Check This Out...

5.27.2008

Tha Raw Report: Why?

The last time I asked "Why?" about a show, people thought I was discussing the actual storylines, so let me clarify. The booking of "Raw" last night severely left me scratching my head, wondering why the E is doing some of the things they're doing.

The first question of the night came from the Randy Orton and Triple H promo. Paul Heyman, for as bitter and job desperate as he may be, brought up a very good point in saying that Orton is routinely punked off in his feuds, and last night was no exception. When the only heat you can get is from the face talking down about you, something is seriously wrong.

Again, Orton was made to look like a chump without getting to garner any real heat. I don't understand the E's current need to make it about the faces as much as possible. Why are they trying so hard to pander to the whims of the marks? And don't give me that "the marks are the majority of the audience" shit, they've been trying to pander to marks for the past few years and the bottom line on the ledger says that it's not working.

Why hasn't the person putting together this Melina/Beth Phoenix feud been fired? Or at least given some sort of punishment? This feud is so poorly put together, and bringing Jillian to the forefront of it only makes it more confusing. Isn't Jillian friends with Melina? Why, then, is she flambouyantly stating that Beth will win on Sunday? Oh, well. An I Quit Match is still more worthy of 40 bucks than a friggin' Pudding Match.

Why aren't the Theater Fags given any sort of real push? Their match against Team Whitey for the straps last night was entertaining, and I really hoped that London and Kendrick would win the gold. Unfortunately, they didn't, and are more than likely going to be stuck on Heat for a while now. Sorry for all you big man marks, but these guys are entertaining in the ring, and despite London having a loose mouth at an airport about a year ago, being held off of TV is in no way an indication that these guys are done. They can still entertain and be a big part of the tag team division if somebody backstage would just give them the ball.

Why does Ted DiBiase, Jr. look so much like Randy Orton circa 2002? I knew that there was a distinct resemblance, but I laughed when I saw DiBiase come out wearing trunks that looked eerily similar to Orton's. Apparently this is the beginning of a big 2nd generation heel feud, which I'm down with. But if DiBiase were to challenge Team Whitey, wouldn't it make more sense to have a partner out there with him?

Why does the company refuse to get their lips out of John Cena's ass? Again, he doesn't sell, and again, he doesn't take a pinfall. I don't get why the company is trying so hard to protect this guy when it's obvious that he's never going to elevate the business in the way that Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin did. He's a cartoon character, and the fans are responding to him as such. Indifference and boos. Don't believe me? Compare the pops he got to those of Jeff Hardy last night.

Of course, JBL pins Jeff Hardy, all but assuring that JBL's gonna bleed on Sunday. Oh, wait. We already knew that because he's facing John Cena! At least Youmanga is being less reckless with that spinning sidewalk slam of his. That thing used to look nasty for the wrong reasons.

Where was Santino during Carlito's match? Are they no longer being featured as a tag team? In all fairness, I can't shit too heavily on this segment. The bookers did something smart by keeping Paul Burchill and Katie Lea on TV and just downplaying the whole incest thing. I was sure that with the decision to discontinue that story, so too would Burchill's television appearances be discontinued. Kudos to creative for not only keeping him on TV, but finding something for him to do that makes sense.

Why did Chris Jericho snap, then act like a big sissy after his match with Shawn Michaels? The entire match, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler kept putting over how frustrated Chris Jericho was with Michaels, even to the point of letting himself get counted out with Michaels snared in the Walls Of Jericho. So why then, after continuing to beat on Michaels after the match, did Jericho stop the second he had a chair in his hands?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the story here is that Jericho's got an axe to grind against Michaels. He wanted to face him at One Night Stand, in a match where the entire purpose is to hurt your opponent, but lost that opportunity to Batista. Wouldn't he want to hurt Michaels last night? More confusing booking, but the match that they had beforehand was damn solid. Although...why does that Intercontinental Championship never get defended?

The show ended with Vince McMahon promising a bombshell announcement. He came out and announced that in three weeks, "Raw" will have another draft. Okay, fine. He then announced rather cryptically that he was going to be giving away a sum of one million dollars. I'm not sure if he meant one million dollars one time, one million dollars multiple times, or smaller amounts that will total one million dollars over several weeks. Either way...why isn't "Raw" coming to Buffalo anytime soon?!

