So I actually sat down and watched a full episode of Raw last night, and I was thinking why not review the show? It has been a while, and I was genuinely surprised by last night's Raw. So let us begin.
I cannot say enough good things about Chris Jericho. The guy is probably my favourite wrestler of all time, and when he came back I was pretty happy, butit was not as great because he had not evolved his character at all. Thsi feud with Shawn Micheals has brought awesome things out of Jericho, and it continued last night. I love the way he keeps hammering home the fact that Micheals is a liar and that he, Jericho is a good man. And the way he just walked away from Orton at the end of their promo together, which by the way was very good, instead of getting in his face or trying to get physical is one of those little things that if ignored can really take away from a character.
Anyway, Randy held his own in the promo department as well during the segment. I hate the guy, but I do have to give it up to him. The whole "you cannot touch me" things is a bit over played, but usually the circumstances are the challenger cannot touch the champion, so this is a bit different, and I think it does lend a little bit of tension regarding CM Punk and his revenge seeking.
The opening segments transitioned very well too. CM Punk coming out to attack/intimidate Orton was nice as it showed that at least thus far the WWE has not forgotten about their potential feud. Whether it happens when Orton first gets back in the ring, or after he (Orton) wins the title (booo) I am not certain of as of yet.
The Adamle/Shane McMahon (stop dancing) bit could be interesting provided that this was not a one off thing and it actually creates a meta-plot. I was not impressed by the tag match that was booked though. It was painfully obvious and has been done ad nauseum at this point. What would it hurt to get Batista/Jericho vs HBK/JBL instead? Same guys, but a whole different match now. Bah. Anyway Shane booked CM Punk and Cody Rhodes as well to begin next.
CM Punk vs Cody Rhodes:
I enjoyed this match. CM Punk broke out a large variety of kicks through out, looked very good while doing it and had the crowd solidly behind him as well. Rhodes played an effective heel throughout the entire match, with good mannerisims and expressions. The ankle lock definetly raised an eyebrow. I wish Punk would use the Anaconda Vice again, but showing that he can wrestle a submission style as well is good. Finish was what it should have been GTS on Cody and a three count. Punk gets jumped after the match by DiBiase and Manu, but Kofi Kingston makes the save and the heels bail.
I guess that means CM Punk is going to have a tag title run with Kofi before he goes after the title again. That seems to be where they are headed with this.
The backstage segment with Adamle and Shane was good with Adamle selling the wounded pride very well. Not much else to say here except Kane was awesome. I love the fact that they let him acknowledge his history with Shane and his mother. Made me chuckle.
The Kelly Kelly segment was pretty bad, though Santino and Batista were able to bring out a few laughs and make the bit watchable. Too bad this will never amount to anything more than a quick squash match between the two.
Santino Marella vs Deuce
I had thought that Deuce was getting a new gimmick? Anyway not much to talk about here. Santino wins with a roll up in a match that was maybe a minute long at best. Not very impressive at all.
Kane vs Evan Bourne
Match of the night in my opinion. Bourne came out strong with his speed, and rocked Kane for a while, but Kane caught him and hit an awesome series of moves on Bourne all without ever letting him go and follows them up with a chokeslam for the three.
Kane attempts to go for another chokeslam on Bourne but Rey comes out for the save and in a very nice looking spot he catches a boot to the chest from Kane as he came off a springboard from the second rope. Kane chokeslams him, calls Rey a coward and leaves the ring.
A Shane and Orton segment was up next and made me really hope that something does come out of this beyond just one night. Also, poor Nick Nemeth.
:
Beth Phoenix vs Kelly Kelly
Not much to talk about here. Kelly gets the win with a roll up after botched Santino interference. Best part of all this was after the match. Batista snapping Santino's mask and spearing him made me giggle.
Miz and Morrison vs Cryme Tyme
I still do not like Cryme Tyme very much, but their wrestling tonight along with Miz and Morrisn's was great. The couple of false finishes towards the end of the match were believable, but I think this match was unfortuantely just filler. I am fairly certain that Punk and Kofi will be going after the tag titles next which more or less makes this match meaningless. Still entertaining though.
The Jericho/Adamle segment served its purpose. It was pretty obvious what was being discussed.
Charlie Haas skit. Now, I have seen the other skits, and the difference between them and this one is that they were funny. This one was not funny at all. It was too much of a cheap plug to be amusing.
Chris Jericho, Lance Cade, and JBL vs Batista and Shawn Micheals
As I stated at the beginning of this review, I did not like booking of this match much. As a wrestling match it was well executed and there was a small surprise in Cade actually getting the pin on Micheals, but that was short lived. Micheals is just going to wrestle Cade now next week and beat him. Too predictable for me.
