RAW 8/20
I for one thought that for a "go-home" edition of RAW before the second biggest PPV of the year, this was not exactly a show that would make me part with $40 come Sunday. It did have it's high points, but overall, I am not all that impressed with the card they are going to roll out with Sunday in New Jersey, and I think for a SummerSlam, this can only be said that this is one of the weaker shows for that event they have had in awhile. I realize they have done all they can with Randy Orton vs John Cena, but personally I am just "blah" about this match since we have seen it before. And yes, if you go back and look at RAW's in the past, we've seen Orton vs Cena before.
Can this match be that good? Well, I think it has potential, as there is enough that they have done with the two over the past couple weeks that they can make this into a very good match if booked correct. I don't know what they have up their sleeve, but I think they should make this a No DQ or something to add a little flair to it, otherwise you are looking at what should be a long, 20-25 minute match that can be good, but likely will not be great and not worthy of a main event of a SummerSlam.
On to RAW, the show was the build to Sunday, and they had a total of five matches, none of which were all that memorable. The best on the night was a contender match to see who would fight the now face Umaga at SS, as Carlito went one-on-one with Mr.Kennedy. Both these guys can be very good, and while this was a bit rushed, it was the best thing on the show. We also had a divas match, that in the end was just about what we see every week. Cody Rhodes beat Shelton Benjamin in an okay match, then got laid out by Benjamin and Haas, making me think that Cody is about to get a partner. The tag match with Cade and Murdoch vs London and Kendrick was okay, and you knew we'd see Cryme Tyme get involved, which was fine for what it was. And then the main event, which was Cena winning via DQ over Snitksy when Orton got involved.
I was just mentioning the other day about Snitsky, and what happened to his big push, and it's as if Vince was listening, as they decided to finally throw him a bone. I don't really have any problem with Gene, but here's a guy that was on Heat about five months ago, and now is a headliner on the companies franchise show. Hmmm.
Other angles on the show as Ron Simmon's date with Maria, with the now heel Santino Marella showing up at the meal with Jullian Hall. Funny stuff, but a little too lighthearted for me the week of a major PPV. Then we continued with the Vince "kid" angle, and all we learned was that the kid is a male. Wow, big shock there. Also you had JR kissing Booker's ring when Sharmell made him to build the angle with HHH for Sunday.
And that was about it. You didn't miss much in the build for Sunday if you didn't catch it, other than the fact that they are trying hard for a good buyrate, but to me, it looks like the card and what they are throwing at us this just does not have the overall same feel of SummerSlam's in the past.
