Lawlessness on Raw
The mayhem continued tonight on Raw as right from the opening it was very clear law and order has not been established. The pleas of Shane and Stephanie McMahon went unherd as Jericho and HBK spilled out onto the ramp in a fist throwing brawl. This would continue into the back staging area untill security and ring officials were able to break the two apart. This still did not end the madness as Kane came down to ring side as Y2J and HBK took their scuffle to the back. Kane seemed to be going into one of his fits but instead apologized to Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler. Then he went back stage and was looking for Punk so he could have a match. This was revolving aroung the mystery of Kane's mental break down last week, and now he has some type of burlap bag with him. And this was just the start of many odd happenings during the night.
The first match of the evening featured an open challenge to anyone on the roster by Santino Marella. It was Beth Phoenix who answered the call and came away with the win. It looks like they may be going the Cyna route with Phoenix and if she preforms like she did tonight it may not be a bad idea. She did not look out of place and I felt when she first appreared on Raw they may do this. I actually though she may have been one of the mystry entrants at last years Royal Rumble. The question is are they turing her face, as she clearly got a hugh pop out of the crowd with the win tonight. She definelty has the strength to match the guys, as evident by her body slams of Marella, so I think she would be a nice addition to the roster in this capacity. For one thing gives a differnt angle to the matches to say the least.
Next up was a match between Mickie Jameas and Katie Lea. This was a good womens match and both ladies looked better then when they met at Night of Champions. Katie Lea especially impressed as she held her own against the very talented Mickie. The match would digress as Kaite Lea's brother Paul would try to take out Mickie. But never fear Kofi Kingston is here. The Jamaican highlight reel showed up and he and Paul erupted into a mini match with Kingston getting the better of it. Tonigth was setting up programs for the Women's and Intercontinental titles respectavly. While the womens matchup is a good combination, you have to wonder about the guys. With all the talent on Raw you would figure a prestigious belt like the Intercontinental championship would be on a bigger name. I can see using it to push Kingston as he had plenty of electrifying matches on ECW, but why pit him up against Burchill. I would have to go either one of Y2J, Kane, Marella, HBK, Mysterio and even Lance Kade before even thinking about Burchill. I guess they want to push him, hopefully he can run with it. I will say he did look good tonight but I'm not sure he has the crowd pleasing ability to sustian a long run in the spotlight.
We eventually got the match of Kane and Punk as Punk accepted in order to prove he is a deserving champ. This was another decent match but it ended in the ever popular count out in order to protect a wrestler from an outright lose. It was Kane's turn to take this road, but again after the lose he flipped out and attacked Punk. He was ready to jump off the top rope onto a prone Punk, who had a cahir around his neck, untill Batista charged the ring and took out the Big Red Machine. Punk would try to thank Batista but the Animal made it clear he was not Punk's friend. So Punk took expecion and pushed Batista, who in return gave the champ a spine buster. This only added some heat to a main event at the Bash that really had nothing going for it. Both are faces right now, but look for Batista to start making a heel turn as they need a high profile bad guy untill Orton returns.
In an odd match we saw Jericho make quick work of Paul London including a verbal taunt at the end. Jericho told him he needs to chose the right path of being honest like him and not go down the path of trickery and decet like HBK. Of course since their is a match to sell for a pay per view, Michales came down the ramp to issue his own threat at Jericho. Hopefully we are nearing the end of this feud as it really never had any steam. It has always seemed forced, first with Jericho getting involved with HBK and Batista's program to the accusations of HBK lying and faking injury. It's like they are trying to hard to make this work since they really don't know what to do with either man right now.
Snitsky tonight got himself back in the win colum with his beating of Jamie Noble. Still playing the David and Goliath card, we found Noble trying to impress Layla and prove his is not a short man, but a skilled fighter. He challenged Snitsky back stage and they made their way to the ring for the butt kicking. It was not an official match so Snitsky is still looking for that win, but at least he got to be on the positive side of a beatting tonight. I think it is safe to say we won't be seeing much out of these two in the near future regardless of what happened tonight.
In another wierd moment from tonight we saw a Kelly Kelly match interrupted before it started by the World Tag champs Rhodes and DiBiase. they would go into their rant on how they are the next great generation of champs and are far superior due to their youth and cunning. This would lead to vetern Hacksaw Jim Duggan speaking to the youngsters about how they need to be humble and respect their elders who paved the way for them. Of course the cocky youth would have none of it. This must have impressed JBL as he appeared on the Titan tron to ask the champs to be his partner for a tag match that John Cena propossed earlier in the night. This was a very odd way to get to this conclusion, but as tonight proved the odder the better.
This would bring us to the main event of the aformentioned team put together by JBL against Cena and Cryme Tyme. This was a great main event as all the competitors put on a wonderful display of physical moves with a high tempo to the match. We even saw DiBiase put together a few moves and extended ring time. This match really established the parking lot brawl for Cena and JBL and also looks like the tag champs may find their first real contenders in Cryme Tyme. That paring would help the youngsters establish themselves and gain some good air time as the fans d love Cryme Tyme. Overall a few good matches and a decent pay per view showing would raise the stock for all four men and again help revive a morbund tag division.
As for Cena and JBL their day ended in a run through the back stage into the parking lot with Cena chasing JBL. This set the trap for Cena as JBL attacked him from behind with a tire iron. JBL then placed the knocked out Cena against a car and ran another vehicle into it. It's not sure as to what happened to Cena as we did not see him after the cars hit and JBL looked a bit confused as he inspected the damage. You have to figure Cena escaped as that type of impact would kill somebody, and I look for this match at the Bash to feature plenty of hard knock moves and blood.