All in all though I must say I did over all enjoy the show, and will more than likely check out next week's.
Thanks for reading folks.
I cannot say enough good things about Chris Jericho. The guy is probably my favourite wrestler of all time, and when he came back I was pretty happy, butit was not as great because he had not evolved his character at all. Thsi feud with Shawn Micheals has brought awesome things out of Jericho, and it continued last night. I love the way he keeps hammering home the fact that Micheals is a liar and that he, Jericho is a good man. And the way he just walked away from Orton at the end of their promo together, which by the way was very good, instead of getting in his face or trying to get physical is one of those little things that if ignored can really take away from a character.
Anyway, Randy held his own in the promo department as well during the segment. I hate the guy, but I do have to give it up to him. The whole "you cannot touch me" things is a bit over played, but usually the circumstances are the challenger cannot touch the champion, so this is a bit different, and I think it does lend a little bit of tension regarding CM Punk and his revenge seeking.
The opening segments transitioned very well too. CM Punk coming out to attack/intimidate Orton was nice as it showed that at least thus far the WWE has not forgotten about their potential feud. Whether it happens when Orton first gets back in the ring, or after he (Orton) wins the title (booo) I am not certain of as of yet.
The Adamle/Shane McMahon (stop dancing) bit could be interesting provided that this was not a one off thing and it actually creates a meta-plot. I was not impressed by the tag match that was booked though. It was painfully obvious and has been done ad nauseum at this point. What would it hurt to get Batista/Jericho vs HBK/JBL instead? Same guys, but a whole different match now. Bah. Anyway Shane booked CM Punk and Cody Rhodes as well to begin next.
CM Punk vs Cody Rhodes:
I enjoyed this match. CM Punk broke out a large variety of kicks through out, looked very good while doing it and had the crowd solidly behind him as well. Rhodes played an effective heel throughout the entire match, with good mannerisims and expressions. The ankle lock definetly raised an eyebrow. I wish Punk would use the Anaconda Vice again, but showing that he can wrestle a submission style as well is good. Finish was what it should have been GTS on Cody and a three count. Punk gets jumped after the match by DiBiase and Manu, but Kofi Kingston makes the save and the heels bail.
I guess that means CM Punk is going to have a tag title run with Kofi before he goes after the title again. That seems to be where they are headed with this.
The backstage segment with Adamle and Shane was good with Adamle selling the wounded pride very well. Not much else to say here except Kane was awesome. I love the fact that they let him acknowledge his history with Shane and his mother. Made me chuckle.
The Kelly Kelly segment was pretty bad, though Santino and Batista were able to bring out a few laughs and make the bit watchable. Too bad this will never amount to anything more than a quick squash match between the two.
Santino Marella vs Deuce
I had thought that Deuce was getting a new gimmick? Anyway not much to talk about here. Santino wins with a roll up in a match that was maybe a minute long at best. Not very impressive at all.
Kane vs Evan Bourne
Match of the night in my opinion. Bourne came out strong with his speed, and rocked Kane for a while, but Kane caught him and hit an awesome series of moves on Bourne all without ever letting him go and follows them up with a chokeslam for the three.
Kane attempts to go for another chokeslam on Bourne but Rey comes out for the save and in a very nice looking spot he catches a boot to the chest from Kane as he came off a springboard from the second rope. Kane chokeslams him, calls Rey a coward and leaves the ring.
A Shane and Orton segment was up next and made me really hope that something does come out of this beyond just one night. Also, poor Nick Nemeth.
:Beth Phoenix vs Kelly Kelly
Not much to talk about here. Kelly gets the win with a roll up after botched Santino interference. Best part of all this was after the match. Batista snapping Santino's mask and spearing him made me giggle.
Miz and Morrison vs Cryme Tyme
I still do not like Cryme Tyme very much, but their wrestling tonight along with Miz and Morrisn's was great. The couple of false finishes towards the end of the match were believable, but I think this match was unfortuantely just filler. I am fairly certain that Punk and Kofi will be going after the tag titles next which more or less makes this match meaningless. Still entertaining though.
The Jericho/Adamle segment served its purpose. It was pretty obvious what was being discussed.
Charlie Haas skit. Now, I have seen the other skits, and the difference between them and this one is that they were funny. This one was not funny at all. It was too much of a cheap plug to be amusing.
Chris Jericho, Lance Cade, and JBL vs Batista and Shawn Micheals
As I stated at the beginning of this review, I did not like booking of this match much. As a wrestling match it was well executed and there was a small surprise in Cade actually getting the pin on Micheals, but that was short lived. Micheals is just going to wrestle Cade now next week and beat him. Too predictable for me.
All in all though I must say I did over all enjoy the show, and will more than likely check out next week's.
Thanks for reading folks.
