RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling Raw review

First of all: The Jericho/Christian/Trish story is the greatest angle Raw has come up with in quite some time.

I mean, it's the oldest story in the book. Two best friends divided over a girl. We have a hero, a villain, and a fair maiden. It's classic. And they're pulling it off superbly. It just needs to pay off well at the end, and not fizzle out...

Christian stealing Jericho's rose and giving it to Trish was good. Sure, I saw it coming, but the entire arena was booing him there. While Jericho was in the hospital because he sacrificed himself to save Trish. It's fantastic.

The match with Kane was great. I mean, Jericho didn't get a whole lot of offense in and it ended in a no contest and stuff. It wasn't an entertaining match in the usual sense. I just mean Jericho played the injured knee thing perfectly. Kane dropping him on it and stuff just looked incredibly painful. He sold it well.

Evolution beat down Mick Foley for ages. And ages. It just kept going. Without the expected run in. It was kind of depressing. This better have a great payoff for Foley at Wrestlemania.

The opening match was RVD and Booker T versus Batista and Flair for the tag belts. The match started real slow, and a couple of the spots looked a little clumsy. But it picked up pace halfway through, and Foley's run in added a little extra excitement. The five star leading to the pin by Booker was great, and the two stars had the crowd eating out of their hand when they won their much-deserved title belts.

There was a women's title match. It was very short. Jazz didn't do much. Victoria rolled up Molly. Um... yeah. Most of the ladies continue to impress, and deserve some better angles.

The main event was Benoit vs Shawn Michaels. Again, the match started slow but picked up pace. Both men impressed. Some great submission holds near the end.

But the damn thing ended when Triple H came out and distracted Benoit. The finish seemed tainted by this. Couldn't we just have a main event- for once- when the winner is decided simply by whoever is the better man on the night? This match would've been perfect for it. Either man could have won this match and it wouldn't really hurt the other's image. They both looked damn good.

I'm sure other stuff happened... Test did something or other... some Undertaker promo thing happened while I was on the phone... Vince wants to fight Eric or something. I dunno.

I work evenings now so this was the first Raw I've seen in a while. And I don't think I've missed much. As a matter of fact, it doesn't seem like I'm missing anything by reading the synopsis off the site on Tuesday. Raw's become...boring.

I missed the first two matches, so I can't comment on them. Would've liked to have seen the tag titles swap. I'm sick of this new Kane. Hell, I've been sick of Kane for a while. So somehow I don't really think I missed much.

The ladies' tag match was okay. Fit Finley's worked wonders on the women's division in terms of technical prowess and giving a solid match. The wrestling itself was mostly solid, but there didn't seem to be any drama - nothing at stake. It was just filler. Victoria's dominance in the match just showed me how overrated Trish is. Great tits and a pretty face, but Victoria is the one who I think could really carry this division (well, her and Lita, Molly, and Jazz) And Test...well Test can fuck right off. Why he hasn't been shit-canned is a mystery to me.

The Benoit/Michaels match had flashes of brilliance, good wrestling, and a crap ending. Triple-H used to be one of my favorites. Now I halfway hope his quad will give out again. Couldn't we have just been treated to a great match without the PPV commercial?

Austin. The term "phonin' it in" applies.

I think four matches and a Mick Foley beat-down over a 2+ hour show is cheating the audience. I remember when there were more matches and time for story/interview/backstage footage in the same timeslot. Now, these shows are just plugs for the next PPV. And that just sucks. Which got me thinkin':

Remember when the WWF/E and WCW programs were exciting to watch? Remember when you tuned in knowing that you had NO CLUE what was gonna happen from week-to-week? Maybe DX would spoof the NOD or WCW. Maybe the nWo would wreak havoc throughout Nitro. Maybe Austin would pop up when you least expected it. You didn't know, and that was cool because there would inevitably be some killer payoff that would force you to watch next week.

When was the last time you felt like that? Really?

Here are some things I'd like to see. Just some stuff that I think would spice up these shows...

