This has got to be a record. For the third straight week, I am not going to shit on "Raw". To be honest, the WWE writers have stepped it up as of late and are doing more good things than bad.That doesn't mean "Raw" is the most incredible way in the world to spend two hours...but it certainly hasn't been a waste of time recently. Last night's episode did a lot to put over the right guys in the right way.
Although of course, no "Raw" is perfect. It also featured the opposite. Burials or perhaps, some "putting unders" of some superstars was also unfortunately part of the show.
PUT OVER #1: Carlito
Good for Carly. It seems as if, somehow, Carlito has dug himself out of the dog house. How else do you explain the resurgence of "Carlito's Cabana" and a main event victory over the almighty John Cena?
I loved how Cena (yep, can you believe I said that?) reminded the audience of Carlito's win over him years ago to attain the U.S. Championship. Of course, Cena's accompanying jokes were as lame as hell (as usual) but top-of-the-show promo definitely helped to shine some starlight on the previously mid-carding Puerto Rican.With Carlito's victory over Cena in the main event last night, it will help for a potential future feud between the two to incorporate the "I have your number" angle that Carlito played up. Obviously, the main point of this match was to further enhance the WWE title story between Randy Orton and Cena (clearly interference was necessary for Johnny Boy to take the fall), but I like that it helped to push another deserving superstar in the process.
PUT UNDER #1: Santino Marella
Damn, I was really starting to dig Marella's new angle. When he came out with Maria again, I figured he'd go right back to guest commentary in an effort to further push his character. Dude works the Italian accent great and his overprotectiveness of Maria smells of a heel turn...or at least the performance of heel-like tendencies.
Now while Marella never joined the commentary crew for the match, the end of the match (some girls fought, you know who they are, they looked sexy as always, blah, blah, blah) presented WWE with the perfect opportunity to really take this character to the next level. Santino's chastizing and questioning of the shoddy officiating was gold!And then Umaga comes down to the ring and destroys him. How many times does Santino Marella have to lose...check that, get MANGLED by Umaga? We get it! Let the man move on to bigger and better things! What's worse is that the referee played the babyface in this situation...calling for the bell when Umaga entered the ring to the heel (was he or wasn't he?) Marella could get beat down.
So instead of moving in the forward direction of a push, Marella continues to get buried...for some reason.
PUT UNDER #2: King Booker
Dude...Booker rules. I know that. You know that. Your momma knows that. I swear, even his ever-changing wardrobe impresses me. I don't think that it can be overstated that a superstar's gear is a major part of his or her character. The new black cape was dope.
Big Daddy Donnie can vouch that for years I have noticed when someone is wearing "PPV tights" a.k.a. gear worn by a wrestler for the first time during a pay-per-view event - almost always stipulating that they will win their match (actually, that has never been proven). Back to the point, Booker plays and looks the part of a superstar better than anyone in the business today.
Did anyone NOT laugh when he mentioned that he hoped Triple H was at home watching him on the "telly"? So why the FUCK did Booker not manhandle Jerry Lawler in their match last night? I loved how much Jim Ross put over that BOTH men were multi-timed champions and true kings in their own rights. But this match was to serve two important purposes.1) Properly establish King Booker as the modern-day dominant figure in professional wrestling. For fuck's sake, Lawler is already a Hall of Famer, which means that he's supposedly "retired" from the ring, right?
2) Nicely set up the impending feud between King Booker and Triple H. In order for these two tasks to be accomplished, Booker should have defeated Jerry Lawler soundly. Instead, Lawler wins by the most anti-climatic finish in the world of pro wrestling: the five count in the corner. Please.
This finish sucked. Lawler should have written in as Booker's whipping boy. Just as another Hall of Famer was last night. This brings me to...
PUT OVER #2: Randy Orton
Honestly, I think that Orton is working the "disrespectful" gimmick beautifully. When given the chance - as he is now - Orton plays a wicked heel. Not that I'm a fan of watching obvious squash matches, but Sgt. Slaughter served his purpose and did the entire business a favour last night on "Raw".