The first match of the evening featured an open challenge to anyone on the roster by Santino Marella. It was Beth Phoenix who answered the call and came away with the win. It looks like they may be going the Cyna route with Phoenix and if she preforms like she did tonight it may not be a bad idea. She did not look out of place and I felt when she first appreared on Raw they may do this. I actually though she may have been one of the mystry entrants at last years Royal Rumble. The question is are they turing her face, as she clearly got a hugh pop out of the crowd with the win tonight. She definelty has the strength to match the guys, as evident by her body slams of Marella, so I think she would be a nice addition to the roster in this capacity. For one thing gives a differnt angle to the matches to say the least.
Next up was a match between Mickie Jameas and Katie Lea. This was a good womens match and both ladies looked better then when they met at Night of Champions. Katie Lea especially impressed as she held her own against the very talented Mickie. The match would digress as Kaite Lea's brother Paul would try to take out Mickie. But never fear Kofi Kingston is here. The Jamaican highlight reel showed up and he and Paul erupted into a mini match with Kingston getting the better of it. Tonigth was setting up programs for the Women's and Intercontinental titles respectavly. While the womens matchup is a good combination, you have to wonder about the guys. With all the talent on Raw you would figure a prestigious belt like the Intercontinental championship would be on a bigger name. I can see using it to push Kingston as he had plenty of electrifying matches on ECW, but why pit him up against Burchill. I would have to go either one of Y2J, Kane, Marella, HBK, Mysterio and even Lance Kade before even thinking about Burchill. I guess they want to push him, hopefully he can run with it. I will say he did look good tonight but I'm not sure he has the crowd pleasing ability to sustian a long run in the spotlight.
We eventually got the match of Kane and Punk as Punk accepted in order to prove he is a deserving champ. This was another decent match but it ended in the ever popular count out in order to protect a wrestler from an outright lose. It was Kane's turn to take this road, but again after the lose he flipped out and attacked Punk. He was ready to jump off the top rope onto a prone Punk, who had a cahir around his neck, untill Batista charged the ring and took out the Big Red Machine. Punk would try to thank Batista but the Animal made it clear he was not Punk's friend. So Punk took expecion and pushed Batista, who in return gave the champ a spine buster. This only added some heat to a main event at the Bash that really had nothing going for it. Both are faces right now, but look for Batista to start making a heel turn as they need a high profile bad guy untill Orton returns.
In an odd match we saw Jericho make quick work of Paul London including a verbal taunt at the end. Jericho told him he needs to chose the right path of being honest like him and not go down the path of trickery and decet like HBK. Of course since their is a match to sell for a pay per view, Michales came down the ramp to issue his own threat at Jericho. Hopefully we are nearing the end of this feud as it really never had any steam. It has always seemed forced, first with Jericho getting involved with HBK and Batista's program to the accusations of HBK lying and faking injury. It's like they are trying to hard to make this work since they really don't know what to do with either man right now.
Snitsky tonight got himself back in the win colum with his beating of Jamie Noble. Still playing the David and Goliath card, we found Noble trying to impress Layla and prove his is not a short man, but a skilled fighter. He challenged Snitsky back stage and they made their way to the ring for the butt kicking. It was not an official match so Snitsky is still looking for that win, but at least he got to be on the positive side of a beatting tonight. I think it is safe to say we won't be seeing much out of these two in the near future regardless of what happened tonight.
In another wierd moment from tonight we saw a Kelly Kelly match interrupted before it started by the World Tag champs Rhodes and DiBiase. they would go into their rant on how they are the next great generation of champs and are far superior due to their youth and cunning. This would lead to vetern Hacksaw Jim Duggan speaking to the youngsters about how they need to be humble and respect their elders who paved the way for them. Of course the cocky youth would have none of it. This must have impressed JBL as he appeared on the Titan tron to ask the champs to be his partner for a tag match that John Cena propossed earlier in the night. This was a very odd way to get to this conclusion, but as tonight proved the odder the better.
This would bring us to the main event of the aformentioned team put together by JBL against Cena and Cryme Tyme. This was a great main event as all the competitors put on a wonderful display of physical moves with a high tempo to the match. We even saw DiBiase put together a few moves and extended ring time. This match really established the parking lot brawl for Cena and JBL and also looks like the tag champs may find their first real contenders in Cryme Tyme. That paring would help the youngsters establish themselves and gain some good air time as the fans d love Cryme Tyme. Overall a few good matches and a decent pay per view showing would raise the stock for all four men and again help revive a morbund tag division.
As for Cena and JBL their day ended in a run through the back stage into the parking lot with Cena chasing JBL. This set the trap for Cena as JBL attacked him from behind with a tire iron. JBL then placed the knocked out Cena against a car and ran another vehicle into it. It's not sure as to what happened to Cena as we did not see him after the cars hit and JBL looked a bit confused as he inspected the damage. You have to figure Cena escaped as that type of impact would kill somebody, and I look for this match at the Bash to feature plenty of hard knock moves and blood.
Good review John. I'm glad that the WWE isn't trying to tell us that Cena was hit by JBL's car. I understand this is sports entertainment, but I never liked angles that insulted my intelligence, and Cena no-selling a car is certainly that.
I'm really, really digging Jericho as his current character. As opposed to some heels - Santino - he actually looks credible in the ring, and it was great to see the original Liontamer.
Posted by
George Atsaves |
8:48 AM