1) The return of the 4-Horsemen. Not this watered-down "Evolution" shit that keeps getting forced down our throats. I mean the REAL 4-Horsemen. Granted, Arn, Ole, and Tully aren't coming back. Nor is Barry, Sid, or (shudder) Lex and Sting. But this is still possible. Check this out: Ric, seeing that Triple-H is, at best, a paper champ, decides to take things into his own hands. He goes to Arn and they chat about the old times. About ruling the wrestling world. And he decides that there needs to be a change, and that he needs to be at the head of it. So he recruits a new group of four: Randy Orton (who picks up the Flair mantle), Chris Benoit (the enforcer and last great member of the WCW incarnation), and Jericho/Christian (a great tag-team that just seems to be wasting). The recruiting takes place behind the scenes. As a matter of fact, the viewers and the audience don't even really see it happen. Until they strike...and take out Triple-H. Ric stays on as the advisor to this group, and they run all OVER the WWE. Their only goal is wrestling dominance and anyone, EVERYONE , is a potential target.

Either that or a "Dangerous Alliance"-type group. A group that could strike at any time and was actually stronger than the head honchos. A team that would laugh at "suspensions" and do whatever they damn-well pleased.

2) A SERIOUS Women's Division. I like T&A as much as the next guy. And I'm the first to say I'd love to see Victoria in Playboy. But there are some solid lady-wrestlers who are improving with every show and not much of a showcase for them. So give them the spotlight. Give the ladies who can wrestle a chance to seriously compete. Bring Linda Miles and Nidia (maybe) over to Raw and send Stacy over to Smackdown. Stop making Jackie Gayda a joke (RICO?!?!?!?), and let her compete. Let Smackdown have the T&A matches and give Raw a truly competitive Women's belt. And cut the shit with the fucking soap opera! It's not helping anyone's view of Trish and it's a waste of Jericho and Christian's talents.

3) More matches!!! Four matches and a cubic-assload of filler is the reason that asses aren't packing the seats anymore. Did you see the upper decks on Monday? Practically vacant. Give us matches and we will come.

4) Dump the deadweight and bring back the studs. Goodbye to Test, Kane, Mark Henry, Heidenreich (sp?), and anyone who can't wrestle in a decent match or perform with a microphone. And bring back Kanyon, and anyone else with the talent to shine if just given the chance...

More to come...

Plus Victoria is not half the wrestler you seem to think she is!
Give Trish credit as well,look how far she has come since her days as just a pretty face,that girl has worked hard to be accepted as a credible wrestler & she aint afraid to take a bump!

I cant believe the audience is still cheering HBK,now thats something that really sucks when you consider that his current angle is actually that of a heel!

the audience seemed pretty pissed at hbk for making the ropes during the sharpshooter. and didnd't sound like they were to pleased with the ending of the match either.

I agree with Nowhereman. So you know something, somewhere, has gone wrong.

Wait your fucking turn, Shawn.

Shawn had his turn bigtime when he won at 10 or 12.

His "Boyhood dream" match where he beat Bret for the title.

Also for Wretslemania I'm hoping for some return of Bret Hart, I would like to see the crew hold Goldturd down so Bret could kick him in his head as hard as possible.

Storyline wise, Michaels has also had two or three shots at Hearst's current title and blown them all. Austin telling him that he deserved the WM shot was just stupid and insulting, and for once even the biggest marks in the audience aren't buying it. If they were smart, they'd fix this mess as soon as possible(the idea they teased last RAW, with Hearst wrestling either Benoit or Michaels on TV and the winner facing the remaining guy at WM, is what they should've gone with).

Mat warriors get their due!

By Tim Baines - Toronto Sun

Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Two warriors who worked their way up the hard way -- plenty of blood, sweat and tears. Guerrero and Benoit both are deservedly getting a big push by WWE after many years of mat mayhem.

While Benoit went the distance at The Royal Rumble and will get his shot at the world championship in a Triple Threat match against Triple H and Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania, Guerrero is the new WWE champion, defeating Brock Lesnar at last Sunday's No Way Out pay-per-view.

"It's unbelievable. I can't describe how I feel," a tearful Guerrero told wwe.com moments after being handed the belt. "It's my dream come true, more than my dream actually.

"I know all things are possible now. Even though this was a dream of mine, sometimes I wondered if it was too farfetched. You want to grab all your dreams with all your heart, but sometimes they seem so far away that you can't.

