Post by MikeGrim on Oct 15, 2008 10:19:52 GMT -5
The Spot Fest
Monday Night RAW- 10/13/08
by: Michael C. Grimaldi
The Columbus Day (actually Thanksgiving Day...in Canada) RAW emanated from the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. It was a lousy show, so here's The Spot Fest for the October 13th edition of Monday Night RAW.
High Spots:
Opening segment (Jericho/Michaels)- Jericho did a great job of selling each choice in the voting for special referee at No Mercy. He made them all seem like good choices for the fans to make in that none would benefit Jericho. Simply story telling and not beating people over the head with the point you're trying to get across. Michaels continued to not let up on Jericho, which was nice to see since a lot of times heated feuds like theirs are allowed to fall to the wayside too quickly after they reach their high water mark. I really think there is a chance Michaels could win the vote, if for no other reason than this: Do a lot of current WWE fans remember Austin? He's been done for what? Six years? The turn over rate in WWE fans is about 5 years (a total guess). Also, the fact that voting is strictly via text message and actually costs $.99 per vote could make the voting results a lot different than in the past. No one is going to waste $.99 on a vole just to fuck with results. I could have done without the little brawl at the end of the segment, but I guess it just re-establishes the idea that Michaels will not forgive Jericho and will take every opportunity he can to hurt him.
JBL's Promo- While I probably wouldn't ever want to actually have dinner with the man, JBL's political and economic views are a very solid way to establish him as a selfish and arrogant bully. While this completely goes over the head of the current audience WWE targets, this character can induce a reaction from older...smarter fans. JBL delivers his promos about this with a passion and an understanding that no one else can. The subsequent match with "Haas Hogan" was...well, it was a decent way to have JBL look strong. The gimmick where the limo driver didn't pull up far enough to fully open the door and JBL's reaction to it were real and funny.
Botched Spots:
Johnny Knoxville segment- It actually didn't start off bad, but increasingly got worse. Santino Marella came out and if nothing else, made a joke that echoed my comment about how the humorous idea behind having the text the word "HONKY" to vote for the Honky Tonk Man as his opponent for Cyber Sunday. Santino invited Knoxville into the ring and Knoxville made a joke about Beth being a dude to which she tried to slam him but almost dropped him on his head. Then Hornswoggle came in and hit the "tadpole splash" on Knoxville because Knoxville had made a comment about wanting to see "the midgets" earlier. Following that, we got two returns we could all have lived without. First, Big Dick Johnson came out to dance with Chris "Party Boy" Pontius...so we got two men in thongs. Add that to Michael Cole's repeated calling of Rey Misterio's offense as "Swashbuckling" and other than Pat Patterson, I don't know who this was booked for. The Boogieman made his return to do the obligatory worm gimmick to Pontius. Finally, the segment ended with The Great Khali coming out and putting Knoxville in the head vice and then tree slamming him. Knoxville's head whiplashed against the mat on the landing and he seemed legit knocked loopy. If anything, that's one way to prevent the Jackass guys from no selling like Pontius and Steve-O did last year.
Shawn Michaels vs. Batista (Lumberjack Match)- The pace of the match...terrible. Batista getting lost again in a match...terrible. The finish...terrible. Michaels did a decent job selling, but this match, for the names in it was just plain bad. I had hoped that after a really slow first half, that it would pick up after commercial. It didn't. It seemed like a backdrop match for the announcers to explain history of Michaels/Batista/Jericho, the problem is, Michael Cole was the one telling it. The lumberjacks were just a way to get a cheap finish. Batista seems lost in the ring right now. I have no idea if it's a confidence thing or what, but his head doesn't seem to be in it. Is he mailing it in until he gets another run on top? The crowd was much more for Michaels and even boo'd Batista at times. I think they missed the boat on turning Batista in the spring, but it still should be something that is considered.
Miz/John Morrison/Jillian vs. Cryme Tyme/Kelly Kelly- Why??!?! And a plastic mask is what does the heels in? Well, at least it's not the booking that makes John Morrison and Miz seem "too goofy." Ugh.
