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6.16.2008

Tha Raw Report: Flair For Tha Future

As the title teases Ric Flair made his return to “Raw.” Didn’t take long, but oh well. Also on tonight’s edition of “Raw” we get a surprise pairing, a surprise result, another job from Carlito after another shoot, and another shovel full of dirt on top of the grave of Umaga.

The title says a Flair for tha future, but it’s really only because I wanted to get Flair in it. The future doesn’t look all that promising unless things change soon. Sure we’ve got Simply Priceless Ted Dibiase, but we’ve also got a PPV main event that was the main event of Mania two years ago, and we had to hear about it.

Who writes John Cena’s promos? Whoever does needs to be fired immediately. They turned a perfectly good promo into a damn joke. He was absolutely right around the middle of it. I didn’t like the fact that he was begging people to watch by reminding them why wrestling is so good.

I did like the moments he brought up. They did evoke emotion, which not much does today, and then he ruined the promo by saying that his match with Triple H will be one of those moments where you remember where you were. Yeah it will be, but that’s when you look at the TV bill and realize you wasted 40 bucks on that shit.

I usually jump on my soapbox and proclaim to the masses that Triple H shouldn’t bury everyone like he does, but tonight, I’m glad he did, in one instance anyway. I’m almost positive that I heard Trips echo the concerns of the Cena-haters. I don’t always agree with Triple H, but tonight I almost stood and gave him an “amen!”

As soon as H started in with the uncoordinated talk I knew it was only going to get better. He’s uncoordinated and can’t wrestle; his fans are carrying their foam belts and won’t be watching because it’s past their bedtime. Maybe now they realize that Cena is terrible for their ratings, because not many people watch for John Cena.

Then of course to make it up to John for badmouthing him, he was fed Umaga. Sure Umaga got in some offense, and Cena looked weak, but of course he won and Umaga loses yet another match. When’s the last time he won two matches in a row? Let’s all hope that Cena goes to “SmackDown” because if you wonder why Raw drew a 3.0 last week, look no farther.

Chris Jericho’s promo is what triggered the deafening roar from the crowd when Ric, WOOOO, Flair returned. Jericho did his usual heel shtick running down Michaels and Flair came out to defend his friend. Flair is retired so he couldn’t wrestle but he wanted to fight.

Triple H stepped up, and held Jericho off from Flair, which pissed Flair off because he didn’t need Triple H fighting his battles. This though ended up in Vince sending Flair home because Flair is retired and didn’t need to interrupt the show. Trips asked Vince a question which set up…Triple H vs. Chris Jericho later tonight.

Allow me to go off on a tangent, I’m a Flair mark, hell, I’m a mark. I want to be shocked and entertained, but “Raw” hasn’t done that in quite some time. They bring Flair back, but it wasn’t for anything big, it was to put over Jericho/Michaels and set up Jericho/Triple H. Had it set up Flair vs. Jericho I would have had a lot more patience.

Why not bring him back to put over Dibiase’s kid? They aren’t doing anything new, anything fresh and dammit this is why the ratings suck. I don’t see them getting much better, but there is a chance they will be better this week. No Celtics/Lakers to dominate the ratings.

The main event of the evening, if you can call it that was WWE Champion vs. Intercontinental Champion. What I did like, was the one new thing the E pulled out this week. The pairing of Lance Cade and Chris Jericho, which saw Cade attack Triple H to end the match in a DQ.

We now know for sure that Cade will be the member of his former tag team to get the biggest push. Do you know how to ruin something surprising? Have John Cena come out to defend Triple H. I swear, I was waiting on Ron Simmons to come out and give us a “Damn!” the whole time. It was that dumb.

We did have a few more of the Million Dollar Mania segments and this week the people were happy to win, and last week they apparently thought it was a rib. Two people from North Carolina won this week, and dammit I don’t think Jeff Brown or Cham Pain won so Tha O Show went 0-3 on possible winners.

Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly defended their dignity, but not their championships against Cryme Tyme. They won because Ted Dibiase came out and that distracted JTG. I fully expect Harry Smith to be Dibiase’s tag partner, and that’ll be fine, just get the belts off of Rhodes and Holly.

The other match that took place was Katie Lee and Paul Burchill against Mr. Kennedy and Mickie James. It was a solid match with some good bumps, some good action a finish that wasn’t expected. Katie Lea picked up the win over Mickie with one of her backbreakers. Mickie will be defending her Women’s Championship against Katie Lea at NoC.

With “Raw” leaving some to be desired again it forces us to have high hopes for the Draft next week. Maybe the draft will impress, but it’s safe to say that almost everyone is expecting another big disappointment.

Tha Results…
*John Cena def. Umaga
*Maria wins Beach Bikini Blowout
*Jeff Hardy def. Carlito
*Holly & Rhodes def. Cryme Tyme
*Katie Lea & Paul def. Mickie & Kennedy
*Triple H def. Chris Jericho via DQ


6 comments: on "Tha Raw Report: Flair For Tha Future"

Andrew Gray said...

I liked the Ric Flair appearance - sure, it's a one-time thing, but it should be because he's retired. And it provided a surprise that has been lacking on "Raw" recently.

Did anyone else hear Jericho tell Flair to grab the mic from him? Probably not a smart move with the mic up to your mouth.

D.J.B. said...

Raw did a 3.3 this week, way up from last weeks 3 even, and the week before was a 3.1, so I'll bet some people at Titan Towers are jumping up and down...though I woudlnt get to excited. Next weeks and the two or three after the Draft are where the rubber meets the road though.

Anonymous said...

If Cena and HHH is going to be "one of those moments," then why is it getting clusterfucked. If it is supposed to be this epic event, then it should be able to stand on its own right? So why have the last 2 raws ended on a high note for 3 different individuals not even involved in the match (Hardy, Jericho and Cade), and cena and HHH on their backs. Unless their turning this match into a fatal 5 way, the booking makes no sense. I just see it as creative's attempt to make something out of a fued that really has no legs.

It's wayyyyyyyy to early to bring flair back. I was somewhat surprised to hear his music, but nowhere close to shocked. I thought it was a tease at first, but then when he came out, i lost interest.

I'm still in disagreeance with Donnie on the subect of jericho, as i think he's working hard to try to drop the comedy gimmick that he's always had in order to become a main event guy. It's going to take some trial and tribulation, but i think he's getting better and his characters becoming more serious. You have to give him credit for that.

There's nothing else really that i remember from last night, except another shittacular night of matches playing second fiddle to the stupid money thing on a wrestling show.

Anonymous said...

Good article. My damned cable was out so I didnt know what happened and was too lazy to check online. Why did they bring Flair back in any form so soon? That makes all the feuding over him and the awesome ass sendoff seem silly.

Glad that Cade is moving on up, but, damn it, so should Murdoch. If you had asked me who has the longer shelf life I wouldve said Murdoch. I like the guy (even though country music makes me sick).

There is something missing from Raw and its Regal. Man, the show hasnt been the same since he has been gone. Its like he left a huge hole and its being absorbed by more HHH/Cena nonsense. Hell, let Orton do the RTV clips. That show needa adraft. Some folks need to go to SD. I know they'll never send HHH there but at least send Cena (yeah, THAT'LL happen!).

Anonymous said...

When all our tears have reached the sea.
Part of you will live in me.
Way down deep inside my heart.
The days keep coming without fail.
A new wind is gonna find your sail.
That's where your journey starts.

You'll find better love,
Strong as it ever was,
Deep as the river runs,
Warm as the morning sun.
PLEASE REMEMBER ME!

Anonymous said...

King: "Is it true that you're lobbying to have me replaced with Mike Adamle?"

JR: "No, sir. That's internet dirt."