Normally, I would be perfectly fine with this kind of announcement ending "Raw". Vince wants to give away his money, good for him. He's holding a draft. Awesome, shaking things up is always good, plus you can't really rape "SmackDown!" this year. But why are you having this announcement to conclude the last "Raw" before a pay-per-view?

Absolutely head-scratching booking last night on "Raw". Thank God that LLW: Exodus is this weekend, I think if I went much longer without booking that made sense, I would've started seriously wacking out.

Tha Results:
Melina def. Jillian
Team Whitey (Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly) def. Paul London & Brian Kendrick
JBL & Umaga def. John Cena & Jeff Hardy
Mr. Kennedy def. Carlito
Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels goes to Double countout


9 comments: on "Tha Raw Report: Why?"

Anonymous said...

Vince's million dollar give away announcement last night was a hidden message, it's to give hint that it will be soon announced that Ted DiBiase "The Million Dollar Man" will become the next general manager of Raw.

Christopher Casúr said...

I should've guessed. I hadn't been reading dirt sheets lately, so I had a hunch but wasn't entirely sure. Thanks for that. DiBiase will be infinitely better than Long would be in the role of Raw GM.

Anonymous said...

i was thinking the same thing about how much Ted DiBiase jr looks exactly like orton did and who is he gonna team with?

td jr and orton should form a group or team in the future

and one of my friends works at westchester county airport in New York, where HHH flies into when he heads home and he was talking with him and triple h said he is flying out for the ppv on friday and coming back monday morning. basically he will not be at next weeks raw because it is in California like the ppv, im guessing he is losing and will be "hurt" after ONS ppv but idk

Anonymous said...

No joke, when Dibiase Jr. came out I actually thought it was Orton. I like the 2nd generation feud they're gonna run with him and Cody. This could be really entertaining. I also like the idea of having Orton and him make a heel stable. Maybe they could add one of Mr. Perfect's kids too.

Anonymous said...

im assuming wwe isn't coming back to buffalo during the summer or fall this year due to there ppv coming there in december. but who know's.....

Christopher Casúr said...

Probably a mix of that and the fact that Buffalo is not a big wrestling area.

Downtown said...

The keyword to take from vince's million dollar giveaway is that he's giving away the SUM of one million dollars, not 1 million every week.

On to the show

The why's are what keep you and everybody else tuning in.

I thought last night's show deserved an A+ if only for the performances given by some.

Orton has "grown-up" with his mic skills and last night he was very impressive.

The tag match was entertaing and probably the best holly/rhodes has put on since teaming together.

Jericho/Michaels was solid and I'm actually curious about where theyre going with Jericho in all of this.

I don't know, I guess I'm easily satisfied

the CAVEMAN said...

raws rating the lowest in 10 years and they are giving money away to bring in viewers? How does that work and why would that work? Seriously are you gonna tune in to watch billybob get a 100 bucks? NOOO you watch for actually decent wrestling with storylines that make fucking sense not redneck jim getting 100 bucks that he will go spend on Shine.

leorocker180 said...

I think Vince's major announcement was a big let down in my opinion.....handing out money to fans has get to be the lamest most desperate and obvious attempt at garnering ratings that it is pathetic!

-As for the Draft lottery...well....people have been moving around brands so often lately that this years lottery won't even seem as important.

-I don't know where they are going with Chris Jericho he admires hbk...he hates hbk?? somethings got to give...and when it does it better make sense!

-And I agree with you....why is it that triple H even when he's a babyface always has to have the last word!!!he's soo fucking insecure it makes me sick...i mean his still prob going over on orton at the ppv so why make him look like a pussy.

-I was excited about two things on Raw....The first one was the debut on Ted Diabase Jr......the fact that Millionm Dollar man announcedd him almost ensures me that this kid is going to get a decent push right out the gate, which is a good thing because from what I have heard...this kid could really go! and hopefully this means a new 2nd generation heel stable that they'd been talking about. hopefully Million Dollar man will recruit Harry Smith and turn him heel so we can finally take him seriously....also the fact that carlito looks to be broken away from santino tells me he's gonna be in this heel stable....im not sure thats a good thing.....the guys been buried so damn long i dont even take him seriously anymore.

The 2nd thing i was excited about was the continuity of Paul Burchill being associated with regal and taking out revenge on Mr. Kennedy..Hopefully that fact that Kennedy is an over babyface will help elevate burchill as well and this is not seen as a demotion to kennedy which i fear.