While Lawler was inexplicably celebrating victory, Sarge was getting his ass...or his head handed to him by the Legend Killer. Although putting old school veterans of the squared circle in the hospital may not be viewed as such a towering feat, this angle has Randy Orton looking great.His I-don't-give-a-fuck-about-anyone attitude is exactly what the #1 contender to a MAJOR babyface's title needs. I'm not sure if I buy the whole he'll-beat-Cena-and-lose-the-belt-to-Hunter idea just yet. But Randy's seems to be in a good spot right now.
PUT UNDER #3: Daivari
Sorry to take an anti-climatic turn with this article but when I saw Daivari on the mic, I popped. He is one of the E's best on-the-mic characters and yet, he's a job-machine. I hate stipulations like "win or get fired" (thanks Coachman) because it basically spells out the result of the match for you.
The world knew that Cody Rhodes was going to win his first match on "Raw" last night after that ultimatum was laid down. But I truly hope Rhodes steps up both his in-ring and promo games 'cause they're both kinda lacking at the moment. And while he's at it, he may want to buy some new gear from Cryme Tyme. Speaking of which...PUT OVER #3: Cryme Tyme
When these brothers came out for their match against John Mason and Brandon Gatston (yeah, exactly..."who?". Rhodes was in danger of getting booted off "Raw" for not being a "winner" but these two jabronies were getting a shot?), I was wondering what the point was. The ship, supposedly, had sailed on these guys months ago.
The match took a minute or two...and then I got it. I definitely dig the whole selling-your-beaten-opponents-shit gimmick. The whole thing took too long for me (starting the bidding at ten thousand bucks was dumb) but this schtick just may give these guys new life. Too bad the tag champs Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch didn't have any say in the matter. I'm still waiting for the day when those belts get a TV screen put in 'em. Could be sooner than I think.PUT OVER #4: Mr. Kennedy
Man, did Kennedy need a win. And what a win it was! Kudos (or "kudoos" as JBL likes to say) to WWE creative for figuring out a way to make Kennedy look dominant again. The same guy who has suffered losses at the hands of Super Crazy and Jeff Hardy in recent weeks kicked Bobby Lashley's ass last night!
This match had all the right ingredients to help rejuvenate Kennedy's career. The ultra-over Bobby Lashley as his opponent. The concept of being baited into challenging the "dominant" Lashley by John Cena. And a CLEAN pin!
Not to mention, it looked like Lashley took some selling lessons over the past week. After a legitimate-looking kick to Bobby's left shoulder into the steel steps, Kennedy intelligently and ironically "dominated" the match by working on the injured body part. Great psychology aside, his inevitable pin of the "unstoppable" Lashley (sorry bro, your new entrance didn't work for ya!), made Kennedy look like a million bucks again.Nice job making the future WWE title picture look a lot better with contenders such as Carlito and Kennedy seemingly primed to be part of it.
29 comments: on "Tha Raw Report: Put Overs And Put Unders"
Totally agree Dan-e-o. I loved Raw last night.
First of all, with Carlito and Kennedy winning, it makes the title picture look legit. Though I'm not sure if Carly will be demoted again by next week (Wasn't he supposed to be feuding with Lashley?). Maybe this will lead to something good: Carlito vs. Kennedy. That'd be dope as fuck. Btw, those two on the mic together was hilarious. I'll admit, I mark for Kennedy.
Speaking of marking, I loved Cryme Tyme. Funny shit. The bit did take a little too long. I popped when they actually sold them though.
How about sending Cryme Tyme to Smackdown? Lord knows they need better challengers for the belts. A program with D&D would be great. Two white 50's era gangster like guys versus two black new era gangsters. I like that.
Orton as a heel is awesome. I wasn't really feeling this matchup at first but I'm liking. Still hoping Orton goes over.
