RAW Thoughts

[goodhelmet]

Jerry Lawler just said that RAW was the #1 cable program because of HHH. Fuck that.

 

 

HHH "Dave is on borrowed time". Well, no shit Sherlock.

 

Why can't the crowd just chant "Boring" at this pig fucker?

[Guest Some Guy]

I'm suprised you're watching. I wasn't paying any attention to HHH, I was replying to you're PM.

 

As far as Raw goes: I'm kind of curious to see if HBK can get anything out of Hassam this week before he beats him with the superkick or Hogan hobbles in (which I think could happen).

 

Batista's promo better be good after he was neglected last week until the ME and didn't get to talk. Maybe they took the last week to craft a good promo and allow him to practice it. But I doubt it. I'd be willing to bet it goes like this: Last week at WM I beat a great wrestler, who I respect more than anybody I've ever met in my life. I'd like to thank him again for all that he's done for me and I'd like to thank him for giving me the oppurtunity to defend my title against such a great man in a rematch at Backlash. Words cannot express how honored I am to have even been in the same ring as HHH and the thought of doing so again is really great. So in conclusion, thank you Hunter you are the best and I respect you. ::Thumbs down::

 

Wow, HHH is actually selling for Rosie and Hurricane... Spoke too soon he's dominating again. Can't somebody tell this motherfucker that regardless of how pushed he's been, he's still fighting 2 guys? Pedigree and it's over. I think he gave Rosie more in their singles match than he gave both of them tonight. What a fucking prick. ANd now he's beating down Rosie. WHy not just have the rest of the lockerroom come down so HHH can squash them to another lukewarm response.

 

He vows that he'll Pedigree Batista tonight. That would be about the worst way to keep Batista over.

[MyOwnSummer]

Diva Search 2...ye gods

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

HHH is one of the worst promos around. He takes for-ev-er to get to any point. We knew where he was going, but it took so long to get there. I found myself going, "just say Pedigree, god damn it!"

[Guest Some Guy]

Diva Search 2...ye gods

Well, it'll probably mean thay Hemme's role will be reduced.

 

Here comes Shawn...

[goodhelmet]

I am actually taking Loss's advice. He said I should watch RAW to keep up to date. So far, I am not feeling it. The HHH squash... the Masters debacle... HBK.

 

I think grabbing the premium stuff on tape is the way to go.

[Guest Some Guy]

I am actually taking Loss's advice. He said I should watch RAW to keep up to date. So far, I am not feeling it. The HHH squash... the Masters debacle... HBK.

 

I think grabbing the premium stuff on tape is the way to go.

Well, considering that I get DVDs out of that deal, I agree.

[Guest Cam Chaos]

I have had to pay to watch Raw in the past on Sky Sports. End of this month, I'm dropping my Sky Sports package. Fuck this. I can watch Cage Rage live, the big football matches are on regular TV and it's not worth the money to continue keeping a channel to watch a show so shit it offends me put out by a company that drops injured and anguished wrestlers while seeking out idiot bimbos to throw money at who no one gives a shit about while they have actual talented women in OVW.

 

The bullshit booking of JR vs HHH, HHH getting time in two promos, Hogan with his busted hip being wheeled out yet again, whores and scoundrels being rewarded (I can only imagine how Matt Hardy felt watching his ex make out with another guy on top of knowing she's fucking Edge), as well as the backwards approach of the writing (so these women don't mind getting changed while a fucking camera is on them showing them to the entire audience and cable viewers, but freak out when Kane sees them in their skimpies? FUCKING BOLLOCKS) and pushing the unover no talents repeatedly (Chris Masters sucks and no one cares about him, why the fuck does he get a video package? Because he has veins popping out on top of his other veins?) while burying the half decent guys (Rosey can at least entertain and is agile for a big guy, Hurricane was awesome as Sugar Shane Helms) in favour of someone that's only even banked on because everyone else worth a shit from the attitude era has moved on or is retired, a 40 year old married Christian man dancing around in leather pants, a gimmicked Italian pretending to be an Arab to nurture hate for views opposing the majority no matter how valid they may be (and were initially in the first few skits), then they fucking book a Madison Square Garden show with HHH vs JR to boot?

 

Why don't they just take a giant shit in the ring and film that for two hours? At least then they wouldn't need to polish it up.

 

Fuck WWE. I got fucking Muta and Sting vs Road Warriors on my comp and MMA, K-1 and ADCC showing on Eurosport that I don't have to pay for and which doesn't suck and SD is show for free on Sky One anyway. But chances are that title is going to look like Young Bucks G-Unit chain by the end of the month and they already have Cena vs JBL booked for the next PPV (because God knows the first didn't suck ass)...I doubt I'll bother with that either.

