Kace’s Countdown – Raw (6/11/2007)
On the day I was gonna deal with TNA Impact, things just sorta happened that took prominence. Eventually I’ll get around to covering SmackDown as well…but dangit, it’s on Fridays and on Fridays I’m usually having to deal with other issues. Such is the life of Kace. This edition of Raw went 3 hours, so I decided to make this a Top 10 instead of the usual 5. Some good, some bad, some just…downright disturbing. Y’know…like Raw normally is, only longer.
Other stuff of note, ‘fore we get goin’ here…
Kudos to NASCAR for making the Pocono race last long enough to ensure Jeff Gordon getting a win. Sure there shoulda been a caution in there not long before, but a member of Hendrick was ahead…had someone like Jamie McMurray been ahead at the time, there mighta been a caution. There’s a reason Tony Stewart likened NASCAR to Professional Wrestling. Then again, I think all Pro Sports could be likened to Professional Wrestling and how it’s all booked. If so, then that might explain the Anaheim Ducks being booked to win the Stanley Cup, seeing as the NHL’s still trying to pick itself up off the floor and moving the Cup next door to one of THE Major markets in the United States I guess they figure helps them out (booking the Kings to win mighta been too obvious…giving it to the Rangers would have).
I’ll deal with David Stern’s booking prowess after the NBA Finals are done.
Linkage
Andy Wheeler gives his thoughts on the WWE Draft…for your consideration, of course. Thanks for the kind words, by the way…though this week’s edition of Raw will have memorable moments that I don’t necessarily dig. Just goes to show that not all memories are good ones as this edition of the Countdown shall indicate.
James Hatton rabblelizes with his cast of usual suspects as Raw takes place. “‘Rikishi did it!’ – Hernandez,” is hands down, the quote of the day.
PAW is back up at the forums! So all you Efedders out there (and you know who you are), get on in there and join in the fun. I’ll be rejoining the fun as well, soon enough. But if anyone asks, just tell the others that my character became a TV celebrity. ‘Course if I had my way, I’d be in Vancouver right now, at a certain studio, taking part in Season 5 filming.
And while the Sopranos fans are mourning the loss of their program, for me it’s simply 208 days ’til Season 5.
Top 10 Moments Of Raw – 6/11/2007
Also Ran Moments & Thoughts
If ever there were a reason to watch SmackDown, that would be for John Bradshaw Layfield. He got the line of the night by telling Michael Cole, “Anyone could be drafted to any brand. I hope you get drafted to OVW.”
Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Shiek gave…interesting speeches, though all I could understand was Snuka saying, “Brudda,” which reminded me of Allan Sherman. And if you don’t know who Allan Sherman is, your parents owe you an apology. I admit, I kept waiting for Iron to go off on another B. Brian Blair rant and yell, “(CENSORED) you ass, make you humble!!!” Eh well, maybe next time.
WWE Vengeance has a nice Raw Main Event planned. It will be John Cena (WWE Heavyweight Champion) Vs Mick Foley (Former WWF Heavyweight Champion) Vs Randy Orton (Former World Heavyweight Champion) Vs Bobby Lashley (Former ECW World Champion) Vs King Booker (Former World Heavyweight Champion) for Cena’s WWE Heavyweight Championship. Not bad, and with Foley in there, it could get real fun, real quick.
I’ll go through my choices for Top 5 Draft Picks after we’re done with the Top 10 Moments, so let’s get to it.
#10 – Kevin Thorn Enters The Battle Royal With No ECW Shirt
While the Tribranded Battle Royal eventually came down to an every man for himself mentality, there was initially the issue of brand loyalty. With one simple statement with no words necessary, Thorn extended his Lone Vintrue schtick by arriving for the Battle without his ECW shirt on. The rest of ECW, including the New Breed 2.0 and ECW Originals had theirs on. All of Raw and SmackDown’s had theirs on, even Randy Orton. But Thorn? No shirt. He had his robe instead and once he disrobed, if there was an ECW shirt on, then he discarded it fairly quickly to show that he stands not for ECW, but for himself. “Welcome, my friend to the Little Things that kill.”
