Forget the lies, the money, and any compelling story-telling – it’s WWE RAW!
Diva Battle Royal: OK - so after all that Micki vs Trish build, we have *Candice* vs Trish at Wrestlemania? I can only hope there's some switcheroo in the near future.
Edge vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan: Edge beats a perennial mid-carder ten years past relevance to send a message to Mick Foley. That message? Invest your money wisely – and consider letting some of those calls from Vince go over to voice mail.
Kane vs Masters: Bah – fast forward.
Show, RVD, HHH: What’s so interesting next to the camera?
Recap of Thursday’s RAW – you know, a good owner would make me try to forget it.
Flair vs Benjamin: You know, when Shelton & Mama were rolling down to ringside, I thought to myself, “That oxygen tank would make a good weapon” – and so it did. Pretty middling match, with some obvious poor timing – witness Shelton looking back to see if Flair’s kicked him out of the ring yet. New champion, and I don’t care.
HBK vs Kenny, Johnny, Mikey, and Nick (the Spirit Squad, less Mitch with the megaphone): Some pretty slick moves from the Squad – makes me wish they had a tag-team division to compete in. DQ by five-man beatdown win for HBK, who is saved by MARTY JANNETTY, of all people.
The “Kiss My Ass Club” returns next week, with Jannetty kissing for a WWE contract. It’s obvious Vince is booking this show for his own pleasure, because he’s certainly not booking it for *my* pleasure.
Triple Threat: RVD’s a bit rusty, Show was the big target, HHH wins the match. No surprises.
Better than Thursday’s show, but that wouldn’t have been too hard.
Steph
I'm going twenty-four hours a day...I can't seem to stop - "Turn Up The Radio", Autograph
Wiener Of The Day - June 10th, 2003 W Of The Day - September 11th, 2004 (add spooky music here)
Candice seems to be a good heel on the mic....Did King say "previously enjoyed companion" in reference to Lita? Great line....The Duggan/Edge match was quite watchable....Boy, Masters fell quickly, didn't he?....Boy, even RVD's pre-taped promo was brutal....Decent Shelton/Flair match, though Flair is relying WAY too much on chops these days....
YES!! MARTY JANNETTY. I'd be happier if I wasn't so sure this will end in a Marty heel turn. As for the match, Spirit Squad showed promise....Sounds like Carlito is hinting toward another "MIB" match. And that was some squash match!....Thank God Vince is bringing back the Kiss My Ass Club. His old wrinkled ass is just what RAW needed....Pretty okay main event. Nothing wrong with it. And Trips/Cena at WM is intriguing.
Trish/Candice is next week, not at WM. They made that announcement later in the show.
Highlight of the show? Marty? No - the Spirit Squad. Went from "lame gimmick" to "HOLY SHIT, these guys rocked!". TRAMPOLINE CLOTHESLINE~! Jeter's (I think that was him) leg lariat thing was pretty sweet, too. Give me more of these guys.
Shelton's win was cool, too. Mama's dance was fantastic.
End of the show was a big buzzkill, though. HHH pinning RVD? Who didn't see that coming?
WWE needs some better referees. I'm pretty sure one of the counts of Shelton's covers on Flair was stopped after Flair had barely got his elbow off the mat, and (chair shot aside) HHH should really have been disqualified for blatantly stopping the ref from doing his job. It was obvious HHH was gonna win, but it could have been in a less stupid way.
Nevertheless i enjoyed the ME, and most of the show. RVD breaking up the near fall after Show got hit with the chair almost made me forget i knew who was ultimately going over.
I missed whatever Carlito was talking about because there was a programme about Anna Kournikova on VH1.
Watching Grunge leg drop New Jack through a press table
Next week - I guess Torrie interferes to help Trish retain.
Figured Eddy for the HOF, although I thought he'd be closer to the end. Billy Graham's not in, is he? He's next.
When Ric lost I thought .. "Maybe they AREN'T having Trips go over and will put them at WM " no such luck. It's time for Shelton to cheat like crazy now.
The Spirit Squad brought Jimmy Hart Megaphone flashbacks.
We know - the Show's a friggin monster and only loses when the whole world is against him. Of course, with RVD's punches, who could go down?
It was ok tonight. I was entertained. enough.
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
Originally posted by AWArulzNext week - I guess Torrie interferes to help Trish retain.
Figured Eddy for the HOF, although I thought he'd be closer to the end. Billy Graham's not in, is he? He's next.