 

Absolute bullshit. I hope the UFC continues to expand and drives WWE out of business.

[sek69]

Well RAW was certainly interesting. On one hand you had a 20 minute Benoit-Christian match and the start of a good Shelton-Jericho program. On the other hand you had yet another looooooooooooooong winded HHH promo to grind the show to a halt and the continual undermining of Batista.

 

Compare how the two brands' new champs started off:

 

Smackdown: John Cena cuts a spirited promo in which he introduces (and does a good job of getting over) a new catchphrase. The champ.......is HERE.

 

RAW: Batista gets less than 5 minutes of promo time before HHH has to come out and re-establish himself as the dominant guy on the show.

 

I mean, odds are Batista isn't going to be able to cut a promo like Cena can, but they should really let him sink or swim on his own merits instead of letting HHH throw him an anchor.

[Loss]

I am actually taking Loss's advice. He said I should watch RAW to keep up to date. So far, I am not feeling it. The HHH squash... the Masters debacle... HBK.

Nothing to say about Benoit/Christian going 20 minutes?

[Guest Dazed]

The first month(s) of the HHH / Batista feud were masterful. There was so much subtlety on the part of Batista - deliberately getting himself sent backstage during a HHH match, something that happened and wasn't acknowledged by either Ross or Lawler. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but the implication was that he'd even outsmarted them, they should thought he'd gone mad.

 

After the Rumble, and moreso after the "official" face turn for Batista,the feud took a total turnaround. "HHH: You are good, but I am better". Over, and OVER and fucking over.

 

After HHH beat Benoit, he added Chris to the list of people he's "better than"; a hugely irritating trait where he wipes the slate of any jobs he's done against that person, and only keeps the last match, co-incidentally the one that he wins. Did Benoit get any mic time? Did he get a chance, as HHH so often does, to make his excuses? Did he get the opportunity to point out that he's beaten HHH repeatedly, and cleanly, and that one victory, while admirable, is nothing on what he achieved against HHH? Of course not. Slight tangent there

 

But the whole HHH / Batista feud was essentially that: "You're good, but not as good as me". It's all seen from HHH's perspective, because he's the one that gets all the mic time. Of the two times we've seen Batista since he won the title, HHH has interupted both times. Add on the two interview segments HHH was given himself, as well as the absolutely retarded squash of the Hurricane and Rosey, and you'll see we're given a very one sided feud.

 

Talking of the Hurricane, why not bring Ace Reporter Gregory Helms back, and have someone threaten to reveal the Hurricane's true identity? Inevitably, they'd fail, but hell, it'd make for Hurricane to do something better than being HHH's bitch whenever he's feeling a little sour.

 

Even now, after the title switch, it's still "You WERE good, but you're not as good as the Pedigree". Dave, crucially, was never hit with the Pedigree, but this isn't something that's brought up. Instead, HHH is doing the one thing a heel should never do, and he's telling the truth. The Pedigree is invincible. Who's kicked out of it? Foley; by mistake. The Rock; because of a miscue. Both of those were 5 years ago, and I'm struggling to think of more.

 

I don't think there can be any doubt that we need a break from HHH. I don't just mean pushing him down the card, I mean taking him off TV for a break, or throwing him on SmackDown. He's been the top heel since the end of '99, but has never reached the levels of overness that a top heel needs. Instead, he uses every cheap, shitty gimmick he can to justify his position, and overused some of them to the point of ridiculousness, with no sense of *when* it is appropriate. Just look at how many matches have ended with Flair interference / Sledgehammer / Low blow & Pedigree combo.

 

Sadly, the WWE is too caught up in the 90s mentality where we need to see everyone every week. We don't. Especially not HHH.

[Loss]

Not the best RAW.

 

I liked Benoit/Christian quite a bit, and it was about time Christian actually got to win a match, but that was about it. The rest of it is same old, same old, and bringing back Hulk Hogan is not the answer. Yeah, Benoit/Edge and Jericho/Benjamin should keep the show from being a total wash at Backlash, but:

 

(1) We've already seen both of those matches way too many times, especially Benoit/Edge.

 

and

 

(2) The crowd doesn't seem to care about anyone anymore.

