Shades Of Gray #18

In this week’s column I’ll discuss the disappointing episode of “Raw” which followed the mediocre SummerSlam pay-per-view. I’ll also comment on a former Ontario Indy wrestler making his WWE debut, Gail Kim’s potential move to WWE, and Mick Foley’s potential move to TNA.

The “Links of the Week” will catch you up on the major television highlights, including Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy, Kurt Angle vs. A.J. Styles, among others. And “Extras” provide your weekly dose of randomness with a forgotten Shawn Michaels match and matches with Jeff and Matt Hardy before they were famous.

"Raw" is Terrible

Monday night’s show was one of the worst episodes I’ve seen in a long time. Considering the show was following one of the biggest PPVs of the year (and thus, interest was high), it’s made all that more disappointing. The night was filled with screw-ups (including a major Mike-Up, as D.J.B. would put it) and there was simply an overall sense that nothing was special about the night.

Batista started it all off by tripping his way into the ring, and it appeared as if he injured himself in the process. He must have been hurt because we all know he can’t sell. The fact that Batista was teamed with John Cena at last night’s MSG house show, instead of wrestling his scheduled singles match against Kane, adds substance to the idea that Batista is not 100% healthy. This isn’t good news for the guy they’re likely thinking of putting the title on at Unforgiven.

This was followed by the ref screwing up the finish in the match between JBL and Jamie Noble. Clearly, the ref was supposed to stop the match earlier than he did, and it looked ridiculous when he called the match half-way through JBL’s pin attempt. Why wouldn’t he just finish the count? It was obvious that JBL was pissed when the match was over.

John Cena single-handedly beating the tag team champions was another troubling moment. The sad part was that you could see it coming from a mile away. WWE wasn’t going to allow Cena to lose two consecutive matches - so why not just have him beat one of Cody Rhodes or Ted Dibiase? It was unnecessary, and another knock on the already meaningless WWE tag team division.

WWE also failed to follow through on the promise of Stephanie and Shane making a major announcement. Instead, we got General Manager Mike Adamle stumble through his lines, and announce the (predictable) participants of World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match. It’s not that I particularly cared to see Steph and Shane on “Raw” - but WWE needs to follow through on its promises.

Even the commentators seemed off their game, as both Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole made inaccurate observations. In Cole’s case, he said that Jericho was basking in his glory after pinning CM Punk, when Chris Jericho was actually selling the beating he took in the match. In Lawler’s case, he said Kelly was blowing him a kiss, but when the camera switched positions it was clear that she wasn’t. On a related note, I think Lawler’s an overrated announcer. He offers very little insight - besides the occasional cheesy joke, what does he offer? I’d love to see JBL reprise the old "SmackDown!” team with Cole when the Texan decides to hang ‘em up again.

Jericho’s essentially clean win over Punk was the icing on the cake. Having Punk bump into Lance Cade hardly offered protection to the champ. Some may argue it was nice to see a clean pinfall victory in the main event, but it was just further proof that WWE doesn’t view Punk as a long-term champion. It’s not like Jericho needed the victory - he has more heat than ever before after punching HBK’s wife in the mouth at SummerSlam.

I don’t like being so cynical, and I understand that it’s hard for the roster to deliver on every show considering the rigorous travel schedule. But there were simply too many mistakes for me to ignore.

Quick Hits

Former Ontario Indy Worker Gavin (Shawn) Spears made his WWE television debut this week on “ECW.” Sure, it’s a bad name, but he’s long deserved a call-up to the main roster. In fact, when Shawn Michaels and Triple H visited OVW last year, Spears was one of only a few who they thought would have a bright future in the wrestling business. The only knock on Spears is that he looks too much like Randy Orton. Here’s hoping he gets a chance to shine, and doesn’t get the Braden Walker treatment.

Big Show is being misused on “SmackDown!”. He’s been stuck in neutral ever since his solid feud (and match) with Floyd Mayweather. At the very least, he deserved a shot in the “SmackDown!” Scramble Match.

Even though Big Show didn’t get a spot in the match, you have to commend Creative for shaking things up with the WWE Championship Scramble Match by putting Brian Kendrick, Shelton Benjamin and MVP in the main event mix. No doubt Triple H will walk away with the strap, hopefully leading to a program with Jeff Hardy.

Gail Kim is reportedly on the move to WWE, and she made a trip to the latest FCW television tapings earlier in the week. This is a nice pick-up for the fed, and I never understood why they released her in the first place. WWE adds a great worker to its women’s division, and although TNA loses its 2007 Knockout of the Year, their Knockouts division will continue on just fine.

It appears as if Vince Russo is trying another “Millionaire’s Club-New Blood” angle, only in TNA this time. In theory, it’s an interesting idea, but it failed in execution in WCW (for numerous reasons). From the sound of Nash’s sit-down interview with Mike Tenay on Thursday night, he (and Sting) don’t think the younger wrestlers show enough respect toward the older ones. However, guys like A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe are veterans in their own right at this point in their careers. Hopefully Nash, Sting and Booker T play the heels in this storyline, because it’s hard to argue that they’ve done more for TNA than the likes of Styles and Joe.

I’m disappointed that Foley is no longer the color commentator on Friday Nights. The Foley-J.R. team gave a sense of significance to the show. On the plus side, it’ll be interesting to see what he’d do in TNA, if his rumoured jump to the promotion does, in fact, happen. My guess is that he’s getting in shape right now - sure, he was never the most physically-fit wrestler, but he certainly has to lose some weight before he gets in the ring.

Links of the Week

1. The new I-C Champion, Santino Marella, faces D’Lo Brown with Kofi Kingston watching at ringside.

2. Chris Jericho beats the World Heavyweight Champion in the main event of “Raw” (Part 1; Part 2)

3. Gavin Spears makes his “ECW” debut against Ricky Ortiz.

4. Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry for the ECW Championship in a rematch from SummerSlam (Part 1; Part 2).

5. Hernandez takes another step toward breaking out against Robert Roode on “iMPACT!” Donnie’s right - he could be a big star. The same can be said for Beer Money too. I love them as a tag team, but both will make great main event-level heels before too long.

6. Booker T vs. Rhino in a Four Ways to Glory Qualifying Match.

7. A.J. Styles beats Kurt Angle for the second week in a row, in a Four Ways to Glory Qualifying Match (Part 1; Part 2).

8. Brian Kendrick picks up a shocking win in a 10-man Battle Royal to earn a spot in the WWE Title Scramble at Unforgiven.

9. Shelton Benjamin qualifies too (Part 1; Part 2).

Extras

10. A chapter from the new "The Life and Times of Mr. Perfect" DVD, chronicling his run as Intercontinental Champion.

11. The Scramble match is reminiscent of another match the WWE put together at Unforgiven 99: the Six Pack Challenge (Part 1;Part 2)

12. Here’s a match I didn’t know existed: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Shawn Michaels from a 1992 show in Sheffield, England (Part 1; Part 2; Part 3).

13. Here’s Jeff Hardy before he was famous, in a match against Owen Hart in 1995.

14. And here’s his brother with the same “jobber” role.

15. Remember when Billy Corgan made an appearance in ECW?

16. X-Pac, Kevin Nash and Booker T breaking up in a backstage segment after Booker sings his own version of HBK’s theme music. (Are they in a closet?)

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