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The lights went out! Hey, that’s nothing. Remember, TNA had a cable fire during a PPV event!
I’d rather sit in the dark than watch that air-and-water woman Candice wrestle, and fortunately, I didn’t have to, since she deservedly got speared! But with Cena’s run-in, I pray we don’t see a mixed tag match next week. Candice doesn’t belong in a ring. Heck, she doesn’t belong in this industry! As for the promo afterwards, it dragged on too long, and Cena’s sexual humor didn’t help any.
The only reason for Nitro vs. Kane was to elevate the Kane/Umaga feud, which I don’t have much of a problem with. But why involve the Intercontinental Champion? Shouldn’t Nitro be worried about all those challengers he had last week? By the way, that would be a good thing for Cyber Sunday, having the fans choose Nitro’s challenger.
The best thing about the backstage segment was Maria’s quirkiness. DX is getting more and more stale, and why does Eugene still have that idiotic, no longer funny gimmick?
Andre vs. Gorilla in a boxing match in 1977. Gee, that had classic written all over it, didn’t it?
Nice to see Coach playing both sides of the coin, as he played face to Shelton and Edge. I hope Coach knocked some sense into Shelton about racial discrimination. If he think he’s being held back because he’s black, he’s the only one. By the way, does Torrie now have TWO little dogs? That’s good news only to Lawler.
The Flair vs. Spirit Squad feud. Next!
Didn’t watch much of the Gauntlet match, but it looks as if Cade and Murdoch are getting a pretty good push!
Cryme Tyme robs an ATM user. Next!
Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton was the first decent match of the night. But that’s saying a lot, considering it’s 10:25.
I was so bummed out by the time that the Orton/Masters vs. Crazy/Carlito match happened, time just slowed down.
Eric Bischoff comes out and all he gets to do is plug the new book. I’d read it. Wish E would’ve been given more time, though.
Raw was a real letdown this week. By the time the main event happened and King Booker and his cronies arrived. I just lost interest in the rest of the show. That made for a long two hours.
Overall Grade: D-
Ken Kibby
Benicia, CA
**********
This week's Raw was disappointing. After building up the beginning of the show with the "Don't miss the first 10 minutes of Raw" hype, there was a huge letdown when the women's match was announced. I don't know if the black out led to changes in the opening, but I find it hard to believe that this was supposed to be the can't miss segment the WWE was hyping. The wrestling matches on this show, with the exception of Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin, were underwhelming. For the most part, the matches were throwaways.
The Intercontinental championship match was simply there to further the Kane/Umaga feud. Obviously it is important to build feuds, but it shouldn't be done at the expense of championship matches. DX running the gauntlet was just more of the same -- DX squashing the tag team division. The Raw tag team division is impossible to take seriously. The Highlanders have been booked as an inept comic team, the team of Viscera and Charlie Haas doesn't make much sense, and Cade and Murdoch could have potential if they aren't perpetually sacrificed to DX like the other tag teams. The tag team champions -- the Spirit Squad -- lost every bit of heat and momentum in their feud with DX, so the tag team division is in serious need of some revitalization at this point.
Speaking of the Spirit Squad, while I agree that Ric Flair is being misused in his current role, it does make some sense to have the members of the Squad compete in singles matches. It differentiates them a bit from each other, and it looks like ultimately Flair will face Nicky, who figures to be the break out singles star whenever the Squad is broken up. Jeff Hardy and Shelton Benjamin put on the best match of the night. I am not sure if Shelton "playing the race card" will work in the long run, but the exchange between Benjamin and Jonathan Coachman was interesting. Their reactions when Hardy showed up were funny as well. Even though Hardy's promos have been kept short -- which is probably the best thing to do -- they have been entertaining and effective.
The tag match with Carlito and Super Crazy facing Randy Orton and Chris Masters was okay, but nothing special. Orton and Masters are both poor workers, so they should probably not be paired up.
Despite the teases on WWE.com, Eric Bischoff was apparently just there to plug his book. But his microphone being cut indicates that he may be involved in an angle in the coming weeks. This was one of the better segments of the night. The Edge and John Cena feud has consistently been the best part of Raw over the last few weeks, and tonight was no different. Cena's promo was solid, and while I don't care for the sophomoric jokes directed at Lita, it helped get Cena over with the crowd. It was probably a mistake to have Lita be the one to respond to Cena as she is certainly not as good as Cena or Edge at cutting promos, but the purpose was just to set up the "match" later in the night. The "main event" was just a throwaway to allow the SmackDown guys to attack Cena. While it was pretty obvious that there would be a run-in, it made sense to promote the SmackDown main event. Booker, Finlay, and Regal worked on Cena's arm, so hopefully they use that in the 6-man match on SmackDown.
I expected with the competition from Monday Night Football that the WWE might try to improve the show. This week's episode seemed very missable, so I wouldn't surprised if a lot of viewers chose to watch the Saints' homecoming to New Orleans instead. The cage match for next week's show could be very good and the WWE Homecoming should be interesting, so hopefully the improvements may be coming soon.
Jamie
Kentucky
***********
"Don't miss the first ten minutes." ... I wish I did. Great production quality from the #1 wrestling company. We're treated to another 20 minute promo that we've heard for the past half year. Cena/Edge is stale. Oh great, Cena vs. Lita, what a shake up.
Then we're treated to the typical matches containing Hardy, Benjamin, Carlito, Masters, Orton. Another disqualification between Kane/Umaga, who would've guessed? This PPV is going to be a complete repeat of last months.
Next up, DX. They're running the gauntlet, if you want to call it that. The Highlanders, Viscera/Haas, and Murdoch/Cade are hardly a gauntlet.
Eric Bischoff, GM again? How many times do we want to do this?
Lastly, your main event lasted 2 minutes and we're treated to a beatdown from the WWE - B Team. Face it, Raw is the same thing week to week. Hopefully this Angle to TNA will make them shake things up, but as of now it looks like WWE is going to continue to shove the same boring thing's down our throat. I'm not watching next week, I'm total TNA now.
Brian
New Jersey
**********
"You can't miss the first ten minutes, but you sure as hell can miss the last ten!"
THAT should be how WWE promoted Raw tonight. What a stinker of a show. I'm sorry, but I find NOTHING entertaining about Booker and his court. It's a crappy, lame stable that needs to go the way of the ghost. Add a less than popular Cena to the mix and you have exactly what we got; a quiet crowd to close out Raw. Edge was laughing at ringside, but he was actually probably laughing to himself thinking, "God this sucks, at least I can get the people to cheer him and boo me."
I must have missed the bus here, but why have it up on WWE.COM asking why in the world Easy-E was there, and then never really deliver an answer......oh well, WWE seems to getting taken to the cleaners when it comes to surprise storylines lately. I wonder if John Laurinatis is still in the back looking for Kurt?
-Wayne Effingham, IL
