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It is now midnight as I type this, just under an hour after Raw ended, and I *still* have no idea what I just saw, other than it made me angrier than anything else I've seen this company do in just over twenty years of being a fan. Just 24 hours removed from seeing Jeff Jarrett deliver a sincere, heartfelt memorial to his late wife on TNA's PPV, I have to watch Stephanie McMahon camp her way through a performance that would have gotten her fired from any daytime soap opera with even a shred of respectability, and it seriously made me consider the amount of effort required to lift my 27" CRT TV and heave it out my window. It was *that* infuriating to me. This whole angle had the potential to be at least somewhat interesting, then it quickly degenerated into tastelessness, and now it's just a disgrace to the memories of, among too many others who've
I've been Elite for about a year and a half now, but have never felt motivated to e-mail feedback to a show like this. I'm doing so now, because I've never been more furious at WWE than I am right now. There's literally no way they can salvage anything from this storyline now - at least, anything that most fans would want to see. The unfortunate coincidence of Sensational Sherri's death only illustrates how completely tasteless and disrespectful what they're doing is.
If Vince's goal is to drive away the fans who care about the business, thus leaving him with only those who are more receptive to his vision of "sports entertainment," then congratulations are in order - it's working.
Devin de Gruyl
Grove City, OH
**********
I gave RAW a couple hours of my life that unfortunately, I can't get back. What overshadowed the whole night was the "death" of Vinnie Mac. They don't need to tweak the storyline, they need to scrap it. How is his return going to be handled? Vince McMahon rising from the grave for a 2nd coming? J.R. and Lawler are doing their best to sell this storyline. How they can do it without snickering is beyond me. What also puzzles me is the fact that Vince seems to think that using a McMahon in a storyline is going to make the numbers shoot through the roof. If this train stays on track, the "death" of Vince may become a reality. WWE puts more effort into magazines/Internet/and selling merchandise than they do with all three brands. The only shining moment of RAW was Mick Foley. In closing, Vince needs to stay off of TV and stay in the boardroom. Just like WCW and the Titanic, this ship is sinking.
Dave
Chicago
**********
I've been a wrestling fan for the better part of 35 years, starting when I was 3, wrestling with my Uncle who was a big fan of the Sheik. I got big into wrestling around the time of seeing Hulk Hogan in Rocky 3 and made it through the up times and the down times. I watched the demise of WCW, I watched the later days of the Attitude era and DX, and the NWO. I’ve seen a lot in my years as a “hard-core†fan, hell, even the whole Katie Vick mess didn’t put me off. I’ve offered feedback a couple of times in the past, and even wrote a couple of columns for the site. That’s how much I’ve loved wrestling.
Now I’m done.
I'm sick of Mr. McMahon, I'm sick of the classlessness of using death/murder to sell a storyline (and a poor one at that).
Next week, RAW is 3 hours. I will NOT be watching. And I will not be watching WWE programming much at all anymore. I’ll probably still read the spoilers and results on PWI, but I refuse to support this dreck any longer.
Congratulations Vince. You’ve driven off a fan.
Tom Lesser
Alabaster, AL
**********
Well for the first twenty minutes of Raw, I washed dishes and took a pan of brownies out of the oven. Obviously, I didn't see anything during that time. I surfed around on the net and ran out of sites to surf through, so I decided to watch Raw with my husband. I'm sure my thoughts echo the same as everyone else: I am soooooo freakin' sick of Mr. McMahon!
I thought WWE was about sports entertainment, not about the chairman/CEO himself, Vinnie Mac. It's very disappointing and it is times like these that I am real embarrassed to be called a wrestling fan. For all those hard working wrestlers on all three shows, this must feel like a slap in the face to them.
And how freakin' irresponsible that they can't pay attention to detail about the limos. It's not everyday Vince walks to a limo that has no rearview window and then after it goes boom and the fire gets put out, voila! Instant rearview window.
Sad.
Thanks for letting me vent. You guys rock.
~Wrestlechick1980
**********
Raw wasn't that great tonight but it wasn't an absolute disaster either, in my opinion. I hated the opening segment and all the McMahon stuff (thank God for DVR's).
Kendrick and London vs TWGTT was really good and I am looking forward to future matches involving these four I just wish the match could have went a little longer. I feel bad for the WGTT they deserve better than to be jobbers to all the tag teams on Raw, although I thought London and Kendrick did deserve the win and made an impressive debut on Raw.
The Carlito/Sandman segment was lame, didn't really do anything for me. Carlito usually is pretty good on the mic, however tonight I thought he was a little off his game tonight, or maybe the script he was given was so lame he couldn't make it sound good no matter how he cut that promo, I don't know.
Daivari/Hardy was an ok match nothing to write home about. Having Cade and Murdoch at the announce table for the match and the their little confrontation with Hardy was pretty stupid. I guess they wanted to do something to push the tag title match on Sunday between the Hardys and Cade and Murdoch, but honestly did that do anything to make anyone want to buy the PPV this Sunday? that was the best they could come up with? and where was Matt Hardy? he is on Raw every week now for God knows how long I was expecting him to pop up.
I didn't care for the Maria/Regal/Marella segment, pretty stupid.
