RAW this week from Texas Tech University kicked off with a McMahon bait and switch with the hyped and anticipated scheduled for TV opening match with Triple H versus John Cena for the WWE Title match to open the show. With McMahon’s tweaking, the one on one became John Cena and Rob Van Dam versus Triple H, Shelton Benjamin and Chris Masters for the WWE and IC Title ‘First Ever’ Texas Tornado match. After the Texas crowd were stunned by feeling cheated out of their money, they got to see some fast paced action and combinations that rarely included John Cena. This match was good action and a good way to open the show. The match also gave the fans a IC Title change to Shelton Benjamin (from RVD) while at the same time Triple H had Cena’s shoulders down for a three but the referee didn’t see it.
Triple H kept his creditability for being in the WWE main event picture with a almost victory against John Cena and a nice Pedigree against the referee for good D-X measure. But what do Shelton Benjamin, Rob Van Dam and Chris Masters get from this “opening card main event roster” rub? RVD still has his Money In The Bank to cash in, most likely at the ECW One Night Stand. Shelton Benjamin has the IC belt back with no real direction to who he will face unless it’s a rematch against RVD and Chris Masters. Chris Masters still looks lost in the ring and I’m not confident WWE has a clear idea how to make the most of him right now.
Later in the show, Trish Stratus called out Mickie James which turned into a surprise attack from Beth again with Trish saying she wasn’t the only one who was screwed over. Mickie screamed and hyperventilated and nothing else was explained. Beth doesn’t have to say anything, she looks like Chyna Meets Sable 2006. I’m concerned with the direction of this without more explanation to the “relationship” between Mickie and Beth. Is Beth Trish’s equal or is she her bodyguard? Fresh faces in the WWE Women’s Division are always a good thing but why not put Victoria to use? Last time I checked, she can wrestle too.
Afterwards, we got to see more promo packages for See No Evil. If you missed it, don’t worry, they showed it again at least two more times during the show. I don’t plan to go out of my way to see the movie, however, every time they show Kane going after a guy face first with a axe, it looks brutal.
I’m amused when the WWE tries to make us believe there is a desire within the roster to be WWE Tag Team Champions when there are never more than three tag teams per television brand. A surprise would be having Goldust and Gene Snitsky defeating the Spirit Squad, but the fans have to care one way or the other about the tag team championships. The match itself was pretty good, but I don’t feel there was enough setup to allow fans to believe that there was a chance that the Spirit Squad would lose. That’s a constant problem in WWE matches that aren’t on the big pay per views: there isn’t an established feeling of ‘well maybe they won’t win.’ In general, if a big title change would occur that isn’t predictable, WWE fans would feel more naturally inclined to never miss a show or a pay per view. The element of surprise is lost on today’s booking.
A major highlight of RAW and most likely the segment that everyone will be taking about is Mick Foley and Terry Funk. Give something for Mick to feel passionate about and he can do wonders. I enjoyed Mick’s delivery, the weaving of his personal history with Terry Funk and the unpredictable nature of being paired with another Hardcore Legend in a promo. This is a good way to keep the momentum going for the ECW PPV. Hopefully WWE can keep it going without it feeling forced or stale for the success of the wrestlers who are getting new contracts out of the ECW return. What I wish WWE would actually use old video packages of the past, from ECW, and put them into the storyline for those who need the reference. This is something I’ve said that WWE should have done the moment they bought all of the video libraries from World Championship Wrestling and ECW, by making the current storylines and past history of the wrestlers connected in a universal matter, acknowledging that most of the roster have worked their way into the WWE.
Matt Striker versus Eugene and Umaga versus Chris Wellman were both nothing more than glorified filler. Striker gets heel teacher heat which naturally works for him and Umaga is on the 80s monster push where it seems like time freezes during his match. I couldn’t help but ponder during Eugene’s match that when Nick Dinsmore signed his contract with the WWE he thought he would be stuck in a gimmick, limited to mimicking others instead of being a athlete compared to Chris Benoit as he was in OVW.
In Phil Clark and J.D. Speich’s The Reality of Wrestling, the topic of discussion was whether or not Degeneration X should reunite. Though I see both sides of the argument, I lean toward J.D’s view that D-X should be brought back together. The natural progression of the current programs that both Shawn Michaels and Triple H are in, share the fact that both are regularly being screwed over by Vince McMahon. Neither Triple H or Shawn Michaels need a stable for their careers at this point, however, it has potential to be fun and finally see the faces get the upper hand on the McMahon family.
However, there’s something tiring to keep seeing McMahon in a heel and ‘general manager’ role, knowing somehow the Spirit Squad are going to be involved. John Cena would best serve being the heel answer to D-X with Vince McMahon, giving Cena months of incredible heat and would make the boos fresh again in a way that WWE could control. It’s not too late to make Cena the Corporate Champion, and Vince McMahon could justify having Cena on his side for the money Cena brings in as well as being in style for supporting John Cena when the world wouldn’t. WWE has done a great job protecting Cena as well as not having Cena directly against Vince McMahon at all in quite some time. Another fun twist would be having Cena swerve D-X by pretending to join, doing the crotch chop then doing the turn against D-X and the fans to join Vince McMahon.
The main event this week was Kenny of the Spirit Squad versus HBK with Triple H looking like a pissed off statue at ringside. Ultimately, the main event was waiting for the finish so we could see how Triple H wasn’t going to actually hit Shawn Michaels with the sledgehammer. Predictable yes, but effective for the purpose of pushing the world closer to a D-X reunion.
Thanks to all those who tune into the Big E Sports show at Rockland World Radio every Tuesday between 7-8 EST to hear hosts Erik Fenton, Dave Lagreca and myself discuss professional wrestling and whatever else is going on! I wasn’t the only lady on this week, where I also got to share the airwaves with another special guest, the lovely Lisa Zimmerman of Sirius NFL Radio! You just never know what we’re going to talk about next.
Always remember, for things to change, you have to make movement. Thanks for reading and for all the feedback, feel free to contact me anytime at Bam@4sternstaging.com.
