What will people remember from RAW this week? Two things: Vince McMahon’s illegitimate child is someone on the WWE roster and MSG fans love and hate Cena each and every time the WWE is in their house. The Vince McMahon illegitimate child angle can be entertaining for a while so expect it to last for at least a month. The rumor mill has been buzzing it would be Mr. Kennedy, and the cameras teased it, so chances are, it’s a swerve. It also means lots of McMahon face time with Stephanie, Linda and probably Shane. It’s almost too bad they aren’t publicly playing up Stephanie’s relationship with Triple H because the jabs would be funny. They have to make this good though because we’ve been taken on so many rides this year as fans with stupid angles, that a little relief would be nice.
What I miss most about the state of wrestling now and fifteen years ago is the lack of competition FOR THE ACTUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. Each division is locked in a “one at a time” feud for the title. There used to be days, in the tag team division for example, where tag teams would climb the ladder, and cut promos saying they were going after the tag team titles. That’s no longer a goal in any division. Yet, squash matches live on! Snitsky gets to squash random jobbers for no apparent reason. Guys in mid-push lose ground! Like Sandman who was getting a unexplained push anyway, to lose to Mr. Kennedy who is just climbing up the invisible ladder after sidelining Lashley.
The only guy who has another belt that won’t be defended right now because he’s in the main event picture is Umaga and his IC Belt. No one even notices he has a championship to even bother trying to take it from. Meanwhile, WWE pushes the entertainment some more with WWE Idol. Santino is becoming a good Chris Candido type heel and is playing the paranoid, overprotected male appropriately. Throwing Ron Simmons in the mix is a nice touch and if it means we can look forward to him briefly returning to the ring, all the better. The only surprise was the WWE Idol wasn’t a vehicle for Lilian Garcia to push her new album coming soon and it’s amazing Iron Sheik can be trusted to go on the air with his wacky tirades at indy shows.
Did you know that WWE is on Saturday night on NBC for Saturday Night Main Event? It’s amazing to get locked into a good partnership with NBC and yet hardly promote it. ECW’s programming gets a bigger push then that.
Cody Rhodes and Charlie Haas was a bad idea in so many ways. On his worst day, Haas has more ability than Rhodes. But it’s not enough to make this a good match. Rhodes has the offense of a novice wrestling video game player. There wasn’t much chemistry here and there’s not enough chemistry with Rhodes and the fans right now to justify a push. I don’t know what to do with him, other than put him on Smackdown, so let me get back to you on that.
The big but not so surprising news is at SummerSlam, Triple H returns to wrestle King Booker. That will be good. Booker goes nuts and flips out and that was a good buildup with some Triple H chants in the background. I’m glad the Game’s returning (though I don’t need to be reminded four or so times in a two hour broadcast) and I’m looking forward to this feud.
It’s no secret I’m sick of Cena’s lack of ability to sell during his match. The crowd made the tag team main event match with Cena and Umaga versus Orton and Carlito, with their passionate chants for and against Cena. I think they are doing the right buildup with Orton with the Legend Killer packages and the fans can get behind establishing Orton has the heel anyway. The next week of wrestling will really tell a lot of how hot SummerSlam will really be.
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.
