Second Batch of Feedback To Raw’s 3 Hour Special

Good start. As a big Randy Orton fan, any show with an opening segment that features him and makes sense is a at least a good start.

Seeing the Hardys back together is always a good thing. But honestly, did anyone think they’d lose to the makeshift tag team of THE Brian Kendrick and MVP? Didn’t think so. Maybe next time they do this 3-hour special/big show, they put the Hardys together again, but next time, have’em face DX. Now that would make sense. That’s a possible main event.

The 8-man battle royal was actually not horrible. I loved seeing TedD dominating the way he did towards the end. He looked amazing on his own. He’s got the body type, the mic skills (which will only improve over time), and not to forget the NAME to be a huge star. Ill have more on what I see in his very near future in my Orton match review. As for Regal winning, not a shocker at all. The winner of this match would face Santino for the IC title next week… in ENGLAND.

Stephanie and Shane-o-Mac are in the house. Randy is shown in the ring and here we go. The confrontation that’ll end up answering the question, who means more to Raw: rKo or Mike Adam-ah-lay (Santino’s comedy is the goods)? On second thought, let’s just have Mike come out and resign. And the fans cheer. I don’t know what it is, but I was cheering for Mike to make it. I don’t know if he’s done with the WWE but I would like to see him sticking around, just not as a commentator. His mic work needed a lot of… Work, so I kind of understand why “HE GONE!”. Then Shane reveals Randy has been cleared to wrestle for quite a while…. OK…. Problem, why make Randy look like a pansy here? He’s avoiding fighting? For what reason? Ahhh, here’s an idea, tell us he was medically cleared to fight right after Batista won the belt but he’s worried he can’t beat Batista so he’d rather announce his return maybe after Batista lost the belt? Why do I say this? Ill answer that in my main event review.

Next up… Charlie Haas’ parody segment. Who will he mock this week?… Bret Hart… One of my all-time favorites and this is some one they need to leave be. He wants nothing to do with the WWE I would hope they would do the same.

The next match is DX vs Miz/Morrison. Before the match we had DX do a great job on the mic. Using pictures and videos and even making fun of each other. Very entertaining. As was the match. Was really hoping DX would lose this match because it would be huge for a young, fres, talented team like Miz/Morrison, but of course, DX wins.

16 Diva tag match….. Wow…. I was scared Mae Young was going to die when she fell. Stop. With. That. Crap. The fans aren’t interested and it’s just bad. And I mean a bad, bad. Not a good bad.

The next matchup, CM Punk vs Randy Orton. Punk comes out to what sounded like a silent crowd. This guy just can’t catch a break from these crowds it seems. It’s safe to say if he was running for President, he’d lose Florida (Raw was in Tampa). Good match, Orton looked quicker and more impressive in the ring. I wish they’d add to his move sets and have him get more comfortable with more moves. No more applying the sleeper, that usually slows the match down a lot and the fans just seem to lose interest. The end…. I believe marks the end of Priceless. TedD runs in and beats up Punk. Orton “punts” his head. What did Cody Rhodes and Manu do? Nothing. TedD gets stretchered off, Cody and Manu confront Randy in the back and he tells them if they’re pissed about what happened, to do something about it. They did nothing. I truly believes we saw the beginning of TedD’s singles career. He’ll come back and call out his “partners” for not backing him up. Maybe a Randy Orton/Ted DiBiase fued with Ted as the face? We’ll see. But I have better plans for Randy. See the main event.

JBL vs the Undertaker… Someone explain this to me. I was hoping JBL (and still am hoping) he gets the Raw GM role because he can’t beat a cold right now! No way was UT going to lose and it’s sad how predictable all of these matches have been. The whole HBK thing with JBL, we’ll see where that goes.

Kung Fu Naki skit?…… Holy crap…. Something I’d expect fron TNA. Not the WWE. Very bad. That should’ve been a “dark segment”.

