier product. Big Daddy V, Duece and Domino, CM Punk, Miz and Morrison, Kali, and Orton? What a horrible line-up! Do they really believe people would even care if any of these guys disappeared?
Can anyone suggest some other good wrestling websites like this one that don't have any pop-ups or spam etc.?
Yeah, go to Google and type in Mozilla Firefox. Nary a popup to be found.
A great wrestling forum is found on Nightly.net. Click forums at the top and then scroll down to "The Arena"
A great wrestling forum is found on Nightly.net. Click forums at the top and then scroll down to "The Arena"
there is the professional world of warcraft power leveling here. welcome.
there is the professional world of warcraft power leveling here. welcome.
there is the professional world of warcraft power leveling here. welcome.
There is the professional world of warcraft power leveling here. welcome to buy our
wow power leveling or wow powerleveling.
don't worry about any wow account and wow accounts problem.
because we are the professional wow powerleveling, wow power leveling
and world of warcraft power leveling service.
also welcome to buy world of warcraft power leveling, wow power
leveling and wow powerleveling
There is the professional world of warcraft power leveling here. welcome to buy our
wow power leveling or wow powerleveling.
don't worry about any wow account and wow accounts problem.
because we are the professional wow powerleveling, wow power leveling
and world of warcraft power leveling service.
also welcome to buy world of warcraft power leveling, wow power
leveling and wow powerleveling
There is the professional world of warcraft power leveling here. welcome to buy our
wow power leveling or wow powerleveling.
don't worry about any wow account and wow accounts problem.
because we are the professional wow powerleveling, wow power leveling
and world of warcraft power leveling service.
also welcome to buy world of warcraft power leveling, wow power
leveling and wow powerleveling