Out of all the shows in the last few weeks, this week’s RAW was the weakest.
How can they have a less than strong RAW before Saturday Night’s Main Event and expect good ratings? The match of the night was Trish
Stratus versus Melina. It’s no secret that I’m a supporter of Trish Stratus, but I was completely unsure if I really wanted to see Melina perform in the ring again. They actually had a passable match that I’m sure surprised many people, with a nice flow and the crowd seemed into it. The rest of the “matches” were pretty bland, with a strange swerve with Lilian Garcia channeling Miss Elizabeth and taking a bump from Viscera as Charlie “Warrior Nation” Haas smiled in delight. The once feuding misfits, who wanted to be “more than friends” with the singer is way better than Brooke Hogan, leaving together pleased. Huh? Lilian needs to be “friends” with Mickie James or something, this is ridiculous.
There was power, however, in the Ric Flair/Mick Foley promo. It was great to see them back on television again and I’m genuinely excited about this storyline and hope it continues. Foley is able to passionately care about his legacy in comparison’s Flair, Flair wanting Foley to have a joke of a career and Foley wanting to prove that he should be respected as a hardcore legend, former WWE champion on three different occasions and New York Times best selling author. With Big Show challenging Ric Flair for the ECW Title, it’s clear that Mick will do a run-in on ECW television. It’ll be interesting to see if WWE books Flair as having a offense against Show or will he bump around for Show but create the illusion that maybe the Nature Boy can make history. Show gave himself his place in history as the first guy to hold the WCW World Championship, the WWE Championship and now the ECW Championship which was a important point to get across. I would have liked to hear a detailed explanation to why Heyman backed Show against RVD but maybe they are saving it for when RVD returns.
The writers had a chance to have Show explain how this was his plan all along when he joined ECW, to show some storyline continuity to how he turned to ECW in the first place. Show could have really sold that the WWE hasn’t given him heavyweight champion opportunities, and a chance to draw an emotional promo in the ring with Ric Flair, further adding to the emotional intensity Foley gave. Foley could easily be the MVP of the night, because he had the most memorable non-wrestling segment on RAW.
Using Eugene as the McMahon Whipping Boy this week at least saved us from having Eugene as the Umaga Whipping Boy. I enjoyed the cute Dr. Issac Yankem reference, wondering how many people in the audience made the connection and I thought for sure that at the end, Triple H and Shawn
Michaels were going to let Eugene do the Crotch Chop. The Net idea was way too cartoonish for me and what would have happened if somehow D-Generation X had fallen for it? Two grown men can’t escape a net before the Spirit Squad can run down and jump them? This does bring to light how the McMahons needs to back new heels besides the Spirit Squad for the D-X storyline to continue. The fans can only tune in to see Triple H and Shawn Michaels face the Spirit Squad so many times. Hopefully Saturday will be the last time for a while.
The strong heel of the night is still the Rated R Superstar. He shines in this role and I would like to see him not be the belt warmer again for someone else. He has a strong character that hasn’t been compromised, which is key to a successful character. Characters are compromised easily and
way too soon in pro wrestling today. John Cena and Edge have the emotions of the fans to work a strong storyline together and if Edge must drop the belt to Cena, I would like to see Edge and Lita split as a consequence. I would like to see Lita make a transition back into women’s wrestling again instead of being a valet.
My main complaint of the night is the 2006 Diva Search. From The Miz, who couldn’t remember the script without it being written on his wrist and was embarrassing in his own right, to the girls themselves. I’ve had enough of the Diva Search. It’s a slap in the face to all the women who have worked their way up or have taken the time to take their craft seriously, such as Mickie James, Trish Stratus, Victoria, among others. These divas may just be the worst “cast” of them all. The one who said she always wanted to be a wrestler (Milena) I’m the most curious about, but her name is too much like Melina’s and that could be a problem. She has a exotic look to her and that was the most refreshing. She should have named old school wrestlers to prove she watched the product, spouted off wrestling stats, something, besides saying it was her lifelong dream. I want her to prove it to me. I want the rest to go away unless they get their act together next week. The rest all look alike, they can’t talk, there’s nothing special about them that says “WWE” and it angers me that there is going to be a block of time each week devoted to pay fans to vote for their favorite bimbo. Boo the hell out of it, WWE should be paying their talent this money or getting talent from the independents, not hire another worthless diva. But mostly, I’d like them to go away, back to their bikini contests and modeling careers.
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