Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Jeff Hardy wins the IC belt. This one actually surprised me. They don't do title changes on a non PPV all that often. Apparently Jeff has proved himself to Vince. Now all he has to do is not screw it up.
Maria interviews Jeff Hardy until Melina shows up and screams and screams and then screams some more. She's got a great set of.......lungs. Yeah, that's right. Lungs. And why didn't Nitro attack Jeff during the interview??
Umaga & Snitsky has all the intensity and intrigue as...... Umaga and Kane. Next week Umaga vs Kane in a loser leaves Raw match. Seriously?? I think Kane is going to Smackdown.
Orton vs Carlito. Orton wins by cheating. Big shocker.
Sgt Slaughter vs nameless Spirit Squad member. All members of the Fabulous Five are dressed in womens outfits, complete with gratuitous viewing of underwear - and skid marks. Slaughter wins.
Victoria loses to Mickie James in a round 1 match to determine the new women's champ. I stand by my belief that since Lita & Mickie are the only women currently involved in a storyline (sort of), that they'll be the last 2 standing. My vote is for Mickie to take the belt.
Edge vs Cena in a cage for the title. Big friggin waste of time. You can mention the match 500 times throughout Raw, you can jam the life history of Cena/Edge down our throats via flashbacks at every possible moment, but they were NOT going to take the belt off Cena after only 2 weeks.
**********
This show had it all for me. Except for that goofy laugh DX did, I thought all the DX stuff was gold. I love HHH and Shawn's banter and when allowed to be themselves, can be really funny. That's why the laugh was so dumb because you knew some guy told them to do that.
For wrestling Nitro and Hardy had a great match. I was definitely surprised to see Nitro loose the belt because lets face it, the kid is great in the ring but without the belt or Melina, who really cares about him. I would like to see a program between these two and maybe throw in Shelton Benjamin.
Edge and Cena's cage match made me remember why cages matches are special. I felt like I was watching Raw during its golden era (either late 80's or late 90's). Even though I knew Cena was going to win (which makes you wonder why they gave a PPV quality match away for free) but that didn't take too much away from the match. I liked Shawn superkicking Murdoch into the cage into edge's face. It came off little too scripted but was still good.
Overall, I really enjoyed watching Raw last night. Now if we can get Impact this week to be good, then that will be 3 good shows in a row (Impact, I don't really watch Smackdown except for Finlay and the UT, Raw, and this week's Impact)
Matt
Orange, CA
***********
DX is so horrifically stupid I can't even deal. HHH and Michaels are both gods inside the ring, but masters of comic timing they ARE NOT. They have never been able to make a joke really work on camera, and seem to be getting worse at it, not better. It's like watching a middle school talent show every time they do a skit. Jeff Hardy can't talk and even he has better comic timing than DX. The "No More Jackass" chants need to come to WWE.
Melina on the other hand, is hilarious. As for the matches, Hardy/Nitro was terrific, as was Orton/Carlito. Somebody should hand Raw to them and let them run with it.
***********
Raw was great and terrible for me. It started bad with the DX repeat. If it weren't for the cage to open the show, I really thought they were airing a repeat. DX coming out, shushing the crowd, dedicating their nonsensical catch phrase to Vince, it was word-for-word from I think two weeks ago.
But this led to a great IC title match. I was surprised to see the title change and the forced interview afterward at least attempted to continue elevating the title. But it's the work of guys like Nitro and Hardy (and Shelton and Carlito) that is actually elevating that title.
But then it turned bad again as DX destroyed the tag division. Of course, the Spirit Squad avoided the destruction... oh wait, no, they had to dress up like women. I don't know how Vince can book the squashing of an entire division and think that's a good idea, but he enjoys it so much he did it two weeks in a row.
But then it was pretty entertaining with the Coach Wild West bit, although I didn't like Shawn or Hunter's roles. Coach was pretty comical along with the western music. I popped for tumble weed, but someone off screen should have blown it off with a fan.
Unfortunately, I missed the main event. The rivoting Sgt. Slaughter vs. Nicky match put me to sleep.