Kane and Mark Henry vs Rey and… Kofi Kingston. Ok, I understand Kofi had to step in for an injured Evan Bourne, but maybe this match was just a bad idea? Heck, the Kane/Rey Mysterio fued is back, period. Love the attempt at a David vs Goliath fued, but why can’t we do it with Rey vs Batista for the World Title? Anywayyy…

Main Event: Batista vs Jericho. Great match. Close calls here and there. I found myself cheering for Jericho. Does anyone else feel that Batista is like a cooler yet less popular Goldberg? Problem is, the more the women in the audience cheer for Batista, the more their husbands/BFs hate him lol. I think he’s a cool guy but I hate when a face gets an ultra push where he seems unbeatable (ie John Cena). Now, I mentioned earlier that Orton shouldve been made out to be avoiding Batista. Why? Now that Jericho will go to Survivor Series and defend against Cena, it’d be sick to see Orton vs Batista (former Evolution members) facing off for the #1 contender’s spot. Better yet, make it a four way, traditional Survivor Series elimination style match between Orton, Batista, HBK, and JBL.

I’d like to see the following matches at Survivor Series…

* Jericho vs Cena – Title Match

* HHH vs Kozlov – Title Match

* Orton vs Batista vs HBK vs JBL – elimination style/# 1 contender’s Match

* Big Show vs Undertaker – Casket Match

* Kingston/Punk vs Miz/Morrison vs Cryme Tyme vs Manu/Cody – elimination style/tag team titles match

And at least 2 traditional survivor series matches.

– Ramon

Des Plaines, IL

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I liked the DX tag match it was real interesting, glad Miz and Morrison lost, it always make it an A+. Loved the opening promo, it was really funny.

About time, Orton came back, though Dibase interfering angered me, though it was good seeing Orton kick him in the head like he deserved.

Adamle resigning shocked me actually, I never really thought he was that bad of a GM, it makes it interesting hunting for a new GM, cant wait to find out who.

I also hate the fact Jericho is champion again. I mean Batista worked hard all year and only gets it for one week? Jericho needs to stop being a crying baby and hope he gets knocked up real soon.

Undertaker vs. JBL I wished it didnt end with the countout, just wish Undertaker got the pin after tombstone.

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First, i was actually pretty entertained th entire time which was surprising because WWE has really been in a rut for a long, long time.

The Hardy vs MVP and The Brian Kendrick match kind of sucked. What’s with that weird ass zig zag beard and face makeup Jeff Hardy has?

i had never seen a Brian Kendrick match before because we don’t get Smackdown in Utah, but if that’s his whole gimmick then i’m really not missing much at all.

It was pretty obvious who was going to win that.

The battle royale was pretty good even though it seemed really short. Santino is pretty funny even though he can get on your nerves sometimes.

Regal winning wasn’t much of a surprise once he was pulled under the ropes by Noble. i did kind of forget about him in th 3 seconds after he was dragged out, so when Dibiase was left in the ring, i at first thought he won. When Regal ran in, it was like “Oh… i expected that”

The whole Orton thing has been really annoying lately. Him saying he’s the top commodity of Raw was laughable seeing as how he hasn’t wreslted in months. And when he did, it’s not like he had that great of matches.

Him being a baby about Adamle was annoying and a waste of a storyline. Adamle beig emotional didn’t help the situation.

i was expecting Orton would be sent to Smackdown, which like i said before, we don’t get Smackdown in Utah. So that wouldn’t have been that much of a loss.

His match with CM Punk had a great ending though.

The Dx match was awesome. Their opening promo was funny and they did a great job. The Miz and Morrison deserve to be mocked. The Miz does look like a horse and Morrison does look gay.

The Miz and John Morrison are horrible and their gimmicks are horrible. They can’t act or shoot a promo and i mute the tv whenever they’re on. It was nice seeing them get their asses kicked.

When Morrison did Sweet Chin and pulled it off, then when The Miz was about to do the pedigree, that was a nice twist. The Miz deserved getting both done on him. He should have never left te Real World Road Rules Challenge.

The whole Haas as a different wrestler every week gimmick has been great for the past few months but it seems worthless that he loses every match. Especially when the matches takes less than 2 minutes each time.

The Diva match. Bleh.

