RAW 9/17
WWE RAW on Monday night I felt was one of the better shows they had in awhile, as they finally (at least for the most part) have put the McMahon child storyline behind them, and are moving on to their most important feud, that being John Cena vs Randy Orton for the WWE Title. I loved the build towards Mr.Cena vs Orton, and the ending was a solid cliffhanger that in my opinion wants to make you tune in next week. Not to say that this program didn't have its issues, but overall it was a decent two hours.
Okay, here are the issues. First off, are they just going to allow Triple H to destroy the entire roster? I don't understand the booking in having him go over on the World Tag Team Champs in Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. After all, are not these two the BEST tag team wrestlers in the sport right now based on their standing and titles? I do grab the concept of keeping HHH strong for a future title program, but geez, what's next a 20-1 handicapped match where he comes out on top vs the rest of the RAW roster?
I also appears we are headed for a dreaded Triple H vs Vince McMahon feud, which is the last thing anyone on the roster or any fan really wants to see. The skit with HHH making fun of Vince had some funny moments, but for the most part dragged on for what seemed forever. I guess the whole purpose of HHH coming out was to make fun of Vince, and then beat up the tag champs and then Carlito. All in a night's work for The Game.
I did like the opener with Jeff Hardy vs Shelton Benjamin, as these two when they are in there against one another always seem to have good matches. I would like to see a long-term regin of the IC belt for Hardy, as he is the perfect guy to keep it and have it mean something instead of it being like musical chairs.
They also did a women's tag, which was your normal women's match that really did nothing for anyone. In the end, Candice Michelle, who continues to have the worst in-ring music I think I have ever heard, got the pin, and Beth Phoenix, who was at ringside, put the belt on her, and then gave her a little shove. Effective, but not your normal heel on face beat down. I would assume we'll see a rematch of Candice and Beth at No Mercy.
Then we had all the drama with Cena and Orton, which included John being handcuffed to the ring so he couldn't interfere in the match with Orton and Cena's Dad. As stated earlier, I really like this angle, and I think that they can continue to build towards a solid Last Man Standing match at No Mercy. You have to think John will get his revenge on Randy's Dad - Bob Orton Jr. at somepoint in this feud.
