Mike Adamle sucks. But then again, he draws so much natural heat that he can suck all he wants, because he somehow makes it worthwhile. I like Adamle, he’s got some big balls, especially since he used to play in the NFL! Dang, kid must be fast, Adamle sucks as an announcer, but he’s not bad as a general manager…so far. JBL has natural heat too, and he gets booed the crap out of, which is hilarious to me.
Chris Jericho running out during JBL’s impromptu meeting was great, and even though the two of them are suppose to be heeling it up, they play off each other quite well, and the fans are are conflicted as to whom they should cheer.
Adamle may not be ideal to most, but he books Y2J and JBL against Punk and if punk wins no one gets a title shot at summerslam! Adamle comes out swinging, and I like it, it’s not half bad yet. I do mean yet! Things could shake up fast, we don’t know.
Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Paul Burchill
This match up surprised me. I thought for sure the WWE would wait for a ppv to unleash this match on the public. Paull Burchill is brutal at times, but Kofi is just amazing. Kofi’s got such hops, it’s not even funny. I haven’t seen someone with so much athleticism, since Ron Killings first came into the WWE. Kofi definitely holds his own against Paul Burchill, but Paul manages to ground and pound his way through the match up, forcing Kingston to stay off the high flying arsenal that he usually has going for him early on in the matches. Kofi drops Paul with “The Trouble in Paradise” to the face, and knockouts the big guy for another successful title defense. This match was quick, but it was worth while, and had both men showing off what they could do.
Post match, Paul tried to attack Kofi, but couldn’t get him cornered.
Mickie James comes out immediately after the intercontinental title match, and Katie Lea.
WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James vs. Katie Lea
These two went at it really well. Early on Mickie James had some good offense, and the shots looked stiff at times. The two women put on a show, and Mickie James has really improved lately. She’s definitely transitioned to more than just a Stratus clone. Katie Lea took some mean bumps, and still managed to stay competitive for a good portion of this match up. I am surprised that the WWE let these women take so many risks. I thought for sure Katie Lea had injured her neck on one of the moves, but she was a pro, took the punishment and lost thanks to a big DDT from Mickie James. Overall a good title defense for Mickie James.
Post Match, The Glamazon attacks immediately, and just tears apart Mickie James. Beth Phoenix definitely is my favorite wwe women’s competitor right now, and while Mickie James is good, Beth Phoenix just has so much going for her, in looks, style, and Santino! I like her, I’m sorry. Santino coming out to clap for her was brilliant too, and well…that guy is lucky if this is more than just an on screen romance.
It must be cool to work with such hot women. I get to work with two idiots, and well…no women…not even ugly ones. Man, I am going to strangle my guidance counselor, seriously!
Santino Backstage Segment:
The Glamazon and Santino talk to Adamle about getting a title shot. Santino is hilarious, and the two have completely different opinions about their Summerslam opponents. The two get their wish, but in a skewed way. Adamle and Santino have some great chemistry, and wow, they really are trying hard back there, and I don’t hate Adamle quite so much. For Summerslam, The Glamazon & Santino will face Mickie James & Kofi Kingston, and the winner gets both the Intercontinental and Women’s Championship…uh….what the? This seems weird to me. I don’t know what’s going to happen on this one, but apparently Santino and Beth could get the titles? Or one person gets the title? I’m not sure.
Batista Interview Segment:
Lame. They need to stop these. I like the old promo’s with the fake backgrounds and random speeches. Remember those? Those really put things over, but unfortunately Batista’s interview segment sucks.
Layla In Ring Segment:
This was dumb too. Layla dances in the ring like the old Nitro Girls, and it bores me.
Wait?
What happened with the PG rating system? This doesn’t seem PG to me, this is definitely TV 14 or higher…too much sex appeal, I don’t like it.
William Regal interrupts the dancing, finally!
Regal gets interrupted by Jamie Noble and the two begin one hell of a fist fight. Regal was taking some major closed fist shots, and Noble was out there like a house of fire, just completely killing Regal, but referee’s interrupted the two, and nothing was resolved.