Marella...interesting new direction, but Umaga again? I thought it was funny when Marella said "Why is his music playing?"
Overall, good show.
I left home shortly after the King Booker/ King Lawler match, so I didn't catch all of Raw, but what I did catch impressed me. It reminded me somewhat of the Attitude Era. Not in content so much, but in depth. Mr. Kennedy and Carlito are both sort of sitting in the Chris Jericho Spot, while Cena is Austin, Lashley is the Rock, and Triple H is well Triple H. I am not at all attempting to say these guys have the talent or charisma that the others did. All I am saying is that maybe I am backing down from my stance that Raw is overloaded. It was overloaded back then, and look how good it was. My main argument would be to take guys that won't make TV, repackage them, and add depth to the other rosters.
Since I left, I am not positive, but is it true that Jeff Hardy was not on Raw at all this week? If so, that suprises me. You think maybe he'd come after Umaga after the Santino beatdown, possibly weilding the steel chair from last week.
It's good to see the Cabana back, as that is where Carlito truly has shined in the past. Kennedy punked him out a bit on the stick, but that's ok. Carlito doesn't really have to be "cool" when he's playing the role of the heel.
I do think that we will get with Carlito something very similar to what we got with Chris Jericho. Many of us wanted Jericho to get that true main event push for years, but it seemed as though it was toyed with for a long time before the trigger was pulled. I think that hurt Jericho's reign as the first Undisputed Champion, so hopefully they don't make the same mistake twice.
Santino Marella has become an interesting character. It's nice to see someone besides the usual suspects get some time on the stick. I am interested in where they are going with this since Marella seemingly took two losses, one for Maria's match and one for his own. I actually thought that Santino was going to pull the win out, by cheating. How great would it have been to have him yell at the ref for allowing cheating to occur, and then Umaga misses that running bulldozer in the corner and Santino rolls him up with a fistful of tights and feet on the ropes. Hell, if you are worried about Umaga's heat, have Santino celebrate his first win in forever, and have Umaga standing behind him with his thumb out. It would have made for a better story...
Me and my friend totally marked for Booker's cape. It is just another reason to be sad about the return of the King of Kings. Booker's royalty schtick has not yet jumped the shark. I want to see him have more time with it.
I don't know why Booker didn't manhandle Lawler, but I will tell you why he didn't win. Jerry Lawler deserves his spot as the "King of Wrestling." For booker, it is just a gimmick. For Lawler, it's his wrestling identity. He's indentifiable with it, and he's earned it. It would be akin to someone coming and beating Ric Flair for the title of Nature Boy (which is exactly what Flair did to get that name), but Flair worked under that name for 30 years. Booker is nearing retirement. He honestly doesn't deserve the win in the battle of royalty. I think Booker mercilessly beating Jerome until he got himself disqualified was a perfect finish. It's the way a heel king would act back in the day if he were besmirched.
It would have been better to see Booker get a chair or use a scepter or something to make it more climatic and memorable, but I think that Lawler's place as King shouldn't be taken, unless it's from a young worker who is committed to the business and inarguably talented, like Flair was when he took the Nature Boy name.
I think Orton's goal of hospitalizing guys is a large step-up from where he was. It shows a new intensity to his old song and dance routine. The Legend Killer was interesting when he was spitting in people's faces and winning matches, but WWE had to turn it up a notch, and they found their answer with this concussion kick syndrome. I've been waiting a long time for a wrestler who wants to put guys out, not just win matches. It's getting over beautifully.
I love Cody Rhodes. I think his gear and ring work are awesome. Rhodes is a throwback, and I think a lot of old school fans can appreciate that. I think that he can win over newer attitude era fans as well. Rhodes is a traditionalist, and an old school babyface. I put it on the WWE to keep him doing interesting things. Beating Daivari is not one. Daivari is a jobber, plain and simple. The only way he should be anything else is if he's contending for the Cruiserweight title on Smackdown.
