RAW 4/30
WWE RAW to follow up on what was a very good Backlash on Sunday night threw what could be considered to be a very negative swerve, as it now looks as if we are headed for an ugly title defense at Judgement Day for John Cena, as his new opponent will be none other than - The Great Khali. Yes, it looks as if we are looking at Khali vs Cena, this after Khali laid out the three Backlash challengers - Shawn Michaels, Edge and Randy Orton. The story was that Michaels was to take on Cena, and if he won, he would have a title shot next week. Well, we never got to that since he was laid out backstage by Khali.
Now the shift will turn to Khali, while the awesome back and forth with Michaels and Cena takes a backseat for awhile. All I know is that in watching the back and forth at the end when Kahli came out and was going at it with Cena - it looked ugly. Not good ugly, but "oh my gosh they are giving his guy a title shot" ugly. You could see Cena trying to work with the big man, but the problem is no one can work with Khali and have a solid match, which is why they don't allow him to do very much.
The rest of the show was actually pretty entertaining I thought. We had a great opener with Edge taking on Randy Orton in a match that was supposed to happen last week, but the 60+ minute match with Cena and Michaels, plus the fact that Orton was not even in Europe, made that match impossible to have. The two went back and forth for sometime, with Orton playing the face in the match. He bled hardway on a snake eye move, and then got pinned after a great looking spear. Looks as if Orton is paying for his mistake in Europe, first with the pin at Backlash, then pinned again last night.
The backstage stuff included an interview with new IC champ Santino Marellla, who just kept saying what a dream it was to be IC champ, and that next week he will have his first title defense. At least they stated that he was training to be a wrestler when the "surprise" match took place in Paris, so they are not making it as if this guy has NEVER been in a ring before. They also showed various ECW guys upset about Vince winning the belt. Man does Sandman look old.
Back in the ring, Jeff Hardy won a singles match with Johnny Nitro, with Cade and Murdoch at ringside. The story is that Cade and Murdoch are playing faces, telling the King and JR they respect the Hardys and the better team won Sunday night. I don't buy the face turn for these two, and eventually they will have them do a beat down on the Hardys leading to another title shot down the road. Hardy was offered a handshake by the two after the match, but declined.
They also did Umaga vs RVD, which was pretty good and had a solid ending with the 5-star going wrong as Umaga grabbed RVD by the throat and gave him the spike. Not sure what the point was here with burying RVD, unless they are upset with him for turning down their latest contract offer.
The big turn we all knew was coming finally took place, as Carlito turned heel, beating down (or trying to) Ric Flair duing a tag match vs Hass and Benjamin. Now that the turn for Carlito is complete, I predict we will see these two have a one-on-one at Judgement Day. I like that they dragged it out, but in the end, it really came across as any other turn.
Mr.Kennedy was on the show, stating that he is going to use his Money in the Bank match for WrestleMania 24. Wow, can't actually believe they are going to have him hold it that long. I guess if this is legit, then all we need is a couple of champions, a Royal Rumble winner, and we'll be on our way to knowing the Mania matches. They did a divas tag, Mickie and Candice vs Melina and Victoria. Candice seemed more jumpy in this one, and they let her pin Victoria with a roll up after Mickie saved her from a double suplex.
Then the last segment with the shocker of Khali coming out for the eventual beat down of Cena. As said earlier, for them to put the red hot feud of Michales and Cena aside for this is a huge letdown. I cannot imagine for a minute they think the buyrate for Khali vs Cena is better than that of a Michales vs Cena III. Their thinking on this is beyond me.
Now the shift will turn to Khali, while the awesome back and forth with Michaels and Cena takes a backseat for awhile. All I know is that in watching the back and forth at the end when Kahli came out and was going at it with Cena - it looked ugly. Not good ugly, but "oh my gosh they are giving his guy a title shot" ugly. You could see Cena trying to work with the big man, but the problem is no one can work with Khali and have a solid match, which is why they don't allow him to do very much.
The rest of the show was actually pretty entertaining I thought. We had a great opener with Edge taking on Randy Orton in a match that was supposed to happen last week, but the 60+ minute match with Cena and Michaels, plus the fact that Orton was not even in Europe, made that match impossible to have. The two went back and forth for sometime, with Orton playing the face in the match. He bled hardway on a snake eye move, and then got pinned after a great looking spear. Looks as if Orton is paying for his mistake in Europe, first with the pin at Backlash, then pinned again last night.
The backstage stuff included an interview with new IC champ Santino Marellla, who just kept saying what a dream it was to be IC champ, and that next week he will have his first title defense. At least they stated that he was training to be a wrestler when the "surprise" match took place in Paris, so they are not making it as if this guy has NEVER been in a ring before. They also showed various ECW guys upset about Vince winning the belt. Man does Sandman look old.
Back in the ring, Jeff Hardy won a singles match with Johnny Nitro, with Cade and Murdoch at ringside. The story is that Cade and Murdoch are playing faces, telling the King and JR they respect the Hardys and the better team won Sunday night. I don't buy the face turn for these two, and eventually they will have them do a beat down on the Hardys leading to another title shot down the road. Hardy was offered a handshake by the two after the match, but declined.
They also did Umaga vs RVD, which was pretty good and had a solid ending with the 5-star going wrong as Umaga grabbed RVD by the throat and gave him the spike. Not sure what the point was here with burying RVD, unless they are upset with him for turning down their latest contract offer.
The big turn we all knew was coming finally took place, as Carlito turned heel, beating down (or trying to) Ric Flair duing a tag match vs Hass and Benjamin. Now that the turn for Carlito is complete, I predict we will see these two have a one-on-one at Judgement Day. I like that they dragged it out, but in the end, it really came across as any other turn.
Mr.Kennedy was on the show, stating that he is going to use his Money in the Bank match for WrestleMania 24. Wow, can't actually believe they are going to have him hold it that long. I guess if this is legit, then all we need is a couple of champions, a Royal Rumble winner, and we'll be on our way to knowing the Mania matches. They did a divas tag, Mickie and Candice vs Melina and Victoria. Candice seemed more jumpy in this one, and they let her pin Victoria with a roll up after Mickie saved her from a double suplex.
Then the last segment with the shocker of Khali coming out for the eventual beat down of Cena. As said earlier, for them to put the red hot feud of Michales and Cena aside for this is a huge letdown. I cannot imagine for a minute they think the buyrate for Khali vs Cena is better than that of a Michales vs Cena III. Their thinking on this is beyond me.