What a horrible waste of time, I hated this. This was so stupid. I can’t believe that they just threw together this feud over a mic segment and some stupid dancing from Layla. Noble sucks too, what ever happened to the cruiserweight division? I hate this piece of crap. This is just stupid. Regal is getting thrown into the opening match at Summerslam with none other than Noble, or at least an unannounced match up or even a dark match, and much to the dismay of the ticket holders, they’ll have to put up with it.
CM Punk vs. JBL and Chris Jericho
Here we go, the stipulations get cleared up, as they were previously foggy. This match is a handicap match and if JBL or Chris Jericho wins, they will get a title shot at summerslam. However, if Punk wins neither guy will get a title shot. However, again, they have 10 minutes to win, and if they do not win in 10 minutes, the match at Summerslam will be a triple threat match for the world title. Got it? I know, this is confusing.
Alright, this match up was awesome to me. It had a lot to offer in a short amount of time, and the story behind it worked well for me. The fact that Y2J and JBL couldn’t figure out how to start the match was a great set up for me, and JBL being absent for a good portion of this match up was interesting. Had I been in the match up, I would have let Y2j done most of the dirty work, then jumped in to get the 3 count. JBL seemed to be doing just that, letting it seem that Jericho’s punishment to him outside was more severe than it was. CM Punk began his inevitable comeback, but JBL jumped in to stop that in a hurry, and we got more differences from Y2J and JBL. I must also note that Chris Jericho was out there in short tights, you know, the underwear kind. Lame.
JBL and Jericho couldn’t work together and started to fight each other, CM Punk got some time to rest, and then was thrown back into the lion’s den by JBL. I can’t emphasize more, the fact that Jericho and JBL couldn’t work together at all, towards the end of the time limit, they were basically fighting each other, and Punk waited for an opening and embarrassed both Y2j and JBL by dropping JBL with a top rope clothesline, then reversing the Y2J running bulldog, and then the crowd came alive!
Punk gets the GTS on JBL and I thought this match was done, but nope, Y2J interferes, Punk then goes for a powerslam on Jericho and I started to get really excited, since it was at the 1:38 minute left mark, and on come the close falls! The two counts were so close in this one, and I don’t know how the ref and the wrestlers kept up with this, but the crowd was going nuts, I was going nuts, and this match had me really wondering who’d come out on top. This was ridiculous, the amount of time spent in such close quarters and the timing, just great stuff. Jericho had Punk in the walls of Jericho for the last remainder of the time, but JBL interrupts, and with 22 seconds left tries to pull off a late victory. Jericho jumps up to the apron, stuns JBL with a top rope clothesline drop, JBL drops backwards onto CM Punk, inadvertently pinning CM Punk and with 4 seconds left on the clock, defeats CM PUNK! That’s right, JBL pinned CM Punk to get the title shot at Summerslam!
The timing on this had to be perfect, there was no way this could work without timing. JBL and Y2J had this well executed and JBL winning was not what I expected, but he is going to get Punk again one on one at Summerslam for the title. The match was definitely the best thing I’ve seen on Raw in a long time. Y2J is definitely in line for a title shot, just not at Summerslam.
HBK interview Segment:
HBK talks about his eye, via Satellite from his house in San Antonio, Texas. HBK says that his doctors are going to take control this time and that he’s not going to jump in if there is any risks to his health, HBk will walk away. He claims that he’ll be at Summerslam to get the final decision.
I think that HBK is either heeling it up, or he’s seriously consider retiring. However, we know that people in wrestling and now even the NFL, never really retire. We’ll see what happens, I’m not sure what they are going to do, I’m not sure if this is legit or just a script. We’ll find out at the end of the month, and hopefully it isn’t too crazy.
Matt Striker in ring Segment:
Adamle is thanked for letting Striker perform on Raw. Striker has some great mic skills, and I think this can be great, if they allow him to wrestle, and not just throw him into chaos…and you know what? I spoke way too soon, because Kane’s fire shoots out and Striker is going to get buried.
