A Few Raw Thoughts
In the few minutes of downtime I have, let me chime in on some of what I saw on Raw last night:
. Opening the show with the cage man again smelled of WWE higher-ups not having the confidence in C.M. Punk to entrust him with a true main event. Nonetheless, it was a hot way to kick off the show, and I quite enjoyed the match. Punk looked valiant and tough, and Jericho looked like the cowardly heel, holding on to the world title by the skin of his teeth. If Unforgiven didn't prove it, the Punk world title experiment is now most definitely over for the foreseeable future. I'm OK with that. Jericho's a hell of a world champion, and Punk has a good feud waiting for him with Randy Orton.
. When administered properly, the Clothesline from Hell is everything a wrestling finisher should be – sudden, simple, believable and the most devastating-looking move in a particular wrestler’s arsenal. It is the anti-People’s Elbow.
. I didn't much care for babyface Batista questioning Randy Orton's manhood because he's taking time to heel his injury. I know he was likely working off a script, but that's the real-life mentality that leads to steroid and pain killer abuse, and wrestlers rushing back to the ring before they're ready.
. Santino Marella is so much funnier than anything else on all of wrestling. When the day comes that he hangs up the tights, I hope WWE puts him in charge of all comedy writing.
. I'm all for giving Charlie Haas something to do, but his weekly-impersonation gimmick is pretty weak, and at the very least, requires a bit of a back story. What's more, after all the hell that WCW got for Ed Ferrara's ill-conceived "Oklahoma" gimmick, I was surprised they'd send Haas out there to do almost the same act.
. Kudos to WWE for plugging the Red Cross' efforts in helping the victims of Hurricane Ike.
. I'm excited to see WWE elevating Evan Bourne into a high-profile program involving Rey Mysterio and Kane on Raw. Fans can sometimes be very critical of WWE for having its big wrestlers squash its little ones. But the reality is, there really does have to be explanation for how a wrestler half Kane's size could even the odds against him. The visual of Bourne and Mysterio teaming up to dismantle Kane with their lightning fast offense was pretty neat and effective.
. I'm intrigued to see what WWE will do with newcomer Dolph Zigler - the former Nick Nemeth, who has actually been kicking around WWE for four years now. I like the steady stream of new talent WWE has been calling up from developmentals, and Zigler seems to have the confidence and look that WWE writers could get behind. I saw him headline an FCW show in Florida back in April, and he got great heel heat from the small crowd.
. WWE keeps finding ways to make even their off-brand pay per views must-see TV. I am beyond psyched at the prospect of a Chris Jericho-Shawn Michaels ladder match for the world heavyweight title. That said, it shouldn't have taken a world title to earn these two a main event spot on a pay per view - as their feud is the best thing WWE has seen in ages. Just a few months ago, many fans - including myself - were complaining about WWE stretching the same old feuds over too many pay per views (Triple H - Orton, Undertaker - Edge) but even in its seventh month, I don't hear anyone asking for Jericho and Michaels to rap it up.
Overall, a pretty strong Raw last night.
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Comments (26)
I would love to see Santino point out that historically in the rankings, the IC Champ has been the number 1 contender to the heavyweight title & demand that he gets in the match with Batista and JBL.
I don't want Santino to win, but I think making that a triple threat match would make it a lot more interesting.
I'm in the 1% that may not be looking forward to any more HBK/Y2J. After the less that satisfying Unsanctioned PG-Match, I was left very disappointed. And no, a bloody nose is not nearly enough.
I had the same feeling regarding the Orton/Batista segment. Poor Randy.
I hope he turns out to be a sort of character who isn't a heel, isn't a face, but somewhere in between. It's awesome to see him get on Dibiase & Rhodes,on Santino, and not be friendly to Cena or Batista.
Ed Ferrara's Oklahoma gimmick featured a portrayal of Jim Ross's Bell's Palsy affliction, and I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten nearly as much flack if it weren't for that. Charlie Haas' gimmick last night wasn't offensive at all and should not be compared to what Ferrara pulled.
Raw scored a dismal 2.6!
I actually thought Raw was a train wreck. If not for the Santino/Phoenix/Orton/JBL/Batista confrontation it would have been a complete waist.
They put the World Title match at the start of the show almost guaranteeing that CM Punk wouldn't win. The women's match between Candice and Jillian Hall was terrible. Not so much Jillian but Candice seems to have not shaken the ring rust yet.
I do like the slow build for the 3rd Generation Stable.
Kane vs. Mysterio should have been saved for PPV but the ending sets that up.
Other than that I can't say I was much impressed by what the WWE gave us on Monday. I think the 2.6 is well deserved.
Two things
1. I agree with a previous poster that the Jim Ross impersonation was funny and not even in the slightest bit in bad light. It sure in hell was no "Vince in the ER" style segment.
2. I know this probably doesnt even belong here but I was watching the Royal Rumble 92 on WWE onDemand this month and the voice over with mean gene and the music is simply horrible. I need a Region 2 DVD quick. Thank God for Youtube so I can still hear the old music.
This is quite off topic but I was wondering if Seth knew any info. on why it seems Randy Savage has been blackballed from the currecnt WWE, ie Hall of Fame and his DVD that Vince pulled the plug on.
I thought Raw was okay. I agree with a lot your points in the article (especially the clothesline from hell and the people's elbow point). However, I don't agree with Charlie Haas thing. The JR impersonation wasn't as over as CHL. But I thought CHL was hilarious. Anyway, I don't know why Haas didn't sign with TNA, he has too much talent to be treated like he is.
And to the previous post's comment, why is Randy Savage in such hot water with Vince? I mean he did nothing for the WWE but win their World title at 2 WM's, carry Hogan to one of his best matches at WM 5 and the Warrior at WM 7, have a hot feud with Jake Roberts and Ric Flair, oh and let's not forget his WM 3 bout with Ricky Steamboat. Savage is in my top five greatest ever and he should be honored better than this.
I may be able to shed some light on the Savage deal. It's pretty well known in wrestling circles that Savage's persona non grata status in WWE has something to do with something inappropriate that Savage allegedly did with Stephanie. No kidding.
Alfonso, what about the "RKO" chants for Orton?
I am a huge Orton fan, and I know he's the heel... but the WWE better watch out.... if you keep having Orton run down the other heels on the roster, the ever growing amount of fans such as myself are gonna get him over as a face...
Responding to Brian, I'd like to see Orton be an entity unto himself, similar to Undertaker: not good, not bad, but for his own self interest. Austin was similar to that but the fans took to him. He didn't hesitate to give the Stunner to Cena or Orton, Vince or Linda. I think it would be an asset to have him go hugely over in that way.
Oh yea!!!! I took it from Stephy! She snapped into my slim jim!!!!!
Seeing that Savage is over 20 years her senior I could understand Vince's beef. However, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black. I mean we all know Vince isn't just messing with 20 something year old girls on camera.
I found it interesting the the biggest pop of the whole night was the promo where Kane is slowly shown wearing his mask. Hmm.
I hate to make this thread diverge any more, but isn't the whole Savage/Steph thing a legend? Is there any actual, factual basis to believe that? Savage left WWE in 1994, when Steph was just 18.
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