Right from the start you could tell that Raw was going to be an awesome show and it was. First up was the Eugene Invitational and the writers very cleverly put Angle in the face position (but then it was Kurt’s home town) and made Eugene the heel for the night, getting boos and at one point a “Eugene Sucks” chant from the crowd. This stance was further enhanced with Eugene cheating to win in a way that would make Eddie Guerrero proud. Angle took the loss badly and this induced a run-in save from Hulk Hogan and an impromptu posedown for the benefit of the fans. More on that later.
Angle’s loss was a good example of a defeat not hurting someone’s career. Equally, Shelton Benjamin’s repeat loss at the clutches of the Masterlock, albeit this time in a singles encounter, won’t damage his carefully handled reputation and Chris Masters will use this victory to go on to bigger and better things, most notably a worthwhile feud with the Big Show and hopefully a Summerslam match with the 500 pound behemoth.
When I found out that Rob Conway would be taking on Viscera in the next match, I feared for a waste of four or five valuable Raw minutes but I needn’t have worried. Before that though, Edge and Lita explained their side of the Hardy situation and the visually attractive Edge showed flawless delivery during his promo. Anyway, the bout between Conway and Viscera could have fallen flat but luckily the big man was given a leg ‘injury’ to sell throughout the match and it added some interest and depth to the proceedings. Conway won after the big man’s leg gave way in a realistic manner and Rob’s well deserved push continues. I like his new shorts too.
Super Stacey was next accompanying Rosey and Hurricane in their six-person tag match against the Heart Throbs and Victoria. Romeo and Antonio’s entertaining gimmick carried the main part of the action and they got the win after some meaningful bumps from the ladies and a spot of double-teaming (which is always enjoyable).
Under the insanely expensive Jeritron 5000, Y2J and Eric Bischoff (who looks better with the grey hair) called out the real culprit for John Cena’s title escape last week, the referee. Evoking fond memories of HHH’s numerous JR beatings, Jericho gave the official an aggressive kicking which drew out everyone’s friend and quality rapper John Cena. This led to Bischoff making a handicap match for next week with Jericho and Carlito taking on John Cena, which should be a breath of fresh air to the show.
Custard pies to the face? Now that’s funny stuff. Just when you think the Diva Search can’t get any better, it does.
Keeping sympathy for a character like Matt Hardy is easy. He talks about “not dying” and Edge “being killed in a car accident”, only to go through his match with rising star Gene Snitsky without losing his temper once. Hardy seemed a little rusty in the ring but I’m sure he’ll find his fire again once he gets back on the road.
Everyone will love Cena’s new single “Right now”. It’s a sure-fire hit.
Down at the end of the show was the ‘face-off’ between HBK and the ever-youthful Hulk Hogan. Hogan and especially Shawn Michaels barraged each other with ‘shoot’ lines and unscripted comments until a brawl erupted and Hogan gained the upper hand using his superior agility and technique. Raw ended with a stare-down between the two which wasn’t overly long and didn’t lack any enthusiasm. A great show and we can all look forward to Summerslam with no concerns over the card or the ramifications for certain under-used, talented wrestlers who at this point don’t look like getting a match at the PPV.
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Wait a minute. Ever-youthful Hogan? Rising star Gene Snitsky? Romeo and Antonio’s entertaining gimmick??? Sounds like a poor review to me. In fact, the whole column sounds like complete and utter bullshit from start to finish. I’d even go so far to say that you are free to assume that everything I’ve said in this column is the ABSOLUTE OPPOSITE of what I actually felt about this week’s Raw. But I didn’t want to write another negative review, so I lied. If you want to know how I REALLY felt about the show, take the first letter of each paragraph in this column (up to the dots) and see what it spells. I’ll mention a few genuine opinions about the show later in the week, along with some other random whinges, but for now, I couldn’t be bothered. I hope you don’t feel you’ve wasted your time reading this column. But then that’s how I felt after watching Raw.
Lee