The way the Undertaker match was done made it seemed like he’s the greatest wrestler. He’s seemed a little creaky and unable to pull of what he used to. Maybe it’s a sign he won’t be lasting much longer.

His entrance and exit were longer than the actual match. It was overdone.

i liked the Kung Funaki thing. It had all of the ridiculous gimmicks dancing around in the ring. It seemed a little cheesy but it was all for fun.

Kane and Mark Henry vs. Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston was pretty predictable. Every match with Kane and Mark Henry being together has gotten stale. They win every match and there’s no need to continue putting them together.

Plus the storyline with Mysterio not taking off his mask is stupid. Just Google image search Rey Mysterio without his mask and several pictures will come up.

The steel cage match was great. It had a nice twist ending.

Was there blading though?

Announcing the winner would face Cena wasn’t a surprise. It’s not like Cena deserves a shot just because he got hurt. Plenty of wrestlers get hurt.

Cena sucks anyways.

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last nights raw was horride!(beside the last match) I was very supprised to jericho champ because most the time there is just a rematch cage the “new” champ ends up winnign as his first title defense just to get him over.battle royal was to obverous the whole time you think “were is regal?”In my mind i dont even see the point of giving the belt to tista for that long beside get away from the thats so fake causee when someone wins a title everytime they defend they win(unless its a A ppv) thats about all.

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Well, It started as a strong show. The ‘semi’ feud brewing between the McMahon siblings was a nice touch. Mike Adamle quitting was a disappointment, but he did have very valid points on his decision. I have to admit, a few high fives went around my living room when he had the balls to say what he did to Stephanie. My problem came with the final match of the evening. All the buildup leading up to this last RAW was awesome. Last weeks “slap heard ’round the world” was an EXCELLENT beginning to a feud, only to have it abruptly end this week. You start to wonder if the RAW creative team suffers from ADD… The show as a whole, to me, was the equivalent of an awesome song with the guitarist falling asleep in the middle of the solo. Awesome show with a train wreck of an ending. Pathetic.

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I have to say that last nights Raw 3 hour special was actually entertaining.

It was good to see the Hardy’s wrestle together, although it was a bit of a squash match.

It was good to see Ortan wrestle again. Dibiase getting punted in the head was unexpected.

Could have done without the dance contest.

DX for one night only… again…. however it was really funny….

The Divas match was interesting…

The Batle Royal was good. Santino vs Regal will make for an interesting match….. I like Santino… I think he is funny

Jericho is Champ….. hope he stays that way at Survivor Series against Cena…. Dont dislike Cena… just like Jericho as the champ a bit more.. besides a Jericho vs Orton program would be good to see…

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Chris Jerchio winning the World title again was a shock to me. I thought batista was going to some how win but just goes to show you that WWE could book some surpisng endings. Another great thing about RAW last night Stephiane maybe thinking she owns WWE now. It wil be bery intersting to see what happens in the upcoming weeks.

The great khali going face now will be fun it looks he could be a great face now since he has been getting old as a heel. I dont think Regal will win the IC title at the UK next week. Anyway there was more but it was a good show. I am a reader on Wrestlezone for a little over a year now. Thanks for running a great website.

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Here are a few points that stuck out for me

– Jericho regaining was a shock and although Jericho’s character has become somewhat boring to me, the wrestling business desperately needs more ‘shock value’ to increase its appeal. Also, the fact that everyone expected Batista vs Cena II after Shane’s announcment, will help build the rematch when it actually happens.

– Golddust and friends dancing around the ring was pathetic, diminishes the product and is a painful reminder of the state of wrestling these days

– DX was cool back when they were the counter for the nWo. Their antics were more ‘believable’ when it was perceived that DX could really do anything they wanted because uncle Vince would never fire and hand them over to WCW. One last note on DX, more particularily HHH, his face character is on fumes, he desperately needs to go heel

– Orton looked sharp in the ring and the run is with DiBasi will help build whatever angle is cooking there beit a stable formation or DiBasi vs. Orton fued

