I expect that you, the reader, saw Raw and are not relying on me to recap the whole show for your. So instead of my usual review, I’m going to mix things up a little, and start adding more commentary. Anyone can recap the events, but this is a wwe blog, and not a wwe news site, so please bare with me as I get down to some roots and start going on about random crap that happened on Raw. I’ll still have the quick results at the bottom for those of you that want the straight up truth. If you check out the right side of the site you can get into the more news related topics. So let’s go!
John Cena In Ring Segment: John Cena is wearing a hilarious hat that looks like an Army Hat, and it says “you Can’t See me”. One thing is for sure, Batista didn’t see that punch to the face coming. I can’t believe how many people in the arena are booing the crap out of Cena. I know that when I went to see WWE live in Los Angeles, Ca. (No Way Out PPV) the kids were over powering anyone booing Cena, myself included. Batista comes out to a sick bop, with an old Washington Bullets jersey, and the crowd is goes nuts.
I’m hoping this leads into a John Cena heel turn, and Batista turns full blow face, and we get to the old Cena. I liked when Cena was a bad man, and I almost felt like he was going to do it at the beginning of the segment.
Batista forgiving Cena was funny to me, but what was funnier was that Batista slipped up his lines a ton of times, but he kept recovering. Batista is lucky he is in his home town.
Cena vs. Batista would be interesting, and I was scrambling inside my head to see if they have ever gone one on one, and I couldn’t remember.
Shane McMahon Comes Out: Cena vs. Batista gets squashed right away, and there is a tag team match up coming. Lame. I thought for sure McMahon was going to be the new GM and that he was going to announce himself as the General Manager, but he made it seem like it was someone else. He then said that CM Punk would wrestle again tonight.
I am once again stating it again. CM Punk is wrestling a lot of singles matches and is working HARDER than Triple H. When is the last time Triple H wrestle an opponent that wasn’t Chavo! Seriously, I don’t believe that Punk is getting a fair shake as the champion.
Santino & Beth Phoenix defeated Kelly Kelly & D-Lo BrownI marked out big for D-Lo Brown, I thought this could end up being a good match up, but instead, I was sorely disappointed. I didn’t like this match, and I don’t think the fans really liked it at all. D-Lo Brown was thrown out fast, and Santino jumped in to wrestling Kelly Kelly. I kid you not, the WWE allowed Santino to wrestle Kelly and roll her up for the win and a quick victory. This was boring to me, and I knew that the WWE was doing something for the post match rather than the match itself.
Santino’s victory dance was hilarious, he was marching around playing an imaginary trumpet, and acting as though he had just won the world championship, rather than just a random tag team match up. He then gets ready to leave the ring, but Beth grabs him and kisses him, leaving him bewildered in the ring.
So much for that PG rating, right? I think that Man on Woman violence is not PG, but that kiss was so innocent somehow that maybe it cancels out the fact that Santino was wrestling Kelly Kelly instead of D-Lo for the majority of the mixed tag team match up. I still think there is something odd about that.
Shane McMahon Backstage Segment: JBL sucks, but man does he generate heat! JBL is not my favorite wrestler, but he’s one of the best Heels in the business right now. With Randy Orton out of the picture, JBL is picking up the slack greatly, and his segment with Shane McMahon is great. McMahon didn’t take any slack from JBL, and I hope this sets up a match between the two, where Shane McMahon jumps off the ropes and lands through eight tables, on fire, underwater, in a cage…I’m getting carried away. McMahon taking a phone call in the midst of talking to JBL was hilarious, and JBL looked seriously concerned. JBL needs a little more credit sometimes.
Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase Jr. defeated Michael Cole & Jerry The King LawlerThe new general manager changed the match up right before it started, and made Michael Cole Jerry Lawler’s partner instead of Jim Duggan.
*The Announce Team was NOT calling this match, and no replacement was found. This was like being there live, with no one calling the action!!!