**********
Way to BURY almost your ENTIRE Raw roster in 2 hours ! And they wonder why their ratings are down....Why not make Dx their 4th brand ? I was hoping for improvement from last week, but that didn't happen....Sure the Cage match was ok, but ruined by DX (AGAIN)....And a loser leaves Raw match? Hope Kane enjoys his time at Smackdown where he'll amount to nothing....
Really Really Really a POINTLESS Raw show this week !!
- Glenn, Norway -
************
I am an old school fan. I started watching wrestling in 1981 when my dad woke me watch a match with Andre the Giant facing 3 guys at once. I love watching the actual wrestling. Let's just say there is not much of that on Raw lately but I did enjoy Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy and Carlito vs. Randy Orton. I can also appreciate there being an actual female wrestling match. It wasn't the greatest but I'll take it. I hated the "DX told me it's a lingerie match" aspect but whatever...
I absolutely hated the DX segment with the Spirit Squad. The stupid cheerleader costumes were ridiculous and not funny. How would you feel if you were a sponsor and your sponsorship was put on right after showing a guys skid marks????
I DO NOT want to see DX vs NWO!!!!
Dan Sheldon Erie PA
************
Raw was much better this week! I thought the match between Hardy and Nitro was good, but, why does Jeff seem unable to deliver on the twist of fate? I'm tired of seeing Carlito jobbing to Orton. Please let Carlito win next week! I was glad to see Victoria in the ring. Mickie and her put on a decent match at least they can wrestle! They need to go ahead and split up the Spirit Squad. It's getting very embarrassing to see them being treated like they have been lately. HHH and Shawn need to stop. They are getting boring. Finally the steel cage match. I thought the match was good Cena sold the injured arm pretty well, at least he had the sense to shake it after hitting Edge with it. I think I read where the arm really is bothering him.
************
Hey guys,
I don't usually respond to the feedback section of the site, but tonight I felt the need to. Raw was overly boring tonight, with DX officially hitting the "not funny at all" category. Forgetting the non-logic of how DX just gets to run the show all of a sudden, every bit they were in was not funny. Also, why do Shawn and Hunter have to get the rub from the entire Raw Tag Team Division? And the Spirit Squad stuff? How can 5 men now be able to take on two? And where the hell does Sgt. Slaughter come from? They have the SS wrestle Flair for the past two weeks and now they take on Sgt. Slaughter, for no rhyme or reason whatsoever? I don't understand?
And the Main Event..The Conclusion of one of the feuds of the year in Edge/Cena. And who is it built around? DeGeneration X...so without DX Cena can't retain? Come on this is just ridiculous. I am sick of DX, sick of Raw, sick of Smackdown. The only WWE show I enjoy consistently is ECW. And reading the spoilers for tomorrow's show it sounds good, except for the tired out RVD/Big Show feud that will develop for the December PPV. We've seen this match a ton of times...it just doesn't excite me as much as a Sabu/Show, Sandman/Show feud would.
Hope you all enjoyed the show much more than I did!
Gregg Sussman
College Park, Maryland
**********
I think tonight Raw was a mix of some definite good and some definite ugly. The good obviously was there was some actual good wrestling on the show, Jeff Hardy and Johnny Nitro had a good match and the Cena/Edge main event was good to, until the way to predictable ending happened but I won't complain. The bad tonight was....well...really bad. The skit with The Coach and DX was just horrible, just plain horrible if you ask me. The old western like staredown, come on, I hope WWE realizes there are still some adults viewing their show, it was kind of embarrassing, way to cartoony. The Bish commercial was enjoyable, I really can't wait for that book, should be a great read. I know Crimetime is extremely controversial, but I think its funny, at least they didn't pull out a gun on the officer, it wasn't so bad this week, I think all of they're skits have been funny. Well that's all I got.
**********
This Raw seemed a little better than usual but, still is a "plundering" product. The Cena/Edge cage match was great and proved again why it's the best and only "true" feud in WWE. It seems to be the only matches were everybody cares about who wins. You either route for Cena or Edge and you don't, not, care about who wins. The DX segments were ok, especially the Divas locker room part. And the Nitro/Hardy match was good too.
Nick, from New Jersey
***********
To be honest this is only feedback about the first half of Raw, because I switched off half way through and went to bed instead!
