Hmmm. I'm stumped. This is so weird. I'm not sure how to feel about this. I actually have NOTHING bad to say about last night's episode of "Raw"!!Okay, that's a stretch...I do know how to feel about it - good. And no, it wasn't the best "Raw" I've ever seen. Not by a long shot. But it was entertaining and full of some nice surprises.
As mentioned in my review of "Raw" last week, I like the union between Edge and Orton. Having never been a mark for Randy Orton in the past, it was gonna take something big for me to take to him. Enter Edge. Gold on the mic, maybe even better in the ring, our Canadian hero Adam Copeland is just what Orton needed. An entertaining and experienced veteran, Edge has helped Orton to be interesting.
I think they both did a good job during their DX gag (man Edge really looked like HHH with the 'weird beard' and fake nose) and aside from the jokes, the concept of these teams feuding with each other simply works for me. I'll give Orton a bit of a 'bligh' on this one and make the statement that I think all four of these competitors should be able to pull off, not only a decent match at Cyber Sunday, but a very convincing and intriguing feud between each other. It's off to a good start I think. HHH beating Orton - but not cleanly - starts a good simmer on what should be a very heated rivalry.
Cryme Tyme's debut was...dare I say it?...not all that bad. Not exactly Brian Kendrick and Paul London...but then again, not MVP either, this tag-team may just show some promise. I made it no secret that when the vignettes for this new team began to run on "Raw" I was more than disappointed by the racial stereotypes that they perpetuated.
WWE.com, when describing the team made up of JTG and Shad Gaspard wrote:
JTG and Shad Gaspard, better known as Cryme Tyme, have made their way to RAW. In preparation for their RAW debut, Cryme Tyme parodied racial stereotypes in an attempt to amuse the fans.
So you ADMIT that you are portraying racial stereotypes but they are only a PARODY.
And you debut this new team as babyfaces. Okay, maybe I can take a chill pill and see where this is going.
I admit that I was entertained by their post-match encounter with King Booker as well. The King's statement, made later to police about his stolen wallet, that "they all look alike to me" only furthers the idea of the racial stereotypes being a parody. For Booker - obviously a black man - to have made this statement helps to actually strengthen WWE's assertion that this should all be taken in stride - it's humorous - but is it harmless? Only time will tell. Cryme Tyme, that is. (Cheesy I know, but I had to do it).
The only thing I didn't like about their debut however, was that it was a match against the tag-team champions. No one should debut against any champion, let alone beat them! But anyway...
Really good fatal-four-way match for the I.C. title last night. Big "O" goes out to the power bomb/suplex performed by Chris Masters, Super Crazy and Shelton Benjamin. Sure, it's been done before. But it's cool! It's a dope move and it must be executed well or it'll be a big mess. Shelton also deserves props for his springboard neckbreaker to Chris Masters while Super Crazy was hooked into The Masterlock.
Biggest surprise of the night involved Kevin Federline. Yep, THAT Kevin Federline! I wasn't as surprised by his appearance on "Raw" as I was by the fact that I ACTUALLY enjoyed what he did! You gotta hand it to the guy. It's like he's thinking what WE ARE ALL thinking. He sucks ass possibly more than any other celebrity alive.
I can't imagine any human being with a half of a half-brain even considering buying this guy's "album". Other than marrying Britany Spears, does "K-Fed" (a nickname only slightly less brutal than "Ken Flo" - UFC's Kenneth Florian) have any other claim to fame?
Well, Federline, if nothing else, is a good sport. He MUST be clearly aware all of the above 'dissery' (yes, I made up a new word). Why else allow himself to be booed out of the building by the L.A. fans, agree to heel on the fans to generate more heat, lyrically get destroyed by John Cena (first entertaining thing he's done in a while) and then take an F.U.?!?! Good for him. It'll likely be the last cool thing he ever does.
Speaking of taking bumps...the king of bump takers himself, Steve-O on "Raw"? Both he and fellow Jackass Chris Pontius got an "O" just for showing up. I thought, as soon as I saw them at ringside...these guys should get in the ring and take some bumps! Sure enough, my wish was granted.
We've seen Chris and Steve take worse...but it was fun to see Umaga take it to them. Ironic how Armando Alejandro Estrada called their Jackass antics an "act". Only to have them perform what was likely less painful than any other "act" that they've performed.
Think TNA is pissed in any way, considering how much they've been promoting the new Jackass movie?
Pretty good "Raw". Let's hope the momentum keeps up throughout the rest of the wrestling week. Which reminds me...here are Tha "O" League standings after week 1 of the WWE Fantasy game:
1 - The Smashin' Masters
2 - LO Destruction
3 - BigDaddyDonnie
4 - Better Than Dan-e-o
5 - TheEndustry
6 - Dan-e-o
7 - Second City Saints
8 - balbuena chukchaks
9 - Phenominal Angles
10 - The Omega Ones
11 - Thrones And Patriots
12 - TheBIGBang112
4 comments: on "Raw - Way to "O""
I enjoyed the show from top to bottom for the first time in a while. I could have done without the celebrities though.
Federline must be the biggest idiot walking. Why would he go out and draw heat on himself? That's not how you promote your upcoming album is it? I mean, people already hate your guts, as evidenced by the reception he got, but on top of that your gonna tell the people they suck, get ragged on by another inbred white boy and take an FU?!?
Yeah good thinking K Fed.
Steve-O should have sold more for Umaga because he made him look weak. He kept on laughing every time he'd get hit. I thought for sure Umaga was gonna kick his ass legit.
Pretty much my biggest gripe with the show last night.
I just found out about this site and have been catching up in the archives. Hope to keep posting in the future.
We found someone who sells worse than Cena!! STEVE-O!!
Didn't it look to you guys like Jamal got pretty pissed that Steve-O was literally sitting up and laughing when he should have been laying motionless?
I think when he picked Steve up and chucked, and smacked him around the second time, he was trying to stiff him .... He didn't do much to protect Steve on that big splash either.
P.S. when a 400 pounder can fly like that, why is his finisher a thumb to the neck?
TNA did weeks and weeks of promotion for Jackass, and didn't see much in return. The payoff was the biggest Jackass stars show up on RAW not Impact. Ouch.
OF COURSE steve-o would no sell. Why on Earth would you want him to? He no sells ACTUAL pain, why should Umaga be any different? I saw him get clipped in the nuts by a speeding bull -- AND GIGGLE... wtf is a thumb to the neck supposed to do?
More on the show, I loved it from top to bottom. The Wheelbarrow Bulldog reversal into a Masterlock was sick, but even sicker was Benjamin's springboard neckbreaker to break it up.
Cena's schtick was funny, self-depricating, and a good reminder on why I used to like his gimmick. I think thats the way he needs to win over us snarks--- injuring pseudocelebrities.
I was pretty impressed by Cryme Tyme's debut but it did nothing for the other teams on RAW or to strengthen the division. Still I was happy with how they entered, and was pretty amused by their meeting with King Booker. Sure it seemed kind of absurdist, but I loved it for that... and after seeing threesix mafia ringside, how much of a "stereotype" could it be?
All-in-all a good solid show and a remind to why im a fan in the first place!
it looked like jamalga got steve-o pretty hard when he picked him up by the belt.
my favorite aspect of the no-sell was jamalga walking up the ramp to the back and you can see pontius exiting the ring just fine in the background.
i'm a big wildboyz fan so that was alot of fun.
hey- at least there wasn't a david arquette swerve!
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