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1.13.2009

Tha Raw Report

Maybe it was me, but it seemed like this week's "Raw" flew by. I was actually caught off-guard when John Cena came out for the main event before realizing just how late it was. Which was good, because a lot of what started of "Raw" wasn't all that appealing.

McMahons simply don't equal the ratings that they used to. The only McMahon that I want to see on my TV is Shane, and he seldom gets featured. Instead, we get Stephanie, who seems to dabble between face and heel, and Vince, who doesn't realize just how irrelevant his on-screen character has become. Is there anything that Vince can do next week that will surprise or entertain the fans? Not likely.

Jericho being fired doesn't do much for me. I get that it's supposed to be a cliffhanger, and to WWE's credit, they're doing a much better job of making "Raw" the predictable snoozefest that it once was in the not-too-distant past, but Chris Jericho lost a lot of rub by being buried by Cena, and an uninteresting character can take away from an unpredictable angle.

Rey Mysterio beat The Miz. Thanks, WWE, you put all the shit into one segment so that I only had to take one piss break. I take back what I said about WWE not caring about its fans. Next week Mysterio faces Mike Knox. I'm rooting squarely for the fat hairy guy. Knox has more upside than Mysterio, who is easily replaceable at this point.

Another schmoz finish between William Regal and CM Punk. WWE is playing a flawless game of "just the tip" with this feud. They're showing a little bit every week, and while I can't speak for any other fans, it's making me want to see a payoff match even more. It will be O-tastic if these two are allowed to go for 20-30 minutes on pay-per-view.

"Homecheeses". Goddamn. Forget the Honk-A-Meter, Santino needs the "Number Of People I Made Piss Themselves Laughing" Meter. Back when "Raw" was terrible, I really believe that Santino kept a substantial number of fans watching.

Is Kane a face or a heel? I can never keep it straight because he switches every week. Now he's getting screwed by referees. With Scott Armstrong being related to Bob Armstrong, thus making him second generation, I wonder if he may have a role in Legacy. That's a terrible sign for Kane's career-a referee is more involved in a storyline than he is.

Speaking of Legacy, this storyline continues to impress me every week. Predictability has been one of wrestling's biggest problems over the past few years. That and guys who can't work. This storyline features neither of those problems, as it's an angle that's never been done before. It's fresh and it's damn entertaining, plus the guys in it aren't likely to turn around and bolt from the company. Last week somebody asked how Donnie would compare Legacy to the idea he pitched back in 2006, and I'm interested to hear that myself.

Getting back to "Raw" itself, it was a decent surprise to see DiBiase back, and it's going to be intriguing to see what unfolds with the seemingly warring second generation teams of Rhodes/DiBiase and Manu/Snuka. I said it last week, and I stand by it-this is the best angle in wrestling right now.

Rosa Mendez showed up again. Here's what I hate about this stalker angle-she's not signed as a wrestler, at least not according to any storyline. How is she getting in, then, after causing so much trouble at previous venues? You'd think that with how quick WWE is to oust fans who start Batista chants, that they'd be all over some bitch who's obsessed with Buffalo's best. I can handle bad storylines, but storylines with big plotholes absolutely drive me up a wall.

Shawn Michaels beat John Cena. I got to see Michaels kick Cena's head off. Yippee! My gut instinct tells me that WWE will keep the title on John Cena at Royal Rumble, because their man-crush on Cena takes precedent over what would make a good storyline, but I really do hope that JBL wins the title, because while Michaels vs. JBL at WrestleMania wouldn't need a title to make it good, it may make the match a bigger draw, and add some prestige to the title. The marketing potential is huge, so I hope WWE looks past the fact that Cena has the belt right now. And, just to be clear, Cena is shit, folks...he can't work, he can't sell, he can't consistently cut entertaining promos, he is to wrestling what Dane Cook is to comedy.

As a final thought, Stone Cold Steve Austin is being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame this year. Not a big shocker because he obviously deserves it, and it is a nice touch that he'll be inducted in his hometown. Should be interesting to see how else Austin will be involved in WrestleMania festivities. I know I'm certainly looking forward to it.

There you have it. A whirlwind review of "Raw". Told you it felt like it went by fast. Go Steelers.

Tha Results:
*Shawn Michaels def. John Cena
*Melina & Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix & Jillian ended in a no contest
*Randy Orton def. Kane
*William Regal def. CM Punk by disqualification
*Rey Mysterio def. The Miz


11 comments: on "Tha Raw Report"

Anonymous said...

Dude, I get that Cena hate is cool and all, but you gotta give props when they're due. The first 20 seconds of his promo were good until he slipped back into the over the top cartoon character goof.

And I thought the match was extremely good. Shawn as always delivered and Cena busted his ass, Cena sold well(not great but still an improvement) and the fans seemed to have a tremendous emotional investment in the match. While Cena garnered NO cheers, because Shawn is head and shoulders... knees and toes... more over as a face and Cena garnered no jeers it didn't matter beause JBL garnered more by just being in the arena. All in all, it worked out to be a great match that Cena took nothing away from and for John Cena, that's a pass.

Downtown said...

I'm with Wildcat, the auto-Cena hate is redundant and often (not always) unwarranted. I was into the Main Event last night, and John done a damn fine job. Sure it doesn't hurt when your working with HBK, but damn give a dog his dues.

Anonymous said...

Candice Michelle is regulated to nothing. Which is a good thing.

Christopher Casúr said...

I didn't say anything about hating the match. I did enjoy the main event, my Cena hate was a "big picture" rant aimed at the possibility of him having the title simply because the people backstage like him. There have been instances in the past where it made sense to take the title off of Cena and they didn't, and I'm hoping history doesn't repeat itself.