Foley vs Umaga sounds like a PPV quality match to me and i think it could be pretty good if given time especially if its a hardcore match which of course is Foley's specialty. that said this match was disappointing if you can even call it a match, It was clear that Umaga completely missed Foley and his ass just crashed into the stairs.
I thought Kennedy's promo wasn't that good, he definitely can do better than that. All I could think was: why is everyone having a bad promo night?
The women's tag match was good. I can't help but be amazed on how fast Candice Michelle is getting better every time she is on TV, she could be the next Trish Stratus.
The main event was an ok match, I was shocked to see Orton beat Lashley but I guess he's gotta look strong for the return of the chosen son with whom he is scheduled to have a program with.
And finally the ending segment with Stephanie was pathetic, I can't stand this McMahon crap any more and wish it would just go away. Notice I didn't mention all the McMahon segments tonight because I feel they don't even deserve that. Also I thought putting the Sherri Martel tribute graphic midway thru the show when they start with McMahon's fake death was really in poor taste. How low will they go..............
Overall a mediocre show, I give it a thumbs in the middle and that's being nice
Elite Subscriber
Harry
Edison, NJ
**********
Everything on show, if you subtract the bull**** of the death storyline input by all parties, wasn't too bad. Hardy/Daivari wasn't horrible, women's tag match was decent, main event was well paced, finish was nice since Orton won and I'm from St. Louis, so do the math. But what disgusts me is the way they put a fake death the beginner of the show, instead of a In Loving Memory of Sherri Martel (which I bet some people wonder if that's real) at the beginning. Not sure if WWE realizes they were in the same state a TRAGEDY struck at Virginia Tech shootings occurred and that speaking about a fake death might not sit well the fans that attended? But who cares, its for the ratings right Vinnie Mac? Hey USA Network, you actually like this storyline on your air knowing the car bombings in the war?...Cant wait for TNA iMPACT! Thursday night at 8pm on Spike TV, at least they're not that distasteful WWE, you sick f***s!
Nathan Toth,
St Louis, MO, HOO RAH!
**********
The show this evening was pure garbage and makes me ashamed to even consider myself a wrestling fan. I just had to change the channel during the show before I threw the remote at the television in anger. The WWE should be embarrassed and ashamed with themselves for the crap they delivered tonight. The sooner this ridiculous storyline ends, the better.
Dave
Massachusetts
**********
Thumbs down for RAW tonight. I just don't understand WWE's management and how everyone thinks this who killed Vince angle is great entertainment? This really is the worst angle in the history of WWE in my opinion. Linda and Vince sit on conference calls and shareholder meetings and ponder the reasons why their PPV buys are down. Well Vince, you've revolved the entire company around yourself for the past several weeks AGAIN, every superstar is talking about you instead of Sunday night. The four opponents for Cena on Sunday talked more about Vince tonight than the actual $40 main-event this Sunday! I get that Vince, Steph and Kevin Dunn want mainstream America to accept WWE and talk about it as much as they talked about the Sopranos last week, but they simply don't get that fans are f*cking tired of the McMahons being praised every damn week. Sometimes I love Vince, and sometimes I think his family is normal, but these are the examples of the times that I think his family has no connection to reality. 3 hours of more McMahon hype next week, YAAAAAA! It's like that family and his writers sit in Stamford every week and just think of ways to praise the boss more and more instead of focusing on in-ring talent and PPVs. Sherri died, but that isn't important to Vince. He couldn't give a damn. His angle is more important. Besides the Vince horribleness that I will never enjoy, Paul London & Kendrick had a good RAW debut match. I like seeing the Sandman on RAW. The Cade & Murdock vs. Hardys feud has been simple and fun to watch. Iron Sheik is getting his own talk show, MY GOD THAT ISN'T GOING TO BE HORRIBLE! I've enjoyed Umaga's rise so the destroying Mick Foley match was ok. So Mr. Kennedy is a heel even though heel Edge screwed him out of his Money in the Bank? He's not even mad about Edge screwing him? And WWE books Kennedy as a heel when the crowd is OBVIOUSLY cheering for him?! It's the Christian in 2005 deal where WWE somehow are the only ones who don't notice. The Lashley/Cena vs. Orton/Booker match was decent. Why Lashley isn't fired up about being stripped of the title I don't know. Lashley had to go through 5 guys in a chamber to win his belt, but all Punk, Benoit, Burke, and Corvon have to do is wrestle 2 singles matches!! GREAT! Wouldn't you be pissed? I pray we find out who killed Vince next week so the stupid angle can be over already. WWE has SummerSlam coming up and they're more focused on the boss AGAIN instead of building to one of their biggest summer events. I still love WWE and wrestling in general, but stupid sh*t like Vince is doing is what makes so many people laugh at wrestling. Yes Vince we "GET IT", but that doesn't mean we want to "PAY FOR IT" cause it's not entertaining and it's not accepted by mainstream America cause it's such a horrible angle. TNA showed true class at Slammiversary with the Jill Jarrett piece and they pulled off a hell of a PPV in front of a rabid crowd. Please Vince go back to doing more believable stories and good matches!
DAVID FROM MISSOURI