#9 – The Great Khali Drafted To SmackDown
After a hardfought Countout victory for SmackDown by Edge over John Cena, the brand gets the 1st random pick in the WWE Draft. Edge looks toward the stage to see who’s coming over. Surely it would be someone that Edge could deal with. The pick was revealed to be Khali and Edge’s reaction tells the story well. Suddenly, the viewer is reminded of an unconscious Edge lying on the floor, courtesy of the monster that now was following him to safely guarded land of SmackDown. With another match with Dave Batista looming and now the knowledge of the man who had brutally attacked him heading to his new home, fear began to overtake Edge, with his thoughts possibly being, “How am I gonna make it through the Summer?”
#8 – Jesse Ventura’s McMahon Appreciation Speech
The man who should run for President made an appearance on the show and that’s good enough for me. Minnesota’s former Governor, who was last seen being interviewed by Alex Jones online gave his thoughts on, “McMahon,” as he had always called him in the past. Ventura likens Vince McMahon to a Dictator, then mentions that the World only has one true Dictator…and it can’t be McMahon since he doesn’t have a beard. Castro?
#7 – Montel Vontavious Porter Defeats Santino Marella
The WWE United States Champion versus the WWE Intercontinental Champion. That in itself makes this rather memorable. The match itself wasn’t all that bad and with Santino in there, we’re gonna get something different automatically. Marella’s had a run of good luck, but against Porter, a man who’s been seasoned a bit after a series of grueling matches against Chris Benoit, he had no chance. Still, a good effort and a decent performance try by both men. Put them on the same show and they could have a decent rivalry.
#6 – Bobby Lashley Defeats Chris Benoit
Speaking of something different, here we have what would be two wrestlers representing their respective shows for the last time (for now), with Lashley representing ECW and Benoit representing SmackDown. While Marella Vs Porter gave us one kind of different, Benoit Vs Lashley gave us another kind. It was the match of the night, with Benoit almost getting the win, Lashley hitting the Powerslam for the win and then with Benoit being Drafted to ECW immediately afterwards, Benoit being welcomed by Lashley with a handshake in a show of respect. It’s good to be able to emphasize the Sports in Sports Entertainment.
#5 – Mark Henry Eliminates Viscera
The Battle Royal had its moments, but bigger than Randy Orton eventually winning it for Raw or Kevin Thorn’s silent statement was the inevitable big man fight. With everyone else in the ring discarded to the mat, Henry and Viscera stand face to face. “Looks like King just met Kong,” by Layfield sets the tone perfectly on commentary. They fight and try to prove who the stronger man is. They both wind up near the ropes and it’s here where Henry proves his dominance, forcing Viscera over and out. In the World of Professional Wrestling, sometimes being able to maintain a persona is almost just as important as winning a Championship belt. For Henry, his Championship Belt is being Wrestling’s Strongest Man. Singlehandedly disposing of Viscera with pure power helped put that idea over even more.
#4 – Ashley Massaro Presents…Bark Like A Dog!
Ashley’s suspended indefinetly by Vince, so she decides to make the fans suffer for this. First, we’re reminded that Trish Stratus is no longer around, as we’re shown a highlight from 2001 where Stratus was forced by McMahon to bark on all fours, then remove some of her clothing (by the way, this was the Raw where Paul Heyman arrived as Jerry Lawler’s temporary replacement on Color Commentary with Jim Ross). After that, we’re introduced to the Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young, continuing to tarnish their legacy by going to the stage and doing their own barking on all fours. What does it say for Women’s Wrestling when two of its pioneers are reduced to being a couple of old women barking like dogs for bad comedy? David McLaine could arrive, introducing a Middle Eastern terrorist woman wrestler and it wouldn’t be as bad in taste as this. Then again, I kinda liked Pali Alizar (Palestina in GLOW, “The Syrian Terrorist” Pali Alizar in POWW). If not for Shimmer being around, there may be no hope for Women’s Wrestling at all.
#3 – Bret Hart’s McMahon Speech
I guess they’re babysteps to Bret being part of WWE again in some faculty. Bret speaks his mind about McMahon and how he’d like to take out some violent retribution on him, with Jim Ross chiming in on how Bret was actually kind compared to what he was expecting. And hey, it’s Bret on WWE TV so at least our Canadian friends can hold off on burning the White House down a second time for now.