Rhodes was in danger of getting booted off Raw, but Cryme Tyme has a tag team title shot that is a year and a half old that they've never gotten to cash in. I don't know if I think the ship has sailed, because in reality, no one has gotten to see a lot of the team in the ring. Hopefully they stepped up their game in the time they've had on the house show circuit.
The concept of the Tag Team titles getting pimped is intriguing. As much as I hate that Cena belt, it is selling a lot, and kids love it. Cryme Tyme belts with speakers in the straps and monitors on the plate would be hilarious.
I was disappointed when I read this but don't look for Cryme Tyme to be a mainstay fixture just yet. They recently started their second rein as OVW Tag Champs.
Lol you still don't think Orton's going to win. Someone make that man a bet. Sure Vince has a thing for Cena but it's Triple H pulling the strings. Look who he brought over just so he can bury. That's why Kennedy got the win. It's obvisously gonna be you injured my friend so im going to kick your ass angle. Anyway raw was very good I thought the Marella bury was cool. Also Bookers robe was tuff, I want one.
Word is Lashley is legit injured, and thats why the Kennedy match went the way it did. Why not Carlito, I don't know - maybe they think Kennedy is more sadistic.
Now, if someone could just explain to me how losing to the company's "top dog" constitutes a burial . . . I jut don't see Booker or Kennedy losing any steam with a loss to Triple H. Will the fans really say, "Well, he can't beat the top guy, so he must suck"? Will a loss to Triple H really send Booker T back to Heat-caliber matches? I'm not sticking up for him, just trying to figure out the logic.
Lol would make sense Lashley could only sell a real injury...
I (like many others) dig Orton's concussion kick, and that kick on Slaughter got a big O in my house. But considering that even marks were talkin shit about that baby kick to Dusty I hope eventually they reveal some kind of foreign object in his boot.
The foreign object is so old school, and under-used as of late.
Establishing Santino as "the cheater" would be a nice twist. His mic work was rather comical last night.
I think Cena was money last night. As far as over-rated, well I know one part of that is right... HE'S OVER!!! More often than not, he gets more pop than heat. The crowd don't lie
It's not losing to Triple H that's damaging. It's the way he dominates a feud. It was back in 2002/2003 that Triple H ran rough shod over Rob Van Dam, Kane, Booker T., Scott Steiner, and Kevin Nash.
No matter what your opinions of the aforementioned wrestlers are, they all have an upside and they have all proven at one time or another that they can draw money.
I think all of those feuds during that 2 year span did irreparable damage to all of their careers, with few of them having returned to any semblance of their past glory since. Only two men from that group have held a world tile since. For Rob Van Dam, it took years and the reemergence of the ECW brand. For Booker T., it took a total repackaging.
This is the period where I learned to hate Triple H, because before this, I thought he was pretty freaking sweet.
The King of Kings is returning to take his spot on the throne, and he won't just defeat Booker, Orton, Carlito and Kennedy. He will bury them.
This is evident to me in his insistance on developing the King of Kings character, after probably having a hand in Booker moving to Raw. I would have absolutely no qualms had King Booker been left to rule Smackdown and their inevitable showdown come much later, been much more significant, and had some intrigue as to who would actually win.
After he has humbled all of Raw's heels, he will turn heel himself and bury Lashley, before he inevitably has his showdown with Cena at Mania.
And what has he done lately? What makes it that he just returns and is automatically positioned for his run with the title. The Undertaker waited years on Smackdown for his. No one is handing HBK anything when he returns.
It's hard to respect someone, no matter how good they are, when the WWE title is essentially theirs and they just occasionally let someone else keep it warm for them.
There are other guys in line that he is most certainly cutting, and when he reaches the front, he will turn around and cut their legs out from under them.