– Santino, as usual, provided good comic releif for the show

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I agree that Chris Jericho is a much better World Champion that Batista, but to have Batista beat him at Cyber Sunday, only to lose it back to him last night makes absolutely no sense at all. First of all, if they wanted to put the belt on Batista at CB, then fine, but why not have it be as a result of Shawn Michaels’ causing Jericho to lose? That way, they could continue with by far the best feud they’ve had in years (Jericho/Michaels) while at the same time setting up the re-match between Batista and Cena for the title at Survivor Series. Instead, they start Michaels in some awful feud with JBL, and have Batista beat Jericho clean, only to have him lose a week later. Now we have Jericho vs Cena (a storyline which I’m sure will not be built up, and will end with Cena winning of course, even though he doesn’t even deserve to be in the match in the first place), Michaels vs JBL (a storyline that nobody cares about), and probably Batista vs. Someone Else for the #1 contendership, which Batista will win. It’s a vicious circle of bad writing, which I don’t see ending anytime soon. The only good thing RAW has going right now is the potential (and hopeful) faction of Orton, Dibiase, Rhodes, and Manu. Let’s hope they don’t screw that one up too.

TR

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Simply put RAW was horrible. How can any tag team grow if DX squashes everyone? Batista losing the title was forseen weeks ago. We read on wrestling sites that Dave was crying backstage that he wasnt being respected and blah blah so WWE shut him up and gave him the title like we have seen many times in the past. But they didnt say that Batista had to hold it a long time. The 1st night he had the title he gave it way that he would be losing it as soon as he got it. If you keep up with the dirt sheets you should of saw this. Jericho is more worthy of the title. The Hardy Boys why are they still teaming up? Nothing against them. But we know that Vince doesnt wanna push them as a team yet they keep teaming up. Jeff Hardy gets his own shirt but Matt Hardy has to wear Hardy Boy together shirts? Why? And why the heck did they wrestle Kendrick and MVP? At the very least they should of wrestled Kendrick and Jackson and if you wanted to get a GOOD show if London was able. The WWE should of played up the whole One Night Only The Hardy Boys vs. Kendrick/London. Allow for the match to get cheers and let people get excited about the match. The Hardys can still win but have Jackson to attack London and just when you think Kendrick might help his friend have him join in on the attack. Thus having The Hardy Boys to come back to the ring and scare off Kendrick and Jackson. Would of made a whole lot more sense to me and would of keep London in the loop. I am sick and tired of reading that WWE Writers have nothing for these guys when they matches are there they just dont do it because it doesnt please Vince. And what is the point of Kendrick anyway? He got a few wins his debut on Smackdown but since the scramble he has just been losing and teaming up with MVP which makes no sense. If TNA is shaving the fat then WWE needs to too. A lot of people in the WWE just arent being used at all and Vince knows he can keep them on his payrole and they wont end up in TNA or somewhere where they can actually show the fans what they are really made of. They comedy skit was unneeded. I dont think ECW should merge totally with RAW and Smackdown but I do think that WWE should make more effort to push Smackdown/RAW Wrestlers ON ECW to get more ratings and more enjoyment. I dont mind Comedy. I think Goldust and BoogeyMan should team up and be a weird freaky tag team on ECW and have them do crazy skits where Goldust refers to Boogeyman as BookaMan. I would enjoy that. And Kung Fu Naki which at 2:30 AM WWE.com told us his name was Kung Fuk Naki…he could be worth something even as a joke just let him wrestle. The guy is getting old and he still has more talent than most of the main eventers if not all of them. Three Raw Pointless. I rather watch a Three Hour ECW featuring ONLY the young and new guys of the WWE.

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I felt just as every RAW, there was something lacking. There isn’t as much excitement in the air anymore. There isn’t that… pop that used to get me going. Maybe it’s lack of business, maybe it’s their new direction but, something feels wrong in WWE.

I’m nowhere near saying the action in the ring [When there was action that is.] was solid. Except for the Diva match but hey, they’re just good looking time fillers on WWE programming. Randy Orton VS. CM Punk in my opinion, stole the show. And THAT wasn’t even the type of match these entertainers can put on. Everything felt to condensed and it was a 3 hour show. If you’re going to give me 3 hours, at least make me entertained.

