Most of tonight was The Suck, with a retread of Regal as commish (even if he is good in the role,) nothing too special in the ring and - my god - has Vince SHUT UP YET? His whining, no matter how much he may be trying to spin it as entertainment, is useless boring tripe.
That said, as much as I was dreading The Dating Game, it delivered. Surprisingly so.
- I like Battle Royals more than most people, but Raw has been laying them on rather thick lately.
- I pegged Regal early as the winner then when he disappeared I figured (hoped) maybe the Sandman, but probably Cody would win and hand the GM job over to the Dream. I was okay with the original ending. Not only was The Sandman robbed, we were all robbed as wrestling fans.
- The ability of the WWE guys in the truck to avoid a Snitsky bachne shot is nothing short of amazing.
- I'm sick of Kennedy, there I've said it.
- I also thought the Dating Game was way too long and a waste of time. That's the kind of *bonus* stuff they should put on the website.
- I hope this paternity thing involves David Flair in some way.
You know a sketch is good when you can watch it with a non-wrestling friend, and not only does he not judge, but he laughs as hard as you. The rest of the night we were quoting Santino: "[big smile] I am in pain."
This felt to me like the WWE just hitting the reset button on the "big angle for the summer" after the original one had to be scrapped. The whole retread of the limo ending was almost telling the audience that they were taking a mulligan for the last 2 months.
This is completely fine as they had to go somewhere, and even though the new Vince saga isn't as interesting as the old one they obviously had to run some angle.
The Dating Show segment was (insanely) the best part of the show for me; not sure if they hired new non-wrestling background people on the writing staff but this was the first time in a long time that they tried to do comedy and it worked. And I think it did work because it was done simply, and didn't revert to 11 yr. old humor - you could see the joke down the road but at least the joke was funny and it didn't linger.
One last thing: is Lashley really hurt, or have they decided to keep him out of the picture in an effort to not have their main stars look like they fell into a vat of growth hormone?
Vince mentioning he has issues to deal with in his "immediate family". And now the paternity suit? Can't possibly be.... he's Aurora Rose's "dad"? Setting up a renewed feud with HHH?
I shudder, but didn't they throw around an "incest" angle before?
Originally posted by Me, from a previous threadLet's just say I'll judge it when I see it, see where it falls on what I feel are the potential extremes, good and bad.
Best case scenario: Vince McMahon has all of his Superstars surround the ring while he announces his new and improved Wellness Program, and pledges to make his programming "beyond reproach" in terms of working conditions - 'so we all can go out and put smiles on your faces'. Then he gets off camera until about next WrestleMania. (Even if it was 80% B.S. - by getting out in front of the issue he'd have a great chance of cutting the balls off any congressional hearings.)
Worst case scenario: Mr. McMahon semi-cryptically rants about all the bad publicity, how outsiders are trying to tell his audience what they can and can't see, how the government didn't get him before, and won't get him now. Then he introduces a match between "Nancy Grace" and "Geraldo Rivera".
About what I expected from the chairman, but at least it wasn't too long. Still not sure pulling Congress' punk card is the way to go here, but I suppose Vince has to be Vince.
Other than the McMahon crap and Snitsky, I enjoyed the show. They totally got me with the battle royal, I was grumbling that Regal got eliminated during the commercial, and they didn't even mention it. I was hoping they would resist the urge to do the "Evil GM" shtick for the 837th time, but Regal will wring as much goodness out of the dreck he's handed as anyone since Bischoff.
That was another Lilian moment, was it not? "Where the winner will crown the loser on Raw next week" In that vein, nice of JR to mention his trouble telling Beth and Jillian apart.
Who knew Ron Simmons knew other words? They've opened up a whole second dimension to his character. I'll be disappointed if we don't get clips of his date with Maria in New York next week, with Santino trying to spoil things. Best game on Raw since musical chairs.
Cena's Cabana was even fun, although I'm wondering if he's going to take an overdue vacation after SummerSlam, courtesy of an Orton punt. No one's going to buy Orton winning a second time with the rematch clause anyhow. That would also clear the way for H, who I suspect will end up clearing house during the climax of the Booker/Lawler feud at SummerSlam.
(Far as I've heard, Lashley is legit injured, and the Kennedy match was to explain his absence. Jeff is away on a Wellness Program suspension.)
Who were the two grinning fools at the end of Raw. They looked like a tag team. I haven't seen a Raw since the three hour Raw after the Benoit unpleasantness.
The way they just kept grinning at Vince and it was awesome.
Originally posted by ZeruelWho were the two grinning fools at the end of Raw. They looked like a tag team. I haven't seen a Raw since the three hour Raw after the Benoit unpleasantness.
