The purpose of bringing brands together, should be to create and establish new storylines. Vince McMahon had three hours and had the night loaded with wrestlers from all his brands to give the show a “big time” feel. I like the new opener and it’s about time they get a new song after all these seasons. I had high expectations for the show, it’s almost as long as WrestleMania and one of the few times all the brands are on together. Technically it’s a dream, to see all the rosters together again, and I wish it would happen more often. Sometimes, they delivered, sometimes it felt like just another show. Is that because the show itself was bland or are we as wrestling fans oversaturated with wrestling being on three times a week?
The opening segment I thought was the WWE’s way to poke fun at itself. A wrestling company who turns into a movie machine. A lot of the material was obvious, but sometimes, that’s part of the fun. I feel like we’ve seen this segment before somewhere. It seems more fun if Stone Cold Steve Austin had been involved. However, it’s important to have all three champions in the ring together, who is THE BEST idea. Who can argue with Big Show’s size? I was surprised he didn’t bring up being the only man in the ring who held the world title in WWE, ECW and WCW fact again. However, he’s not the greatest promo guy in the ring (that honor goes to John Cena, believe it or not) and to say he’s better than Andre, was a interesting quip to just throw out there. Booker T is a great natural entertainer, he’s the only one who I feel in the company today who could really sell this disillusioned I’m now a Brit and I’m King of the world, gimmick he’s in since King of the Ring. John Cena is John Cena, the rapper now movie star who uses his “word life” personality and sexual quips to get over. Later in the show, Vince established the three-way dance for the Cyber Sunday PPV in November, but in the meantime, for free, we get Big Show versus Jeff Hardy, RVD versus Booker T and John Cena versus Undertaker. The man who had the most to lose from this set up was Jeff Hardy. He just won the Intercontential belt and it was obvious he can’t pin the Big Show because that would kill Big Show’s momentum. RVD and Booker T was anything new, didn’t we see them wrestle on Smackdown? John Cena and Undertaker may have fought on Smackdown before, when John Cena was a heel maybe, but at least it felt like a challenge, though it was obvious interference would have to happen.
Kane leaving RAW I’m mixed on, maybe that’s for the best because Umaga is the newer character of the two, but what is Kane going to do on Smackdown (if he ends up there)? Feud with Boogie Man when he comes back? I would have rather seen Umaga on Smackdown, to challenge the monsters on that show. If Kane goes to ECW, would he be expected to job to the Big Show?
DX was DX, and I can’t argue with them taking advantage of their situation, being in the home of the Gamecocks. I also enjoyed the apology, telling the obvious truth that there wasn’t much of a tag team division to destroy. That’s tragic in itself, the fact that WWE acknowledges and the writers let something that used to matter so much in the 80s and earlier, where the tag team champions were as much as the main event draws as the Ric Flairs and the Hulk Hogans. So why not let DX beat the Spirit Squad? It’s not even mentioned anymore that the Spirit Squad have the belts, because the belts as props have become that watered down.
WWE had a chance to strike up a new storyline with Eric Bischoff, promote his book and make waves on the shows about what he would be able to do in old-WCW country and call out Vince McMahon, but none of that happened.
The feel good moment of the show for the Mid-Atlantic hot bed that indeed made the night special, was the Flair Homecoming with Arn Anderson (quite the pop), IRS (that was a surprise but he is in good shape, better than most of his peers that have retired), Ted Dibiase (I miss his gimmick so much – everyone’s got a price!) and Roddy Piper (always the man). Kudos for WWE for making this moment happen. Having watch some of my Flair’s WWE DVD set that I finally acquired this weekend, it’s amazing how wrestling has evolved over the years. The psychology in the 80s were so strong, the pacing was slower, the announcers were able to concentrate on the wrestling instead of plugging products and the crowds were naturally into the storylines. I will write more on the Flair DVD in the upcoming weeks.
I like the fact Edge finally starts a alliance with someone, even if it’s Randy Orton and somehow Triple H is the bridge to their problems. Clever way to keep Triple H’s name in the title picture, and I keep wondering when he is going to step up and get his title back. Last night seemed like the right time, to at least start a new storyline, to show that Triple H’s goals are higher than not going for any gold. That was my main problem with last night, it had a big show feel but no real results of freshening the storylines on all the brands. I do believe RAW will get a strong rating (especially when flipping to football, how boring that game was), and Vince will be happy with that.
I’m still waiting for the shake up.
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.
