Let’s see how shall I word this? Okay what the hell was that main event last night on Raw? I’m wondering why any of the wrestlers bothered to show up since Vince seemed to be the star of the show. And wait there’s more, but I’ll get to that in a little bit. Raw definitely had its up and oh yeah its downs. And before I get into the show, I wanted to make sure that I mentioned how much I loved last week’s Raw’s tribute to the troops. This show was done with class and I just enjoyed it from beginning to end. Okay now onto RAW IS VINCE.
Let me list all the things that appealed to me last night. The match of the night was without a doubt John Cena vs. Shelton Benjamin. Now I could easily say that Shelton carried Cena making this a match that I really loved, but I’m not going to say that. That’s because Cena did a super job out there. Kurt Angle hasn’t been able to get anything good out of Cena but it took pairing Cena up with Shelton Benjamin to make both of these guys look like superstars in the ring. This was a phenomenal match and my only complaint would be that it was too short; this one could have kept going as far as I’m concerned. The Bridgeport Connecticut crowd was hot and cold last night; mostly cold but man they sure came alive while this match was going on. They started out low keyed with the chants half for Cena and half for Benjamin. But the more this match went on the louder the chants got and the more fun this all turned out to be. I was also thrilled that Cena didn’t do his lame 5 knuckle shuffle crap. He again used the STFU to finish of Benjamin. That move makes him look so more credible out there. So two thumbs up for one hell of a match.
Hunter calling Big Show “fat boy” was just one of the highlights during their contract signing. I thought Hunter’s short promo was good and very effective. Let’s see Hunter clawed his way to get to the top but according to Triple H Big Show got it handed to him IMMEDIATELY. I liked Triple H calling Big Show a circus freak and Hunter using the pen to gouge Show’s eye was so cool. This was a segment that I figured was going to be the usual blah contract signing but this came off so well. I’ll tell you when Hunter slammed the sledgehammer on Show’s thumb it looked real to me. This was probably my favorite non wrestling segment of the night. Another segment that didn’t feature a match was the Cutting Edge with Edge and Lita “interviewing” Ric Flair. This wasn’t as good as I thought it would be but it was okay. Since I’m a big Conan O’Brien fan I found the moving mouth on Ric’s picture funny. I guess I was hoping that Ric and Edge would interact more on the mic, but since Ric isn’t allowed to discuss his legal problems this was the best that they could do. And as I said it was okay I had no problem with it. I was thrilled though when Flair came out and went after Edge. I’m very happy that Edge will be able to get back into the ring at New Years Revolution and go against Ric Flair.
Other things that came off okay would be Shawn Michaels vs. Gene Snitzky. I have to say Snitzky looked good with Shawn and I found this to be a nice opener for the show. I’m going to be honest with you I wasn’t too happy with Chris Master’s job against Chavo Guerrero. However I thought Chavo looked good out there and even though I knew he wasn’t going to beat Masters, he looked like a star in that ring. Masters at least for me couldn’t keep up with Chavo. I really wish Chavo would have been given a spot in that Elimination Chamber match. Carlito vs. Victoria was silly, but what the hell, it was short and it didn’t bother me. Trish and Mickie James locking lips and Trish walking away in disgust now makes me think that sweet little Mickie will be the one that turns on Trish big time at New Years Revolution. So nothing other than the Cena/Shelton match and the contract signing was outstanding but there was enough to make it enjoyable.
What I didn’t like was Kurt Angle doing the old anti American role. Let me tell you something. That Cena/Benjamin match as you know was off the charts, but once Angle and Daivari came out I wanted to change the channel. I don’t get why it was only Angle that went after Cena. How come the others, Kane, HBK, Masters and Carlito didn’t come out and attack the champion? I’m so sick and tired of Kurt Angle’s character, I’m not buying his anti American character and I’m not happy about yet another match next week against Cena. This Angle/Cena feud ran its course months ago and I really wish Angle would move on or take time off and get his character back to what it used to be. Then we had Kane beat the Heart Throbs in 28 seconds to win the Beat The Clock contest and be the last to enter the Elimination chamber. Oh wow talk about ridiculous. Are you telling me that couldn’t find someone decent for Kane to go against? Now for the main event, if that’s what you want to call it. I knew when Vince opened the show and warned us that he would come out at the end for his Bret Hart DVD review this was not a good sign. There was way too much of Vince last night. He got on my nerves especially with his predictable “dirty” talk to Torrie Wilson. And then you have him come out and hype Hart’s DVD by bringing up the Montreal Screwjob. Listen if Vince thinks that this segment will sell more copies he’s nuts. And then to make matters worse Shawn Michaels came out and said that he did what he did because he was and still is loyal to Vince but it’s time for Vince to move on. Okay that was good that was fine, but then you have Vince fuming at HBK for not backing him up, and instead of Shawn beating the crap out of Vince after Vince threatens Shawn, HBK just stares at him. And now it looks like it’s a Shawn and Vince feud, and that means more TV time for Vince and that means it’s something I’m not looking forward too. Isn’t it funny, we got the firing of Eric Bischoff a few weeks ago and now the momentum as far as I’m concerned is DEAD when it comes to Vince announcing who the new GM will be. So this was the main event a horrible 15 minutes of Vince loving Vince.
So not a totally crappy Raw but a Raw that could have been better. It’s on to Smackdown. WWE.com put up the latest injury report on Booker T. When I read the rumors this morning some thought he blew his knee out but WWE.com says he suffered a strained groin muscle. So that sounds a lot better than what was first believed. I guess the Benoit/Booker best of 7 series will now be put on hold for a few weeks. With their loss to Kane and Big Show at Armageddon I’m wondering if Batista and Rey Mysterio are still the best of friends. And I’m hoping that Kid Kash in on defending that Cruiserweight title. I would really hate to see him starring as a regular on Velocity. I’ll be back on Saturday with my Smackdown thoughts.