 

There was almost no heat for the Jericho/Benjamin confrontation, and turning him heel at this point in time, after he got so over with some recent star-making performances, is akin to burying him. You don't have him come out there and say that he can do things in the ring no one else can; if anything, JR says that, and Benjamin keeps his mouth shut and backs it up. The crowd doesn't even invest in Jericho's feuds anymore, because he doesn't even care if he loses a match, because he never even reacts when he does. So why should the fans invest in his feuds if he himself doesn't give a shit?

 

There are only a few people on RAW right now that I'd consider commodities:

 

(1) Batista

(2) Edge

(3) Shawn Michaels

(4) Chris Benoit

(5) Shelton Benjamin

(6) Christian

 

I'd probably put them in that order.

 

HHH needs to go home for six months, Jericho has been getting pushed sideways for so many years that he's not even over anymore and the above-mentioned names aren't always pushed in quite the way they should be anyway. Batista is just a trophy champ, and after he feuds with HHH, there's nothing left for him to do, which is I'm sure how Hunter will justify getting the belt back. Edge is doing okay, but he shouldn't have lost a match last week coming off of WM. He needs to be protected at all times since he's literally Batista's only hope after the HHH feud. HBK is the only babyface that's booked consistently on RAW, and the crowd reaction shows. He was not nearly as over in 2003 as he is now, and it's because he's the only face that isn't booked to either be ineffective or be a jerk on a regular basis. Benoit has stayed over because his matches are some of the few that actually feel like real struggles where the winner and the loser matter, so people have a reason to care, but they're so inconsistent on his push (he's a main eventer one week and a midcarder the next) that it's hard to figure out where he's going. Shelton Benjamin should be the guy in reserve right now that they're gearing up for a WM 22 title win, but putting him in feuds with other babyfaces and having him brag about his athletic ability aren't the right steps in that direction. Christian has everything he needs to become a top guy except the company backing him.

 

The show is a mess. Postponing the draft until an undetermined date is the worst decision they possibly could have made.

[sek69]

HHH's promos make me long for the guy who yelled "GET TO THE POINT" at HBK that one time.

 

Seriously, if HHH is the smartest man in the history of canvas and ropes, why does he waste so much time saying the same thing every week?

[Loss]

My theory is that Hunter has gone out of his way so much to establish his superiority to all of his peers that now he's associated with those same losers. If everyone else in the company looks like a bumbling idiot and an asshole, and that's the environment in which you work, it's going to rub off on you as well. So, in HHH's quest to state his dominance, he's managed to bury himself as much as anyone else.

[sek69]

It's a shame wrestlers are notoriously selfish, RAW's begging for a locker room revolt.

 

What could Vince do, fire everyone and have HHH give a 2 hour 10 minute promo?

[Guest Cam Chaos]

Or Shane vs HHH where Shane loses by diving off a crane before getting pedigree'd off the Hell in the Cell through a table with thumbtacks and barbwire on it .

[MyOwnSummer]

No comments on Davari beating Shawn? Davari should have been the wrestler with Hassan as his muscle. I was really hoping that Shawn was going to announce Marty as his partner but no such luck.

 

We were having an AIM chat during RAW and right before HHH announced he'd be fighting JR, Alfdogg predicted it.

[sek69]

I think it hurt Davari's character to show that not only can he wrestle, he's pretty ripped for a small guy instead of the usual scrawny manager.

[Guest Some Guy]

Davari should wear pointy toed boots. Other than that I have no further comment on the show. There was nothing to it and Hogan's name didn't get a huge pop, but I bet he does at MSG next week.

[Loss]

If they're playing this for total nostalgia, they REALLY need to get the Iron Sheik involved in this whole angle.

[sek69]

Hogan and the Sheik in MSG would blow the lid off the place.

 

I'll admit, I mark out for Hogan now. As long as he's not in the title picture I don't have a problem with him as a novelty act.

[Guest Some Guy]

Hogan and the Sheik in MSG would blow the lid off the place.

 

I'll admit, I mark out for Hogan now. As long as he's not in the title picture I don't have a problem with him as a novelty act.

I agree and wouldn't even have a problem if WWE had a nostalgia division, where once a week on SD! Hogan, Volkoff, etc.. got to limp around the ring in an attempt to recapture older fans and hope they stick around and get hooked on the new guys. The problem is that Hogan won't accept this role. He wouldn't even accept a non-ME spot in 2003 for very long. He, a 50 year old man wanted to go over Brock Lesnar for the title so he could get his win back.

 

Hogan and HBK fighting Hassan and Davari is fine IMO, as long as Davari takes the fall, rather than Hassan. Hogan vs. HBK is fine too. I actually would have wanted to see that match in 96/97.