Oh, and I agree with Jeff about how sweet and under-utilized foreign objects are. I think a loaded boot conspiracy makes perfect sense. Then Santino can come out and take issue with the refs for not checking Orton better. When they go to check Santino's opponents, he can pull out a roll of quarters and deck the dude in the mush, knock him out, throw out the object and get the pin.
Tim's spot on, '02-'03 was ALL HHH. I never disrespected him as an entertainer, but I hated the burial of any former WCW/ECW workers. And that's all it was.
Question how long has Taker Been injured for
Also Triple H should be doing what Jeff Jarret is doing now.
I'm assuming then that everybody is basing their take on history, which is fine. To be fair, Triple H has shown that he can be a company man when he wants to - staying out of the title picture to reform DX for the better part of a year, and lets not forget he was one of the first legit stars to "put over" Umaga after his debut (something that neither he, HBK, or Cena should have had to do). If anything, he should come back and bury that guy, especially if talks of him turning babyface are true, because that just isn't going to work.
I think its a bit ignorant to assume that Booker, Kennedy, etc. were brought over to RAW just to be fodder for Triple H, or that he said "Screw those guys - bring 'em to RAW, I'll take care of 'em." Once Cena toppled Khali and Edge defected to Smackdown with his Money in the Bank, there weren't any big stars left (but we already knew this), so they had to bring over some of the top guys from the other brands. I do think it was a hasty decision, though, and it . . what is the saying . . . "Cut off the legs to save the head" or something? Now I always fall asleep during Smackdown.
Has anynone heard anything on Jeff Hardy ? I heard he walked out and quit last night beofre RAW went on the air.
where did you hear that. Why the fuck would he quit
They say he no-showed last night, without a call, and considering he was involved, deeply with the current program... If he doesn't have a great excuse, he's toast
Why do I get weary, lately, when I hear about no-shows and things of that nature?
I think we're all weary of that...
Why does Jeff keep doing this though? Isn't this like the third time he's no showed somewhere? He's just starting to get his push too...Maybe he's scared to succeed? Idk...
From NoDQ.com:
According to Dave Scherer, Jeff Hardy didn't show up at RAW last night. There is concern in the company that he won't be back for SummerSlam and that he might not be back at all. His program with Umaga was scrapped and Umaga was turned babyface on RAW.
Now, there are conflicting reports that he was sent home. Either way he's up the proverbial "shit creek"
Wow, while I loved RAW last night I got to thinking...the entire reason for the wins by Kennedy and Carlito were so they could end up losing to, and making look even stronger The King of Kings.
Jeff Hardy, why Jeff, why? Come on bro.
Wait, Lashley's injury is legit?
Is this the same shoulder injury that was bothering him at Backlash?
Another thing, if Jeff Hardy no-showed for a drug related reason, the media could turn that into yet another field day at the expense of the E
lol i just read something on the dirt sheets that umaga is gonna turn face ahahahahahahahah. If that's true he's going to go over like val venis does.
Umaga pretty much already turned face.
Santino is going heel, that's why he knocked Santino the hell out.
This is on nearly every dirtsheet on the web:
The Wrestling Observer is reporting that Jeff Hardy was sent home by WWE last night. The reason at this time is not known. Original reports from earlier today indicated that he was a no show. His program with Umaga has been dropped and it seems that Umaga will now be a face character
Update 9:15pm
Thanks To Jamie Phippen For Contributing
An update was posted on both http://www.jeffnerohardy.com & TheHardyShow.com that Jeff suffered neck & back injuries at last weeks Raw. WWE is giving him time off to heal.
I hate Raw.
Again I am passing around the Carlito for Champ petition, please sign it and pass it on.
I'm also passing a petition for the removal of at least one of HHH's legs to keep in the back and out of the ring.
Turning Umaga face is far from impossible, Estrada needs to come backand it'll be a sinch
i guess i should start watching raw again...especially if maria is on it ^^
Soon to be Maria Marella. That would be dope.
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