Michael Cole stayed outside of the ring for a long time, and Lawler took control of the situation for a while, before getting thrown into the corner. When Michael Cole touched him the ref thought it was a tag, and then we saw Cole get a fast beatdown and a roll up for the win. This was poorly executed and not entertaining, to me. I think its stupid to have Cole in there, for no apparent reason. At least they didn’t really put the boots to him, but it was interesting to see this develop. I don’t believe that the tag team champions should be fighting the announce team.
Mike Adamle comes out to replace Michael Cole. He plays it off that he’s not there for the ECW taping later, and The King doesn’t immediately roast him, but plays along with the notion. It should be noted that Adamle is getting better, and although he’s not as bad as before, he’s not as perfect as Jim Ross, but then again, Ross has been doing it for many decades, so it’s not fair to compare the two directly.
Jamie Noble In Ring Segment:Noble has some mic skills, and he’s not half bad. However, it’s hard to take him seriously, because he just looks hilarious out there. He’s got new tights, that’s kind of cool. Calling out the Intercontinental Champion isn’t the wisest move, considering Noble hasn’t won a match since he was the Cruiserweight Champion. Oh well, he’s trying to impress a chick, that seems to be his motivation.
Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Jamie Noble In a quick match up, Kofi Kingston dropped Jamie Noble with every move he had in succession. Kingston basically squashed a jobber as far as I’m concerned, with some impressive moves, and incredible height on his part. I thought it was incredible to see a new African American getting pushed, but his mic skills might be lacking, and that might be where Kingston turns into another Shelton Benjamin after a short time, and back on ECW for the jobber status. However, for now, Kingston is enjoying his run as the Intercontinental Champion, considering he’s defending it a lot more than the previous champions. Noble has no hope, unless there is a new Cruiserweight division coming soon, which I highly doubt. This was a squash match, and was really not worth time, but yet, I found it necessary to talk about it for this much.
CM Punk defeated William Regal I’m getting used to seeing these types of matches. William Regal basically tears up CM Punk for the majority of the match, and then at the last moments of this match up CM Punk sneaks out a win, but with a bloody lip. Regal works really stiff in this match, and he really puts the boots to Punk, trying to stretch the limits of the Champion. I thought for sure, that Punk might be in trouble on many instances, but he managed to pull one out and win. Regal is looking smaller now, but that might work for him, as he’s faster now. He must be off the juice, but then again, Regal has never had a lot of definition in his body, so maybe this isn’t all that different, just a tad bit smaller. Punk gets mopped up afterwards as Kane and JBL team up to knock out the champ, after the fact, as if he needs to continually be beaten to earn the right to be the champion. I think that Punk is losing steam, and we might start seeing the beginning of the end of his title reign. I’m not sure If I would bank on Punk being champion for a long time, he just seems to be out numbered at each turn.
Y2J’s Final Highlight Reel: Jericho plays an awesome highlight reel of himself! This was awesome, but too short if you ask me. Jericho is hilarious, and it’s interesting to see the past years of Chris Jericho in the WWE. It was more comedic than in ring, which was stupid, and like I said, it was too short.
Does Chris Jericho really deserve a title shot? I must admit, he did defeat HBK, but come on, does Jericho deserve another shot at the title? Maybe. He did have a title shot when he returned, but maybe it’s time for something new in the title scene, this could be great, but I’m not sure if it’s going to go down the way Jericho thinks.
*It should be noted that Jim Ross comes out to do commentary for the rest of the night alongside Adamle and Lawler. WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James vs. JillianMickie James is just a carbon copy of Trish Stratus. Don’t believe me? Look at her entrance and mannerisms. They seem to be following the former Women’s champion a lot. Jillian has improved a lot, and really impressed me with some indie maneuvers, and maybe the knockouts in TNA are forcing WWE to train their divas a bit more, as this match was a lot more brutal than recent fair, and maybe the WWE Divas don’t suck as bad as I had previously stated. The crowd seems to be a little dead though, but Mickie James seems to get some positive cheers. I’m not convinced that she’s the best in the company, but she’s a lot better than when she initially started in the WWE as a Trish Stratus stalker. Remember that one? Mickie James wins with no major problem, although Jillian did give her a quick and hard match up. Katie Burchill jumps Mickie James afterwards, right in front of James’ father, and then gets on the mic for no apparent reason. I liked when Paul was a pirate, he had more charisma, and then I noticed something. Mickie James just went through a crazy match, right? Sure, but Katie Burchill comes down to ringside does 4 moves and makes Mickie James seem like she just went through hell? Really? Seriously? I guess so.