The dancing in the ring for 3 minutes made me reflect on “Spider-Man 3” when Peter just danced down the street… and let me say, that reflection isn’t exactly a positive one. I’ve watched RAW from the beginning and yes, it has ups and downs but, when my son [who they’re aiming for.] isn’t entertained, there’s something wrong.

For the most part though, I’m glad one of the greatest heels in recent memory, Chris Jericho… is champion again. I know Cena will get the strap [yay…. =(] but at least we have 19 more days with Jericho. They need to establish CM Punk in a more useful way and make their younger talent known. They’ve been putting that on the back burner for a while now and we don’t need them to be another WCW which I’m fearing is happening.

M+M should have beaten DX. Don’t get me wrong, I love their “antics” but, you guys are in totally different areas of your careers now. You no longer appeal as much as you did in the past. That era is over. They should have “passed the torch” in a manner of speaking. But, WWE dropped the ball there.

I personally believe TNA just needs to make that jump to Monday night. I think they need to start off at 8pm [Like WCW did.] And I believe they need to replay the shows right after. [Like WCW did.] I know it’ll take advertising space and programming space but hey, WWE will benefit. They need competition. The writers are only as good as the competition. When there really isn’t any, you kind of fall into being complacent.

Hopefully WWE will realise that their fans aren’t idiots and they can trust us and our children with a little more edginess again. I grew up in the “Attitude” era and I think I turned out ok.

Rob.W “Big Sensitive” [NJ]

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The 800th Raw was ok, but could of been much better. There wasn’t much special.

The Hardy’s getting back together for a tag match was nice to see. Was a pretty good match too.

Then they went the Battle Royal. Witch was boring. They had mostly tag teams witch they could of thrown more people in it. As soon as Regal went out under the bottom rope I knew what was going to happen seeing that’s how he got the GM job. I could see them letting Regal take the belt next monday seeing they are in Manchester. Notice Santino didn’t do the meter this week? Then they may let Santino win it back next thursday or friday seeing tey are going to Italy, witch could be a quick way to end the whole honk-a-meter story seeing they probably didn’t know how to end it anyway.

Now we come to Adamle stepping down as Raw GM. Dose anyone else find it funning as soon as Adamle didn’t have the clipboard he starts messing up on the mic and studderning? This is most likely going to have the McMahons taking over and trying to one up each-other witch we will get to more of that a little later.

Kozlov segment is next, call it a segment because what he doses can’t really be called matches. They have people from all 3 shows to put him in the ring with but pick Haas witch was a waste of a whole 3 mins.

Dx is next up and one of the high points of the night. Their comedy skits are a nice change of pace to some of the other segments WWE dose. It was a nice match as a little surprised not to see Kozlov and JBL get involved. Now we have to see what Miz and Morrison say about getting beat. Witch that whole tag team is getting carried by Morrison. I thought they could of ha DX pull some pranks back stage and would of been a better use of time then some of the other stuff they had going on.

Then we go to the Divas match witch is one of the low points of the night. I’m usually up for the divas but this was just a waste of time. First they go and pull Maria witch is one of the most popular divas to put in Mae Young. Don’t get me wrong I respect all she has done. But putting her in this match just shouldn’t of happened. You had Beth, Natalya, Victoria and Jillian all taking falls for those weak shots. It just made the Divas look worse then alot of people already think they are. I think they should of just dropped Mae in little party segment for comedy and not in the match.

CM Punk vs Orton, was an alright match, but could get better from them. The end where Randy punted Ted in the head was something I didn’t expect. Guess we will have to see how this whole stable story line turns out.

Now for The Undertaker vs JBL. I’m a big Taker fan but this match just felt thrown in there just so JBL and Taker could get onto the card. Was once again a little surprised no Big Show. I thought they might remade another Raw moment from one of the first Big Show-Taker feuds and have Big show Chock Slam Taker through the ring again.