#2 – Bobby Lashley Drafted To Raw, Then Stripped Of The ECW World Championship
Somewhere, Rhino is laughing. Just an hour earlier, Lashley was helping ECW garner a draft choice in a match against the man who would actually be said draft choice, Chris Benoit. Now, Lashley finds himself going to Raw, officially…despite being on Raw already for the past few months, feuding with Vince McMahon. With Lashley officially no longer part of ECW, Jonathan Coachman arrives immediately to inform Lashley that he is no longer ECW Champion. Unlike the other two World Titles, the ECW one stays in ECW. Lashley vows to be a Champion on Raw, possibly sending a veiled challenge to WWE Heavyweight Champion (and Raw’s own) John Cena.
#1 – Boom Goes The Vince
Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night didn’t go too well, but I guess that was the idea all along. With only Mark Cuban giving any real, decent praise in a line of former wrestlers and celebrities, McMahon in his eerie state of mind walks to the ring to address the crowd. He looks out to the booing masses and then calmly leaves. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are concerned on commentary as Vince walks to the back where nearly the entire WWE roster waits, looking at him. He’s pointed towards the direction of his waiting limo outside and walks closer to it, stopping momentarily where his loyal allies, Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson are standing, saying nothing. He walks outside and slowly makes his way to the limo. He shuts the door and the limo explodes. Well…if you’re gonna go, might as well be with a bang. Granted, had this been the Sopranos, we would have seen Vince about to stop where Patterson & Brisco were and then have the screen go blank. Say what ya will, but that’s the kind of ending that leaves an impression.
Top 5 Draft Picks
#5 – The Great Khali – SmackDown
He did what he could for Raw and now he’s going back home to SmackDown, where he can put the fear of God into Edge again and possibly serve as a monstrous foil for the Undertaker once again (and remembering Undertaker’s dragonslayer speech from Raw ’bout 9 years back, it just seems to make sense). Khali’s becoming something of a main villain character in a horror movie series. You think he’s gone and then he comes right back to destroy some more.
#4 – The Boogeyman – ECW
Well, it makes sense. He IS the Boogeyman…and it IS Sci Fi. It’s a perfect fit. A gross one, but a perfect one.
#3 – Ric Flair – SmackDown
After being part of Raw since the initial brand split in 2002, the, “Nature Boy,” finally gets a change of scenery. Torrie Wilson’s also going to SmackDown, so they can still hang out and not have to worry about Carlito Colon so much. All we need now is a segment that has Layfield and Flair talking and it’s instant gold.
#2 – Bobby Lashley – Raw
Lashley’s pretty much been an unofficial part of Raw for months now, so now with him free of his ECW responsibilities, he can continue on with his rise to stardom in a new, but very familiar environment, where a vengeful Jonathan Coachman will undoubtedly be there to provide the role of antagonist. With Gene Snitsky also being moved back home to Raw, that also means that the inevitable matchup between Lashley and Snitsky is still just that.
#1 – Chris Benoit – ECW
For Benoit, it’s a homecoming to the name where he finally started to earn respect in the United States. With the ECW World Championship now vacated, that also means that Benoit, still fresh off of a nice WWE United States Title reign is already one of the frontrunners to a belt he never really had a chance to pursue during his time in ECW: Original Recipe.
So…
Raw gains King Booker, Bobby Lashley, Gene Snitsky & Ken Kennedy while losing the Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters & Ric Flair, all to SmackDown.
SmackDown gains Khali, Wilson, Masters and Flair, while losing Booker & Kennedy to Raw, as well as the Boogeyman & Chris Benoit to ECW.
ECW gains Boogeyman and Benoit, while losing Snitsky and Lashley.
For now, I’ll say ECW benefits the most as they get a little of both Worlds…”ECW” (Benoit) and, “On Sci Fi” (Boogeyman).
Speaking of ECW, I’ll tackle that tomorrow. For now, I’ll see ya tonight for the Kace Evers Experience on BCNI-FM, from 6 to 9 Eastern tonight!