 

If Hogan were willing to take a mid card spot where he gave younger guys the rub he would still be valuable, but he isn't. He might add a few more buys to Backlash, but they'll get nothing for Hogan/HBK, especially if both guys are faces. That's not a match like Rock/Hogan where people actually dreamed of it. I don't anyone who would kill to see a 40 year HBK wrestle a 53 year old Hogan. If they want to head to that match they should skip the Hasaan/Davaru tag match. Hogan should have limped in to save HBK last week, Shawn pushes him and says that he doesn't need any help. And go straight to the singles match at Backlash from there. Set up Shawn as the slight heel and Hogan as the virtuous Babyface.

 

Either way Shawn is not the guy who needs this match. A guy like Edge, who Hogan was tag champs with would be a much better choice for a match with and a win over the Hulkster.

[Guest Hunter's Torn Quad]

Raw bored the shit out of me. I was watching it on tape, and was fast forwarding through almost all of it, because I didn't care about much of it. The only thing I enjoyed even slightly was the Benjamin and Jericho angle. I didn't even care that Shawn actually did the job to Davari, probably because I know he's getting the job back in some fashion, and it's not being done to elevate anyone, rather to set up the return of a 51-year old geriatric who has an artificial hip and an artificial knee, and I?m now going to have to suffer through Hulk Hogan Returns Part 476,488. I didn?t care about Benoit v Christian, and I skipped straight to the finish, because I knew the second Christian came out as Benoit?s opponent that Christian was going to win. Why ? Because of the ultra annoying parity booking that goes on between everyone involved in the MITB match, bar Kane. In the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania, each of the MITB participants did a job to someone else involved in the match, making sure nobody was seen was special, because it established everyone as being on the same level. So, Edge won the MITB match, and what happens the next night on Raw ? He does a clean job to Benoit. And what happened to Benoit the week after that ? He did a relatively clean job to Christian. Why ? Does any of this help anyone ? Does it elevate anyone ? Does it make anyone give a flying fuck about one of these five wrestlers more than the others ? The worst part was the end of Raw, when Batista finally got some mic time to himself, and had the spotlight to himself. Well, for 3 minutes anyway. Once again, the new World Champion got almost no spotlight to himself. Why ? Because Triple H once again insists that Raw ends with the spotlight firmly on him and his angle, with his challenge to Jim Ross. Why is this happening ? Why the fuck couldn?t Raw have ended with Triple H scurrying away ? At least then the spotlight would have been on Batista dominating Triple H. But no. For the obvious ego feeding reasons, Raw just had to end with the spotlight once again on the former World Champion. Is Triple H that insecure, and this is a rhetorical question because we all know the answer, that he cannot let one Raw end with the spotlight not on him in some way ? Holy fucking Christ man, you?re running the damn show, and are going to inherit what?s left of it once Vince drops dead. Let someone else have the fucking spotlight at the end of Raw just once. It won?t kill you. The world will not end because you were not given all or some of the spotlight at the end of Raw.

 

Even though I can?t work it out, I just know that there will be some people who, right now, will be claiming that Triple H didn?t steal the spotlight. Just like last week when Triple H waltzed out at the end of Raw to take attention away from the new World Champion, the guy who is meant to be the face of the Raw brand, there are some people, who, despite being ?smart?, will swear blind that Hunter didn?t steal the spotlight, and will somehow justify that the new World Champion was not the sole focus of the end of Raw last week. Is such simple booking lost on so-called ?smart? fans ? Are people who are meant to be ?smart? to the business really that stupid ? I could go on a long tirade, but I won?t, because this isn?t the place or the thread for it. Suffice it to say that never in the history of ?smart? fans as being called smart been such an oxymoron.

[sek69]

I don't think there's too many smart fans left defending HHH. I know at one point years ago I took sides against the people bitching about glass ceilings (and I still stand by that, there's much more of one now than there was when it was the smark thing to do to bitch about it).

 

 

What turned me against HHH is displays like last night where the spotlight had to be on him at all costs.

[goodhelmet]

I am actually taking Loss's advice. He said I should watch RAW to keep up to date. So far, I am not feeling it. The HHH squash... the Masters debacle... HBK.

Nothing to say about Benoit/Christian going 20 minutes?

I was watching but it was a bunch of kick-punch for the first 3-4 minutes so I chose to give my daughter a bath instead. Caught the main event interview. Same ol' same ol'. Poor ol' JR who is the least sympathetic character ever. Sorry, but I'll wait to pick the match up on a comp.