DX squashing the same six guys as last week? That's riveting television. Using DX to give the rub to lower card talent is a good idea, unfortunately nobody cares as people like Cade, Murdoch, Hass, etc., have just been thrown in there with zero build up. The fact that they're simply there as punching bags for DX doesn't really help either.
The Hardy vs Nitro was okay, but their feud has just become a series of matches with very little storyline to it. Yes, I know, one has the belt and the other wants it, but if you want to hook more than the just the dedicated Raw viewer that always tunes in, you need more storyline than that.
Melina's shrieking and the DX chasing Coach segment (especially the DX segment!!) were horrible. Just incredibly bad television. The kind of segments that makes you want to pretend you didn't hear when people ask "You actually watch this show each week?".
A four year old could have watched the DX segment and found it embarrassingly bad. If WWE think this is anything like the DX stuff from 1998 they need their heads tested.
Umaga squashing Snitsky was more throwaway television. Why not a quick segment with Umaga or Kane trying to weaken the other before their match next week? Why not even a quick promo from Estrada about how Umaga is going to win? I guess they were too busy writing that quality DX segment to have time to write anything else.
Realising that there was still a Spirit Squad match to come, I decided to cut my losses and went to bed. Raw hasn't been that great for a good few years, but it's become increasingly bad recently! I don't think American Football is 100% to blame for the current low ratings, when you see the show WWE put out each week.
Cheers,
Edward, London, England.
**********
This week's Raw was slightly better, but it still sucked. DX needed to go a few months ago and now everything on Raw is tainted by DX.
The Spirit Squad on this week's Raw had to score about a .7 on the Vito scale of disgusting attire. They can't be broken up soon enough.
Why in the hell is WWE making a mockery of the Womens Title? Last week, they had a "match" in which the only move was a spear by the referee on 1 of the competitors. This week, the great work of the divas was lessened for many fans thanks to DX's stipulation. Now that adds even more heel heat on DX.
Cryme Tyme beats up a police officer. I had no problems with the Muhammad Hassan character and criticized the people behind the outbursts last year, but even I'm disgusted by this. This gimmick is absolutely tasteless and should be shelved and the people responsible fired.
Why in the hell would Vince McMahon allow Dusty Rhodes to book WWE television? He knows damn well that Dusty Rhodes has been a shitty booker everywhere he's been in the past (single-handedly killing the NWA in the 1980s and more recently hiring all his buddies and booking crappy gimmick matches over in TNA; yes, he was worse than their current bookers, if that's possible).
I'm absolutely disgusted period with the Raw brand and I can say for certain that I will be watching the Undefeated Baltimore Ravens against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football next week and I'm certain I won't miss anything on that 3 hour epoisode of Raw is Slow.
However, I will continue to watch the ECW and Smackdown! brands for the time being. Here's a quote for the title of this batch of feedback.
The Internet needs to stop saying "Smackdown! sucks" because in reality, it is Raw that sucks.
- Brad Blaze
***********
I believe the best way to describe this week's RAW is puzzling. While the wrestling was some of the best seen on free TV in awhile, most of the angles seemed at best odd.
DX was short and to the point. And poor Coach can't seem to find a niche. He should be given the chance to run as a heel company man but is buried by DX. And speaking of, what did the Spirit Squad do to deserve this? Five guys with good rings skills and decent mic talent are getting buried once again.
I was surprised to see Jeff Hardy win the strap. But with the "Family Reunion" thing coming next week, I see Hardy vs. Hardy. The interview with Melina screaming was pointless. Also pointless was Maria doing another interview, err....schill for strip poker. It gets pretty bad when Victoria, known more for wrestling than eye candy, looks better in lingerie than Maria.
After a clean win over Carlito last week, Randy Orton has to use shenanigans to beat him this week? Why don't we just give Orton an arm cast and a cowboy hat and have him follow the Sheepherders, err...Highlanders around.
While I love the push Umaga is getting, a loser leave RAW match against Kane is confusing. Moving Umaga to Smackdown will kill all his heat and Kane moving means another ho hum feud with The Undertaker.
John Cena and Edge had one heckuva match but they need to do it without any interference. I thought the ending, while good, ruined what had been a stellar performance by the two. And did I see Cena do a monkeyflip/rollup thingy into a facebuster? The man may be hated but he is doing all he can to become a better talent. These two put on a PPV quality match on TV and had it spolied at the end. Kudos to both men.