The way they just kept grinning at Vince and it was awesome.
You mean London and Kendrick? I think that was an acknowledgment of the fact that last time around, London was the only one obviously smiling right before Vince got into the limo last time.
The fact that someone felt the need to turn Umaga face shows that no one has any idea what to do with him anymore. In retrospect, that feud with Cena REALLY hurt Umaga more than anyone thought. If Umaga came away with the title, he could have kept the monster mystique and had babyface challengers lining up to step into the underdog challenger role. Losing to Cena two PPV's in a row took that monster mystique away and Umaga hasn't been the same since. It's a real shame, because Umaga the babyface will bore me fast.
Speaking of Cena, I'm sick to death of his promos. It's not his fault, either. Cena's good on the mic. If he wasn't, he never would have gotten so over in the first place. But like Justin's noted in the past, the decline has come ever since the wannabe-sitcom writers started scripting all of Cena's promos. Seriously, it's becoming embarrassing to watch the writers try to turn Cena into the second coming of The Rock. His banter with Carlito tonight was unbearable to watch. John Cena did not get over with cute one-liners and lame dick jokes. Let Cena be himself, for God's sake. It's what got him over to begin with.
I realize that Commissioner Regal Redux isn't the most original of ideas, but can anyone else think of any other realistic way to get Regal back on TV? A feud with Santino wasn't going to do it, because they're not-so-subtly turning him heel. I'll take Regal any way I can get him, even if it means turning back the clock and going back to a previous idea.
And since no else has said it yet, I guess I'll say it. Why is the solution to low ratings always "Add more McMahons?"
(edited by It's False on 7.8.07 0231)
The Wisdom of Homsar: AaAaAaAaAaAaA! Caramel corn for president, please!
I thought Vince making fun of his congressional investigation was interesting. I can't wait to see Vince when he is on Capitol Hill. The dating game was funny and glad Ron won. Hopefully the new storylines work without another wrestler screwing it up.
Every time Vince was on the screen, I was like Santino: "I am in lots of pain." And it looks like the McMahons will be bringing the pain for a long time.
As happy as I am that William Regal is GM, I'm not as pleased as I should be because for a split second, I thought we were getting Sandman as GM. TTHAT would have been a move out of the box! What a shame we got denied a bleeding drunk with a kendo stick making matches and policy. Sandman was the ballsier choice. But then, Sandman wouldn't have booked a dating game on the show.
Santino is the funniest man in the entire company. Everything he says is instantly quotable. To think people were bemoaning his being on RAW at all -- they just needed some time to figure him out. And he wouldn't be as great as he is now if he couldn't claim he was "Intercontinental Champiogne!" From now on, I'm calling everyone a "crepe!" You are a crepe!
I wonder if the newly face-turned, Umanga (sic) will lose most of his dominance now, as heels who turn face often do. What's the betting he suddenly start speaking English !
Maybe Regal will learn to pronounce his name for next week !
The mystery offspring of Vince is obviously going to be Kennedy, since he was rumored to be booked as being behind the limo explosion. However, I'd do the LOL for hours on end if they brought out Paul Heyman-McMahon to bug the hell out of Vince every week.
In retrospect, that feud with Cena REALLY hurt Umaga more than anyone thought. If Umaga came away with the title, he could have kept the monster mystique and had babyface challengers lining up to step into the underdog challenger role. Losing to Cena two PPV's in a row took that monster mystique away and Umaga hasn't been the same since.
Really? Look at the 2 PPV matches - Cena escaped the 1st by the skin of his teeth w/ a roll-up, and won the 2nd only after choking out Umaga w/ the ring rope. It's not like it was "FU, 1-2-3, see ya later!" Umaga came away from the Cena feud pretty strong, IMO. It's the follow up deal w/ Lashley/Vince that messed up Umaga.
Previously unknown McMahons? That promises to be hilariously awful. Maybe they can just keep pumping out more and more McMahons, until we wind up with a Spirit Squad-like stable of them. Dating Game was a weird bit for them to do, but it totally worked. Santino's terrible Italian pseudo-accent is getting funnier every week. Seeing London and Kendrick again just made me sad and angry that they took them off Smackdown. That team was one of Smackdown's tentpoles, and they took it away for no reason. They were putting on twenty minute matches every Friday, but they're lucky to get three or four minutes on Raw.
I liked Sheffield back in the Nexus/NXT days so I was already sold on Ryback but man....that stacked finisher was just superb. That's the kind of thing that gets people's attention and turns the mocking Goldberg chants into legit Ryback chants.