"I think I sold myself short in the past, and I hope my victory sends a good message to everyone out there. I really hope it does. Who would ever expect a Chicano, 5-foot-9 and 220 lbs. to win the WWE championship?"

- Here are the other No Way Out results: Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty beat The Basham Brothers and Shaniqua; Jamie Noble removed his blindfold and forced Nidia to tap out; The World's Greatest Tag Team defeated The APA; Hardcore Holly beat Rhyno; Chavo Guerrero won the cruiserweight title from Rey Mysterio; Kurt Angle became the No. 1 contender, forcing John Cena to tap out.

- The Sun newspaper in the U.K. reported that Jake (The Snake) Roberts is being prosecuted for starving his pet python to death. The paper said RSPCA inspectors seized 12-ft. Damien after a tip-off that he was being neglected. The Burmese python died days later. Roberts, 50, denies causing unnecessary suffering. He could be jailed for up to six months.

- Vince McMahon will fight Eric Bischoff tomorrow night on RAW. McMahon also promises to make a "major" announcement.

- The Ultimate Warrior says he will not appear at Wrestlemania. And 1wrestling.com says Bruno Sammartino has turned down an invitation. Could Bret Hart appear? C'mon Bret, give the fans something they'll never forget.

- Don't expect to see Goldberg around WWE much in the near future, except for a likely Wrestlemania match against Lesnar. Goldberg's in Edmonton, filming Santa's Slay, a $4-million independent film, over the next two months. Goldberg plays a homicidal St. Nick. Santa's Slay imagines Kris Kringle as the son of Satan, who has been delivering toys only because he lost a bet with an angel.

- Vince Russo is TNA's new Director of Authority. Joannie Laurer (formerly Chyna)was supposed to appear on Wednesday's TNA show, but the deal fell through.

Why elevate him to main event status if they aint got the confidence in him?
WWE has royally fucked this one up by panicking,either that or HBK n HHH are that egostisical that they feel they are the only people capable of headlining!
This whole fucking HHH/HBK feud has been going on for nearly two years,give it a fucking rest!

The Clique strikes again. Yup. WrestleMania should be a one on one title match. It's the big one. There shouldn't be a need for this kind of thing. Benoit will either lose or pin Michaels so H's can still "look strong."

Well current rumour is that Benoit wont win at WM but will at Backlash in his home town (its the next PPV after WM).
I would expect Michaels to win at WM (and hopefully end the feud) and Benoit will beat him at Backlash.
This will stop HHH from having to job to Benoit & also give the Edmonton crowd something incredibly big to celebrate!

I'd heard that about the Edmonton PPV. I'd just rather have it at WM, personally. The HBK/H's feud needs to go away. . .

Shit. I hate to admit it, but I agree with both Nowhereman AND Grimm! How will this affect my quest for Gold in the RDCW???

I think Helmsley, at this point, is completely played out. Really, what else can you do with him? He barely wrestles, he won't push anyone...and now the only person he'll lose to is Michaels? Bullshit...Benoit probably should have stayed with Smackdown. At least there, with Eddie as champ, he gets legitimate title shots and the fans get interesting matches.

Let me amend my 4-Horsemen idea: instead of them taking out Triple-H, they go after both him and Michaels. Two birds, one stone...

Don't know why people are surprised or whatever at agreeing on this. It's all pretty much stuff everyone's been saying for months and longer.

i'm pretty sure since he is married to steph, cripple h will be stinking up wwe rings for years to come.

This is one of the reasons I prefer guys like Taker,Angle & Austin,at least they are quite happy to not hold the title for long periods of time despite their status in the company (I'm talking bout when Austin was a competeitor in his case)!
It seems to me that HHH & HBK seem to think they have the monopoly on the World title with only Goldturd wearing it cause thats what his contract said when he signed up!
The guys on Raw like Booker,RVD & Y2J gotta be wishing they were on Smackdown these days,they might at least have a chance of the WWE title!

It wasnt that many years ago that you had only one title & it was shared between about six or seven people,now you have two titles & it would seem that most of the time only 4 people are in with a shot!