Heath Jacobs
Baton Rouge
**********
Just got back from seeing ECW and Raw in Topeka. Haven't had a chance to watch the tape yet, but live it was a great show. The crowd was really into it, tremendous energy all night. (Except for the Umaga / Snitsky match). Huge pops for DX ( of course ), Cena, and Hardy. The crowd went wild for Sgt. Slaughter. Topeka is definitely pro Cena. Huge heat for Edge, and the crowd serenaded him out of the arena with the Hey Hey goodbye song after his loss.
The crowd was very into ECW, and most people didn't even know they would be taping. ( I only figured it out when I saw RVD at the gym earlier in the day ). Great match between RVD and Test, and great reactions for all the "Extremists".
WWE really delivered tonight. Can't wait till they come back.
David Galvan
***********
DX, DX, DX, DX, DX and Cena vs Edge (featuring DX). That pretty much sums up this week’s sham of a show.
So, DX failed to pull the viewers in last week so this week the decision is to stick them in nearly EVERY damn segment of the show. Brilliant. From the stupidly counterproductive booking of the opening match (complete with HITC recap for anyone who forgot what The McMahons looked like) where they buried six men in under 3 minutes, to the lame, juvenile and embarrassingly unfunny “ comedy†skits with Coachman (that’s not even starting on the illogical premise of us being able to see both inside AND outside of Coachman’s office) to the DX taking over the show because…um…one of them has a sledgehammer? I would have asked why the rest of the roster didn’t gang up on them but as we saw, DX are invincible and can beat up everybody. Why didn’t Vince send the police down to the arena to oust DX like he has in the past? Then DX save the day in the main event. More on this later…
To the rest of the show and we had over 37 minutes of match time this week which is quite impressive. Shame most of it was awful. Jeff Hardy vs Nitro was a good match. Nitro seems to have realised that he is a singles wrestler now so he has to carry a full load during the matches and he has improved. I hope the title change isn’t the first of many to come. The belt needs some stability to make it important again. I like that Jeff put over the list of challengers in his post mach interview. But what the hell was Melina’s screaming about? And how did Jeff’s promo become a plug for the ECW Strip Poker? So, Kane vs Umaga is a loser leaves RAW match next week. So, why not have both guys cut promos (Estrada talking for Umaga, natch) about how they plan on not losing to build it up? Oh wait, that would have taken away precious TV time from DX…And where was Kane anyway?
Enough with the friggin Marine PLEASE!!!!
Carlito worked hard in his match with Orton but Randy was sleepwalking through it again. And his punishment continues with him getting another win. Yup, that will teach him…
I think we all knew how the Spirit Squad would dressed as another young guy gets squashed by a veteran – this time Sgt Slaughter and his annual TV match – with a little help from DX of course. By the way, Spirit Squad are the current World Tag Champions…
So, DX decide that the Divas will wear lingerie for their match. Fine – only why pick the two Divas who can actually wrestle for this stipulation? Doh!! Hey Eric Bischoff is back so let’s push his book by treating him like a complete idiot – that will guarantee sales…
Main event – I liked how they built up to it throughout the show with the history between Edge & Cena. The match itself was quite good and well heated… until the ridiculously overbooked and self serving DX finish. First, cage matches are anything goes by default right? So why was Lita ejected from ringside for Passing Edge a chair? And why did they need to bump the ref before Edge could try and use it? And why did Cena knock out Edge then apply a SUBMISSION hold onto his UNCONSCIOUS opponent? Hello? And then Cade & Murdoch show and screw up their finisher on Cena before being saved by – guess who? Yup: DX! Okay, I liked the spot of Murdoch being kicked into the cage door but then Cena hit his lame FU for the win, so he effectively owes his victory to DX. Just great.
I am guessing that Vince gave HHH the book for this show as an early Wedding Anniversary present because no sane level headed, charity minded, selfless, thoughtful and generous person would book a show around two people who can’t draw and have them literally bury every other piece of talent for 2 hours because it is good for business.
DX – I have two words for ya….and the second word is “Off!â€ÂÂÂ
Cheers LEE RELPH, UK