But yes, the main event was hype. JBL and Shawn Michaels are two of the people in the company who are great at covering up another worker's in-ring weaknesses, so having both of them involved in the match made it even better.

As for "giving dues or props"...no. If he was a midcarder, I would concede this point, but he's not. He's a main eventer. When the best compliment that can be given to your champion is "he works hard and can be carried to a good match", that man should not be champion. The champion is supposed to carry a show, not the other way around.

Anonymous said...

More classic Casur, no respect for the business or the fans. It must be sad to know that you don't fit in anywhere in the business-workers think you're a mark, and fans think you're a moron. I saw you at Oblivion, trying to buddy up to all the wrestlers like you actually are somebody. Mind your place, you're not part of the business. Like Big Daddy Donnie told you when you tried to get over on his radio show, you don't mean anything to wrestling. Stop trying to hotshot yourself because it's not working and you're bound to be fired and go back to being another screaming mark fanboy.

Anonymous said...

I think the show was alright. The Legacy is one of the best idea's in a long time, I just keep thinking to myself just don't drop the ball on the best thing going. It wouldn't shock me if wwe does something stupid with them and by the time Mania comes around the Legacy has lost it's steam.

As far as Vinny Mac coming next week, the only thing that would garner my interest is if they do have the match with Austin/Hogan and McMahon is the special ref. He's has long histories with them and if they do it right it could become more interesting. Plus hell with a high profile match such as Austin/Hogan on a high profile Mana you know Vince is gonna make himself part of it.

Downtown said...

Easy anonymous, for weeks I've been reading personal shots on Casur and its sad, lame, pathetic, etc.

I have no clue what others feel about Casur and really don't care. I like him and enjoy debating (or what the hell ever you wanna call it) with him. Use your awesome brain power and converse your ideas and differing opinions, or (playin the broken record) write your own piece and send it in.

Then again Anonymous could be Casur creating his own heat, that'd be classic.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous: if you have heat with Casur and you saw him at Oblivion and didn't open your mouth but you sit at your computer talkin' shit, that makes you a bitch. Soooooo shut your bitch mouth.

Casur: Though it's true that the main eventers should be the best workers I have to disagree that Cena doesn't deserve his spot. He legit earned it. The problem is that he hasn't done anything with it. I guess that kind of means he doesn't deserve it anymore but lets face it, top faces on Raw are few and far between. Cena knows how to put together a decent match and with the right guys can put on a great match. He can put together a compelling promo, until he realizes that millions of people are watching and he gets a little carried away and takes it over the top. And lets face it, he's extremely over with a lot of marks and pretty over as a heel with others. I'd have to say he only gets X-Pac heat with about half of the smarks. He's always in the main events and ALWAYS elicits a reaction -cheers from mark children and their mark mothers- and boos from the rest. Smarks don't boo main events they dislike, they leave the arena. And with the combination of cheers and jeers he nearly always has a reaction the blows the roof off the joint. Again, I'm not at all a Cena fan, but once he stops busting his ass and once he starts drawing the same cricket-y reaction as Shelton Benjamin (sorry guys, he's a great worker but it's true) then he has a legitimate claim at his spot. He's not irreplacable but they really don't have (with the exception of CM Punk) a face as over as him to take his place -- keep in mind HBK already has a spot as a top face.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone else noticed how small Rey is getting? This week, it was really noticeable. I guess O.G. hasn't been taking his medicine lately.

Anonymous said...

As I've commented every week since it started, Legacy is still the best thing going today. I think it's that way because you just never know what's going to happen week to week. I think someone said a week or so ago that they are actually writing the angle week to week which would be awesome. Either way it's still coming across as gold, even if I think everyone knew that Ted would turn on Sim and Manu. The best part is that there is still SO much they can do with this angle. Casur mentioned the ref angle which would work for a good while. Then you could do something in the short term where Manu and Sim bring out a "suprise" new partner, and have it be Cody's good ole bro, that way things get evened out and there's a veteran presence for the other side as well. They just need to figure out a way to give Dustin credibility again in the fans eyes. Sounds like fun to me. If not Dustin, maybe have Umaga come on over and help with them, although seeing Umaga as a face is a stretch. Enough about what I think might happen though, it's just nice that I could actually sit here and think of these things while I'm typing, that in itself makes it a great angle.
Moving on though I'd like to jump on on the apparent Cena debate for this week. The man should be in the main event for the simple reason that we're talking about him right now. Whether we like him, hate him, or are changing week to week with him, one thing we all do is talk about the man. I'm not saying he has to hold the belt all the time, but he knows how to get reactions out of people, and more importantly, he keeps the kids and women happy which is what WWE likes to focus on the most. As long as he keeps doing that, he'll be right where he is now. Personally I long for a heel turn when he can bag on the fans with some raps and what not, but I don't see that happening as long as they don't have a replacement to help merchandise sales. Maybe if they get Matt Hardy to jump ship or something that could change. Right now the closest they have besides HBK is Punk, and he's a long way from hitting Cena sales.
Other than those two things Raw was so so. Punk and Regal are still awesome to watch, but that's about it. Jericho getting fired made no sense to me unless they start a thing next week where Jericho becomes Vince's man and Stephanie finds someone to be her man and they build it up to Mania. If they did that then I'd be fine with the firing. Same stuff from Santino and Beth, and lol @ Candice, I always hated that chick and I hope she's released soon so I never have to see her plastic body and face again. JBL was gold as always.

Anonymous said...

got to admit i thought that was a pretty decent episode of raw, the legacy stroyline is really intriging and its the first time ive been propa into a storyline for a while, and thanks for the second genertation ref info casur gd stuff, candice-just quit please, what a joke she was, fucking douche bag, santino had somin like 20 seconds of tv and was pure gold again

also, lol at downtowns comment, what an angle creating ur own heat haha