Segment between Jericho and Shane where Shane made the “big announcement” that Cena will be wrestling for the title right off an injury. First they give the guy like a 2 to 3 min promo in all 3 shows witch is getting sickening. Now they give him a title shot. How dose he get one? They don’t really give anyone else a shoot after coming back from an injury. But seems that give Cena that. The best thing they could of done is bring him back into a storyline nothing to do with the title. Maybe turn him heel and a year or 2 after being away from the title then give him a shot. If they keep this up the fans will start turning on him again.

They now have a dance party in the ring witch was a fun little spot but didn’t make much sense. Nice little segment but could of done more with it.

Kane & Henry vs Rey & Kofi, not much of a match besides the rey/kane feud seems like just another match thrown in there to get them on the show. Interesting to see the Kahli’s face turn. Guess they are going to give him a run as a face before he has to retire due to his knees.

Now for the Main event, Batista vs Jericho in a steel cage. A pretty good match with the exception that Jericho could of won it about 15 mins before he did when he could of just feel out of the door. I was kind of thinking that they would let Jericho win to set up the title match for Survivor Series. Witch most likely isn’t going to be a one on one match. Anyone else think that Steph is going to be adding Batista to the match? Back about 5 years ago or so it was a new thing for a wrestler to have a rematch clause in their contract but now seems that they say everyone dose. So most likely it will be Jericho vs Cena vs Batista. Witch they will work it into a storyline with that line karma has a way of righting itself. Witch could be going back to Cena being the one to get Jericho “fired”. Then you have the whole thing that Batista being the one to put Cena out of action. Then yo have to story line now with Jericho and Batista so it makes pretty good sense. Witch is probably going to be the start of another Shane vs Steph feud.

Over all a pretty good Raw, but could of been so much better for the 800th show. More big names from the past would of made it better and matches that were not just thrown together.

Steve from Pa

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First off MNR was a good show last night! I think Randy Orton being back on Raw and â<80><9c>entertainingâ<80> US will bring in a good rating boost! He just looks crazy, they need to take him and the other young heel stars and form a faction that completely takes over the raw universe! I Donâ<80><99>t mean back stage attacks and limp bodies being spray painted! I mean excellent tag and singles action with legitimate wins and then public humiliation to show just how sinister they are willing to go. That would be bad ass. They should win all the titles and then destroy them all at once (Since they are meaningless) Basically how DX and NWO first started a mega stable! Raw defiantly needs to bring some of these characters up to the stardom as Austin and the Rock were. Thatâ<80><99>s where you ratings lie.

People just need to recognize that Cena is the whole Fning show, just like in the UFC or any single completion sport, if the champ/Star gets hurt, everyone of them automatically gets a shot at the title. Look at Brock Lesner he is 2 fight into his UFC career and he is 1-1 and already he is fighting the Natural Randy Couture. If you have a stud and he makes you bank, damn right you want him at the top! When you have a arena packed would you rather be hated by half the fans and not hear anything or would you get chills and get pumped if you heard a WHOLE Arena chanting good or bad things! I do think Cena should try the Heel side of lifeâ<80>¦ Maybe with that young gun stable and then at the peak run of the stable, Make that big face turn and just get his ass slaughtered and rise up with some face talent and clash with the stable and destroy each other and as the dust settles, afterwards in a nut shell The McMahons get an opportunity to revamp the championships and make them mean something again. But as fans we get to see a show that has nonstop wrestling and stables that really drive a good broadcast.

Oh BTW Raw was goodâ<80>¦ they better keep up with Orton, because his stock is on the rise!!