When Ric lost I thought .. "Maybe they AREN'T having Trips go over and will put them at WM " no such luck. It's time for Shelton to cheat like crazy now.
The Spirit Squad brought Jimmy Hart Megaphone flashbacks.
We know - the Show's a friggin monster and only loses when the whole world is against him. Of course, with RVD's punches, who could go down?
Originally posted by MayhemMoney in the Bank 2? Would be nice if this one was an interbrand match.
It sure would. The only guys left from last year's match would be Shelton and Kane, and Kane was not exactly the guy who made last year's match. Carlito, Masterpiece, Van Dam, and ??? is quite the downgrade from Benoit, Jericho, Edge, and Christian. A similar talent switchup led to a greatly diminished Elimination Chamber, so I hope they aren't just going to throw six guys out there and expect them to have a good ladder match. Assuming it'll be another ladder match.
Originally posted by AWArulzNext week - I guess Torrie interferes to help Trish retain.
Ugh! An alternative would be for Mickie to interfere to "help" Trish retain, but "accidentally" cost her the title. I mean, Candice said on the Tonight Show she is fighting for the WWE Women's Championship at Wrestlemania. I know she's an airhead, but I don't see how she can mistake fighting with nothing on the line for fighting for the championship, can she?....nah, surely WWE wouldn't do that. Forget I said anything.
The Bored are already here. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. And no... we won't kill dolphins. But koalas are fair game.
Those Spirit Squad kids have a little game. Who knew (besides OVW loyalists)?
The fast paced work and completely obnoxious gimmick could work and get these guys over. But not all of them. I could see a couple midcard level stars emerge and three as a switcheroo style tag team.
More importantly, Lawler channeling The Rock (it doesn't matter what their names are) is certainly counterproductive. I *want* to know who these guys are; they're showing me something reasonably fresh.
Yay, HHH won. The joy is so immense I can hardly contain myself. I guess if WWE ever wanted to help boost Cena's face status, putting him against a guy who almost no one wants to see at the top again is the best way to do it. But damn.
Glad to see I wasn't the only one who used the Kane/Masters match to exercise my FFWD button. Carlito's cutting a promo while wrestling a match, das cool..
The Spirit Squad won me over tonight, the airtime those guys were getting, and some of the spots they hit were awesome...find the top 2...and give them the tag titles, and maybe, just maybe, you can try to reenergize a nonexistant tag division.
Seeing Style's face after the announcement of Eddie going into the HOF was great, how emotional that package made him, only to be ruined by Vince's announcement that not only does he not get enough TV time, but that we'll be treated to 15 minutes of him next week showing his ass. Hurrah.
HHH/Cena, Edge/Foley, MITB2?, Orton/Angle, and Vince/HBK...they've got some work to do.
I was expecting Trish vs. Mickie at Mania, but Candice is the one getting the Playboy spread so she'll be the one getting the push, a la Christy last year.
Candice's promo is a perfect example of WWE's ass-backwards mentality about crossover promotion. Why is she telling us she was in a Super Bowl commercial? We already know that. If they want to capitalize on her fame, they need the Super Bowl commercials to announce her as "WWE Diva Candice Michelle."
Shelton's Mama really needs to be given a name if people besides Shelton are going to address her. When she pretended to have a heart attack the referee had to call her "Mama" for lack of anything else to call her. I saw a B-movie some time ago with a bit character who was a doctor, and when he introduced himself he had to say "I'm a doctor" where anyone else would have said "I'm Doctor John Doe," and it felt really forced.
The thing that gets me about the Spirit Squad is that you know someone worked really hard on that gimmick. You don't come up with a team of evil male cheerleaders until you've run out of other ideas and have spent days trying to think of something new. The irony is that for all that effort, none of it is necessary because the Squad has the most basic and innate gimmick in wrestling--there are five of them and they gang up on one guy. You could remove the cheerleader gimmick altogether, and tonight's match with Shawn would have worked no better or worse, because it's still Shawn vs. four guys and one cheating from ringside. The only thing the gimmick adds is the absurdity of Vince choosing cheerleaders as hired thugs. Next week it'll probably the Rockers vs. Doink, Dink, Pink, and Wink.
Assuming Money in the Bank II stays within Raw, I'm guessing it'll be Carlito, Shelton, RVD, Masters, and perhaps Kane and Big Show if they aren't defending the tag titles. (Big Show on a ladder doesn't sound promising, but then again it's not as if he'd have to win.) I could see it becoming inter-brand, though, because if Rey doesn't get added back into the main event this would be a good place to put him.