Kane defeated Matt Striker
Striker gets pummeled into submission, Kane wins easily. This is stupid. I hate when they bury what could be a good mid carder or even someone that could eventually get into the main event. I know, I’m giving Striker a lot of credit, but he kind of reminds me of Rick “The Model” Martel who had a good run in the WWF back in the day. He also made a good comeback in WCW as just Rick Martel, and I definitely thought it was one of the better comebacks in wrestling history. Too bad about his injuries and ultimate retirement, but that’s just how it goes. This match wasn’t anything memorable at all. Kane squashes Striker, and Striker doesn’t have to teach school any longer, he can be on the WWE roster, getting laughed at by his former students watching.
John Cena Interview Segment:
John Cena name drops Jack Tunney, making me mark out like a little kid! This is boring to me. Seriously, John Cena sucks right now. He needs to get a heel push, and if possible a heel push like Stone Cold Steven Austin. He doesn’t have to be overtly heel, he could just be his old thuganomics style and if people cheer, they cheer, and if they hate him they hate him, but he shouldn’t play to the crowd. I don’t know, this interview was bland, and I know Cena has skills, but WWE doesn’t want him to be a bad guy. He could be a great heel/face blur, just like he was back when he was the U.S Champion. Or when he was coming out with retro NBA jerseys, depending on the city he was in, and getting that cheap pop, alongside his freestyles that weren’t exactly PG rated. I guess, John Cena is more important as a face, and good guy, because he sells merchandise for the kids and women that love the guy. They need a change, that’s all I am saying.
Kelly & Adamle Backstage Segment:
Kelly can’t act at all. Adamle is better though, and this whole “Adamle” original moniker is awesome. He promises that next week, we’re going to find out what is inside Kane’s bag, and if he doesn’t give it up, he’s going to take it from Kane. Bold words from Adamle, that’s for sure. Kelly sucks, why are they pushing such a stupid talent? She can’t even make her scripted lines believable. Adamle is good though, he’s been impressing me all night.
I guess that’s not hard, considering I had very very low expectations.
WWE Tag Team Champions Priceless vs. John Cena & Batista
This match was somewhat predictable. You can spot these matches from a mile away, and predict how they are going to turn out. Batista hits his shoulder early on, prompting Cena to wait for the hot tag, he then cleans house and eventually gets controlled by Priceless. Priceless does a great job working over Cena, and this is the turning point: Cena reaches for Batista, Batista backs up and barely extends his hands to Cena, forcing Cena to get really close but just can’t get the tag. Eventually Cena mounts a comeback, and instead of tagging Batista, he slaps Batista in the face! That counts as a tag! Batista and Cena stair each other down, and Batista fights off both Dibiase and Rhodes, and eventually gets the pin.
First and foremost, the two stare each other down and raise their tag championship belts high, and the crowd goes nuts.
My problem with this match is not the match itself, it’s the bigger picture. The WWE once again screws over the tag team division by hot shotting the titles. Cena and Batista are horrible champions and shouldn’t have won this match. They should have lost the match and blamed each other for losing, and then took it out on each other at the ppv. Instead, they are now the champions and the real Tag Team Division looks like crap. They could then segue and transition the former champions into single wrestlers, and this is stupid. I hate how the WWE gives the credibility of tag team championship wrestling out the window! And for what? So Batista and Cena can go over? This is stupid. I hate this ending. Oh well.
Raw 8/4/2008 Quick Results:
Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston def. Paul Burchill
WWE Women's Champion Mickie James def. Katie Lea Burchill
BL & Chris Jericho def. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match (JBL pinned CM Punk)
Kane def. Matt Striker
John Cena & Batista def. World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase to become the new champions
The best part of the show was not the ending, in fact that was the worse. The Woman’s title match up, and the CM Punk match was the best part. I really liked the way the Punk match worked out.
Kane’s mask? Next week? Dang you Adamle!
Adamle over all wasn’t all that bad. It wasn’t that bad at all, I hate him as the announcer, but as the Raw GM he’s not that bad at all.
The whole night seemed a little fast to me, and while the matches were ok, the middle of the show was great and progressed the show further.
I still think there was too much backstage and in ring segments, but it seemed like they allowed more wrestling on this show, and I enjoyed it. I think Raw sets up a great week of wrestling, now if only the rest of the week is this good.
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