John Cena and Batista Backstage Segment:Batista and John Cena start arguing, and if this sparks a Cena Heel turn, I’m going to mark out like a little girl! Seriously, Turn Cena HEEL!
John Cena & Batista defeated JBL & KaneBeing there live would have been incredible, watching this match at home, it wasn’t all that great, and the match’s only selling point for me was to see what would develop with Batista and John Cena. That’s all I really care about in this match up. I honestly don’t like tag team matches with partners that are supposedly bickering, and then all of a sudden have to team up. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, and it seems to be the Raw and Smackdown standard. Like I said, being there live would be incredible as the emotion of the ring is just over powering, however on television, the only thing I cared about was Cena and Batista. The debate was on heavy in my head, and then I remembered, the General Manager has been teased throughout the whole time! So that added a third element to the madness as well. You knew the ending before the match was over. Cena with the win, the kids will most likely go out and buy more merch. Lame. I think Batista and Cena’s rivalry could have come into play with a massive heel turn. I’m reminded of the classic Ric Flair turns in these matches, where he would get tagged in, and then BOOM the turn! I always liked those. You always saw them coming.
The new General Manager of Raw is:
MIKE ADAMLE!!!!!I kid you not, Mike Adamle is the new general manager of Raw! WTF? Everyone in the building was swerved completely, and everyone was booing. I was booing at my television. Really? Adamle? Of all the people! One thing is for sure, the people were booing the crap out of Adamle, and that was great. I’m not sure if Adamle is going to be the announcer on ECW still, but it’s a wise move to get him away from commentary and into the general manager’s position. Although, I would have preferred someone like Mick Foley, or maybe even Eric Bischoff, but instead we get Adamle, the most hated announcer in the wwe right now.
WWE Raw Quick Results 7/28/2008
Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix def. D-Lo Brown & Kelly Kelly
World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase def. Jerry “The King” Lawler & Michael Cole to retain (World Tag Team Championship Match)
Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston def. Jamie Noble
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk def. William Regal
WWE Women's Champion Mickie James def. Jillian
John Cena & Batista def. JBL & Kane 
What about Raw? It wasn’t half bad at times, and there was a lot of anticipation for the General Manager. I thought for sure it was going to be someone else, maybe even Shane McMahon. Why wasn’t it Shane? Most likely he is busy because he’s head of Multimedia/Interactive Media Design for the WWE, and my dream boss. Why not Vince? He’s overloaded previously. Why not Stephanie? She just had a kid didn’t she? Oh well.
The matches on Raw were short and to the point, furthering story lines rather than pushing athleticism. Oddly enough, no signs of London, Snitsky, Rey Mysterio Jr, and many other Raw wrestlers. In fact, the show was devoid of any new and/or scarcely used mid carders with the exception of Jamie Noble, who was quickly squashed fast.
The best part of Raw is hard to say. I’m not sure if there was a best part this week. All the matches weren’t really pushing any limits, and weren’t really creating anything crazy for me. If I had to choose a favorite moment, it would have to be seeing William Regal coming down and giving a good fight to Punk was good, but not the best match that I’ve seen Regal in. Punk narrowly escaping defeat each time reminds me a lot of Hulk Hogan’s entire career, and it shouldn’t be that way in 2008. However, it seems that the WWE is slowly trying to push that style of champion into the forefront. Whatever.
I’m tired.
Raw was ok at best. Nothing too grand. I still want to see more heels, new heels, anything but the same old guys coming through.
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