Is it me, or does The Squad come off like a carbon copy of a TNA heel stable? They seem to want to be so off the wall evil that The E wants "smart" fans to cheer for them (see Fig. 1 - Petey Williams.)
Originally posted by Jim SmithShelton's Mama really needs to be given a name if people besides Shelton are going to address her. When she pretended to have a heart attack the referee had to call her "Mama" for lack of anything else to call her.
To paraphrase what my mom used to say when somebody would ask her name, her name is...Mrs. Benjamin.
Steph
I'm going twenty-four hours a day...I can't seem to stop - "Turn Up The Radio", Autograph
Wiener Of The Day - June 10th, 2003 W Of The Day - September 11th, 2004 (add spooky music here)
Originally posted by Brian P. DermodyThose Spirit Squad kids have a little game. Who knew (besides OVW loyalists)?
The fast paced work and completely obnoxious gimmick could work and get these guys over. But not all of them. I could see a couple midcard level stars emerge and three as a switcheroo style tag team.
More importantly, Lawler channeling The Rock (it doesn't matter what their names are) is certainly counterproductive. I *want* to know who these guys are; they're showing me something reasonably fresh.
Completely agreed. Ken Doane & Mike Mondo have been tagging on house shows, so I can see them becoming the main tag team of the group with former OVW Champion Johnny Jeter going semi-solo.
And gang, NEXT WEEK Candice gets her title shot...not at Mania.
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Wow, if I thought last week was my own personal hell, I obviously underestimated WWE's ability to make a bad situation worse. Triple H, Randy Orton and John Cena are three of WrestleMania's four main eventers? Somebody kill me now, please.
And Candice Michelle, whose sole claim to fame is a dance that every able-bodied person in the world can do, gets a shot at the Women's Title?
At least Shelton won the I-C.
TNA is now my favorite wrestling promotion, it's official. Not due entirely to WWE's recent sucktitude, either.
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Originally posted by MayhemMoney in the Bank 2? Would be nice if this one was an interbrand match.
It sure would. The only guys left from last year's match would be Shelton and Kane, and Kane was not exactly the guy who made last year's match. Carlito, Masterpiece, Van Dam, and ??? is quite the downgrade from Benoit, Jericho, Edge, and Christian. A similar talent switchup led to a greatly diminished Elimination Chamber, so I hope they aren't just going to throw six guys out there and expect them to have a good ladder match. Assuming it'll be another ladder match.
If they only use RAW guys I would say:
Money in the bank 2 Carlito vs. Masters vs. Kane vs. Shelton (w/Mama) vs. RVD vs. Flair
I think Flair would be a perfect addition to that Mitb2 match, especially after his great, great tlc match with Edge!
As far as getting a world title shot is concerned I would like to see RVD finally win that one and sucsessfully cash it in later!
Or at least Flair! Imagine that one big, last (?) WM moment for him!
Originally posted by ekedolphinWAnd Candice Michelle, whose sole claim to fame is a dance that every able-bodied person in the world can do, gets a shot at the Women's Title?
I have to disagree. I have tried to do that move several times in the bathroom mirror, and I end up falling over or looking like a yak giving birth.
Originally posted by Brian P. DermodyThose Spirit Squad kids have a little game. Who knew (besides OVW loyalists)?
The fast paced work and completely obnoxious gimmick could work and get these guys over. But not all of them. I could see a couple midcard level stars emerge and three as a switcheroo style tag team.
More importantly, Lawler channeling The Rock (it doesn't matter what their names are) is certainly counterproductive. I *want* to know who these guys are; they're showing me something reasonably fresh.
I'm an OVW loyalist (I buy the tapes every month from ovwrestling.com, and you should too) and I was surprised by how good these guys looked. Actually, "Kenny" Doane looked just OK, which doesn't surprise me as I've yet to be impressed by him. And I knew Johnny Jeter is the next Jericho. But even I was impressed by "Mikey" Mondo (whose "little brother" Gene Snitsky was brough up last year) because he didn't get a lot of chance to show his stuff in OVW.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was impressed by the originality of the gimmick. They could have easily just been evil cheerleaders, but if they're going to incorporate wrestling moves out of cheerleading moves (and I'm waiting for the splash off the top of the pyramid) then this might work.
Dunno how it happened - Raw was actually watchable last night. I know, I can't understand it either.