I know that most of you are used to seeing J-Call’s blog but he is on hiatus so I am stepping in. A little background before we get going, I’ve been watching wrestling since the early 90s and have lived through two glorious eras of WWE product, starting with the the gimmick era. And as the gimmicks began to fade to show the real badasses of the business, I got more enthralled. Not to say that I haven’t fallen out of love with “the business” now and again, but I still believe it is a great sport put on by top-notch athletes who day after day put their body on the line to entertain us.
So without any more BS from me, let’s get down to Raw.
Royal Rumble felt new and exciting, Randy lost to the Great White Wonder, neither Shawn nor Triple H won the Rumble which the majority of spoilers were claiming, hell, even Rey Rey and Taker put on a good match considering how hurt they both are. Now can they keep the momentum through Raw?
The shows starts with a promo from Edge that made him neither a face or a heel. He’s still a little heavy from not being able to work out for six months but he gets a pass. The act just doesn’t work if he is going to be a face, he got a pop for attacking Sheamus but then sits there pulling on his hair and looks crazy . I still want to see where WWE is going with this before I judge, since Edge didn’t pick an opponent for Mania.
Cena vs. Cody Rhodes, not digging the new purple tights but at least they aren’t black like so many other guys. While we have seen Cena and Rhodes, most of the time it’s not 1-on-1 so it felt fresh and ended before it got stale with Cena gaining a spot in the Elimination Chamber. Obvious booking, but strong, I expected to see Randy come down to the ring and beat on Rhodes some more, but it looks like they are building it slow.
Jack Swagger vs. HHH, we haven’t seen much of them against he other but I want more. Swagger held his own, and while everyone knew that Trips was getting the win, Swagger looked like he could pull it out as he dominated most of the match. It was a sloppy finish, but I’ll take it.
HBK cuts a serious promo about losing the Rumble and another shot at Taker. Shawn is one of the best guys on the roster, hands down, he can do the stupid, goofy stuff and play the DX foil and then turn everything and make everyone fan feel for him.
Orton vs. HBK, again a match that we have seen before, but somehow still felt different, especially with Randy playing a face Sunday night against monster heel Sheamus and having the crowd (for the most part) on his side. One of the best moments in this match was the beginning when they would move to the corner, Randy would stare down HBK and HBK would stare right back, it built a ton of tension. Nice rollup (even a little botched) from Randy after the kip-up for the surprise win. Shawn should’ve superkicked someone after the loss, maybe it would’ve been too much two days in a row, but I wanted to see it again.
Ted DiBiase vs. Mark Henry in almost a squash match with Ted winning, it was quick and Henry looked ineffective against DiBiase. And now both Ted and Randy are in the Elimination Chamber. Orton and Ted is being booked for Wrestlemania 26 and if I had to pick a dark horse to blow the roof off the building, this would be it. I have high hopes for Ted DiBiase and I think breaking up Legacy will help him.
Kofi vs. The Big Show, I was excited to see this, how the hell was Kofi going to use his offense against the Big Show. I thought it ended up okay, the small botch on the ropes can happen to anyone, they recovered and made it work. MVP attacked the Miz at ring side, which furthered their story without being intrusive. Again, the finish wasn’t strong but it made sense and it was different, Kofi in the Elimination Chamber, I’ll take it no matter how it happened.
Now came the biggest let down of the show, it’s not that I don’t love Bret Hart being back, but honestly I know he can’t do much, I know he can’t bump or take a hit to the face, I know that he can’t move like he used to, but I want him to. Vince had the better lines between the two, but Bret had a few good lines. We had a chance to see a sharpshooter, but then Batista (WTF?) came out to ruin that, he through some VERY BAD punches at Hart and held him up for Vince… And then………. Nothing, the crowd wanted Cena, Vince looked ready to kill Hart…. And nothing… NOTHING HAPPENED. It was going so strong and then it just ends, like the Sopranos.
Quick Notes
• I’m glad that Bret Hart is back too, and the video package was great the first time, but we have seen it twice a show, every show for a month, that is enough.
• Wiliam Shatner is one of my favorite guest GMs so far, because A) he didn’t screw anything up; B) most of the bits were funny; C) he wasn’t overused. Good job WWE and Captain Kirk.
• Jack Brisco video package was nice and well done, WWE always puts together nice packages when they lose one of their own, as long as they want to. Did you know that Ludwig Borga died a few weeks ago?
• The Straigtedge Society vs. Miz and Big Show vs. DX for next week on Raw. I’m calling it right now that SES gets the win. Shawn’s heart won’t be in the match, Big Show just had the belts with Jericho for a long time, and CM Punk’s gimmick on Smackdown is taking off (as evidenced at the Royal Rumble).
• Maryse, while hot, should never talk, unless it’s in French, she is irritating as hell and sounds like she is mentally handicapped when she speaks English, there I’ve said it, it’s over.
No comments:
Post a Comment