Tyler

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I loved the 3 hour special. For one thing, anytime you bring DX back and hand them the mic, i’m happy and everyone is entertained. Adding to the nostalgia of last night was the Hardys putting the band back together again, i see Jeff is getting back into face painting – he looked like a healthier version of the insane clown posy. But what the hell is with MVP, could they shove a character off a taller cliff? He was teetering between mid-card and main event status for a while there, and now, he’s the black Snitsky. The 8 man battle royal was pretty lame besides Dibiase eleminating his partners, which sort of bled over into the ending of the Orton / Punk match, which might really get this stable angle going sooner rather than later, i’m just still not sure if that’s a good thing or not. Of course, Adamle “resigning” as GM is always good, but could this guy be any more verbally challenged; if i may quote a great WWE thinker of the 20th century, DAMMMMMNNNNN! I don’t know how i feel about the HBK / JBL angle, do i really want to see HBK dragged down by JBL’s whale-like waist blubber. I guess the promos will be good, i just hope boring HBK doesn’t kill DX HBK from here on out. Finally, the steel cage match, strictly from a wrestling perspective was pretty awful. I mean, could Batista leave Jericho hanging, literally hanging for any longer. Three or four times he was out of the door or over the cage and had to wait for Batista to grab him beyond anything that can be considered believable. Man Batista is awful, it is a wonder the fans are sill behind him. Overall, the spectacle of the match made up for it enough to make it viable, and of course the age of Jericho can now resume with him facing Cena at SS, which should be fun. Those two can have some sick promos together if they put Cena back on tv before SS.

I’d give this a 9.5 out of 10, besides a few shortcomings like the diva match and the IC battle royal, the show was awesome and i never get enough of looking back at the good old days of Monday Night Raw, here’s to another 800.

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The three hour episode of Monday Night Raw was suprisingly better than I expected.

Some matches admittedly made no sense like Kane and Mark Henry v. Rey and Kofi. But I do have to say that beyond the standard “Monster Heel”, I’m starting to believe Mark Henry. He really looks big and menacing, but like a real bully, insecure, frightened of his own words and unaware of his own strength. Khali…meh. I could take or leave it.

With the evolution of their individual styles, I honestly don’t get so much out of Hardyz matches that I used to. Also if Matt is a top level champion, why did they come out to Jeff’s music as well as play it when Matt picked up the pinfall? Matt has great skills in the ring, but they only seem to want to talk about his heart. He really needs to open up and show what he’s capable of.

Going back to Kofi for just a second, after watching his match as well as Punk v. Orton, I can understand why they put them together, though I think they should have done it before Punk’s first World Title reign. I hope in the next 5 years to see these two putting on WON 5 star matches for a major title.

Punk v. Orton was pretty good for what it was, but I’ve honestly never been a fan of the “Invincible Randy Orton”. I don’t know why. He seems to have it all. I just feel like as tough and mean and nasty as he is, if you were to get one good shot on him in real life, he’d cry like a three year old at Kmart. I honestly would have liked to see Adamle stay and Orton have to peddle himself to SD since he and Triple H have such good chemistry. I like him chasing Trips, the whole “You’re good, but you’re not great yet.” Either way, they’re building the stable…it’s rough, but at least it’s not rushed. It will be Orton, Manu, and Rhodes for a while, then DiBiase will sneak through the crowd and either perform some brutal beatdown, or branch out on his own. I like DiBiase.

The battle royal was to be expected. Too many tag team wrestlers…but I’d love to see Regal as a pseudo face. He’s a great mat technician and with Santino’s judo skills, they could put on a great chain wrestling match in England. I hope it isn’t as lame as Santino’s matches have been.

Lawler seemed genuinely upset by Bret “Hitman” Haas when he muttered under his breath “I’d like to see how he would fair against the real ‘Hitman’…”. I have to admit with Bret’s damaged sense of humor, the impression could have been done better. Especially since both the Hitman and the Haas have such credible amateur backgrounds.

DX was suprisingly funny and not at all shy about showing their age. Morrison is set to be the next HBK. Not because of his lame superkick, but he’s cocky, he’s funny, he’s an amazing performer, and he can work with many styles.

Stephanie collapsed the stage on Vince. We get it. Shane’s really grown up.

The cage match was great booking. For a while I like everyone else assumed Big Dave would retain, not so much because it would have been such a short reign, but because (a) a logical multiple main event opponent for him would be CM Punk since Punk gave him so many shots and Punk is ties up in the Tag Team division (unless of course you wanted to also put the IC title back on Kofi…but that’d be too much too fast) and (b) there was a point where Jericho clearly could have just fallen out of the door, almost did, and for whatever reason very obviously pulled himself in. So they had me fooled. And really, that’s all I want out of wrestling these days…to be suprised and entertained.

7 out of 9 stars.