Overseas Trip the Cure
It looks like the WWE needed a little break from the States to get the quality of Raw back up. Usually trips to Europe have no effect to the overall picture, but last nights Raw was decent show, which says plenty after the past few weeks snoozers. Granted we had a few matches that were just there for filler, like Burchill and Duggan, but overall there was a better quality to the show.
Not really sure why they needed to add Jericho to the Batista and HBK mix. If this is there attempt to make this match up more appealing I really don't see it going over. There really is no reason for Jericho to be involved. Are they trying to make him the heel since both Batista and Michael's are faces? And if Jericho does something to interfere during the match at Backlash it will only cheapen it. It will be interesting to see how all this develops. At least Jericho's match against Umaga was decent. I'm surprised they don't go with this angle for the time being.
A bit disappointed at he women's match. Both Beth Phoenix and Mickie James are perhaps the best female wrestlers in the company, but the match was a bit sloppy. There were plenty of moves that looked very labored and were not smooth at all. While I'm happy Mickie won, the match left much to be desired, especially from these fantastic ladies.
What was this last night? The WWE possibly making the tag championship important? We saw Carlito and Marella beat London and Kendrick to become number one contenders. About time WWE. You have great tag teams and we need to see them regularly. Please spare us the garbage match with Mark Henry, Hornswoggle and any other dull wrestlers you have. Put the focus on these great tag team and you may be surprised at the fan reaction.
What a great homecoming for William Regal as he gave Randy Orton a good technical match. And that in itself is amazing, as these types of matches can be boring. Sorry wrestling traditionalists, but it's the truth. This was great to see especially since Regal is rarely in the ring much these days, so it's nice to see him put on a good match. Especially in front of his adoring English fans.
There was even a little bit of a preview for Backlash as Triple H went up against JBL in a match put together by Regal to punish JBL for wanting to leave the Queen's country. The heat would be turned up as Randy Orton joined in to double team Triple H. But it was JBL who had the last laugh as he would turn on Orton and take him out also. This should help to establish JBL as an equal participant in the fatal four way match at Backlash. Many would agree he would not be the top pick in a four way match, let alone considered the number one contender for the WWE title. It should be interesting to see if folks buy into JBL's participation in the upcoming pay per view, as most already can't stand Orton as champ.
Overall it was great to see network TV looking good again. With the promise of King of the Ring on next weeks Raw, hopefully things will be on the up and up. If the WWE can build some hype it may be able to save itself from what is looking to be a fairly dull pay per view. As I eluded to last week, with a almost fully healthy roster there is no reason why they should be struggling to put together decent match combinations. If the WWE wants to carry momentum going into the upcoming summer months it needs to start here with a huge emphasis on better booking.
Not really sure why they needed to add Jericho to the Batista and HBK mix. If this is there attempt to make this match up more appealing I really don't see it going over. There really is no reason for Jericho to be involved. Are they trying to make him the heel since both Batista and Michael's are faces? And if Jericho does something to interfere during the match at Backlash it will only cheapen it. It will be interesting to see how all this develops. At least Jericho's match against Umaga was decent. I'm surprised they don't go with this angle for the time being.
A bit disappointed at he women's match. Both Beth Phoenix and Mickie James are perhaps the best female wrestlers in the company, but the match was a bit sloppy. There were plenty of moves that looked very labored and were not smooth at all. While I'm happy Mickie won, the match left much to be desired, especially from these fantastic ladies.
What was this last night? The WWE possibly making the tag championship important? We saw Carlito and Marella beat London and Kendrick to become number one contenders. About time WWE. You have great tag teams and we need to see them regularly. Please spare us the garbage match with Mark Henry, Hornswoggle and any other dull wrestlers you have. Put the focus on these great tag team and you may be surprised at the fan reaction.
What a great homecoming for William Regal as he gave Randy Orton a good technical match. And that in itself is amazing, as these types of matches can be boring. Sorry wrestling traditionalists, but it's the truth. This was great to see especially since Regal is rarely in the ring much these days, so it's nice to see him put on a good match. Especially in front of his adoring English fans.
There was even a little bit of a preview for Backlash as Triple H went up against JBL in a match put together by Regal to punish JBL for wanting to leave the Queen's country. The heat would be turned up as Randy Orton joined in to double team Triple H. But it was JBL who had the last laugh as he would turn on Orton and take him out also. This should help to establish JBL as an equal participant in the fatal four way match at Backlash. Many would agree he would not be the top pick in a four way match, let alone considered the number one contender for the WWE title. It should be interesting to see if folks buy into JBL's participation in the upcoming pay per view, as most already can't stand Orton as champ.
Overall it was great to see network TV looking good again. With the promise of King of the Ring on next weeks Raw, hopefully things will be on the up and up. If the WWE can build some hype it may be able to save itself from what is looking to be a fairly dull pay per view. As I eluded to last week, with a almost fully healthy roster there is no reason why they should be struggling to put together decent match combinations. If the WWE wants to carry momentum going into the upcoming summer months it needs to start here with a huge emphasis on better booking.