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (Batista as referee)- See? You didn't think I'd ever put Punk on the "botched" section, didja? Well, sadly, he is...but it's not his fault. It's not Chris Jericho's fault. It's not even Batista's fault. CM Punk is not allowed to beat anyone worth anything in a one on one match with a clean finish other than JBL. The whole opponent/referee thing is done to death worst than heel commissioner/GMs are. Punk looked to have potatoed Jericho a few times with kicks in the match, but Jericho is a pro and didn't let it bother him. If these guys had full program and house show matches to work out the kinks I think the matches would be really good; but this wasn't a match, it was a gimmick. The work from the wrestlers was fine, the booking is atrocious.
The show overall- Just a real bad and lazy effort from RAW. Old hack gimmicks, cheap finishes and non-entertaining entertainment. I think I've said this before, but when WWE allows it wrestlers and their abilities to be the focus, the shows are just so much better than when they allow booking to get in the way. There's no reason a show with Shawn Michaels vs Batista and CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho should completely suck. Yet this one did. No Mercy proved that less is more and the past two RAWs have proven the writing team has no clue how to write effective story lines without taking the worst of things from the past.
Rest Holds:
Mark Henry/Kane vs. Matt Hardy/Rey Misterio- A rematch from a pretty dull affair last week. This was better than last week, but I still don't see the point. The reason Henry has been successful at the top on ECW is he is generally protected. It makes no sense for Kane to team with anyone, and Henry has been in the ring too much lately. The more you see of Henry the less effective he becomes. I really thought there was something to build on with the tag team of Misterio and Evan Bourne, but instead, they throw Hardy in there thinking he's more of a draw. When the booking is lazy and the show sucks, you could have Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, HHH, Undertaker and anyone else on the show...people will not tune in.
Randy Orton- I like the "don't vote for me" idea and then giving the reason for the fans to vote for him by saying he doesn't want to risk another set back...but Orton has been very effective lately as a wild card and if nothing else has been an intriguing character. This week, he was legitimately "just kind of there" as were Rhodes/DiBiase and most of the RAW heels.
Results:
1. Jericho/Michaels Promo
2. Kane and Mark Henry defeated Rey Misterio and Matt Hardy
3. JBL defeated (Charlie) Haas Hogan
4. Johnny Knoxville Segment
5. Batista NC Shawn Michaels (Lumberjack Match)
6. Cryme Tyme (Shad & JTG)/Kelly Kelly defeated The Miz/John Morrison/Jillian
7. CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho (Batista guest referee)
Monday Night RAW- 10/13/08
by: Michael C. Grimaldi
The Columbus Day (actually Thanksgiving Day...in Canada) RAW emanated from the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. It was a lousy show, so here's The Spot Fest for the October 13th edition of Monday Night RAW.
High Spots:
Opening segment (Jericho/Michaels)- Jericho did a great job of selling each choice in the voting for special referee at No Mercy. He made them all seem like good choices for the fans to make in that none would benefit Jericho. Simply story telling and not beating people over the head with the point you're trying to get across. Michaels continued to not let up on Jericho, which was nice to see since a lot of times heated feuds like theirs are allowed to fall to the wayside too quickly after they reach their high water mark. I really think there is a chance Michaels could win the vote, if for no other reason than this: Do a lot of current WWE fans remember Austin? He's been done for what? Six years? The turn over rate in WWE fans is about 5 years (a total guess). Also, the fact that voting is strictly via text message and actually costs $.99 per vote could make the voting results a lot different than in the past. No one is going to waste $.99 on a vole just to fuck with results. I could have done without the little brawl at the end of the segment, but I guess it just re-establishes the idea that Michaels will not forgive Jericho and will take every opportunity he can to hurt him.
JBL's Promo- While I probably wouldn't ever want to actually have dinner with the man, JBL's political and economic views are a very solid way to establish him as a selfish and arrogant bully. While this completely goes over the head of the current audience WWE targets, this character can induce a reaction from older...smarter fans. JBL delivers his promos about this with a passion and an understanding that no one else can. The subsequent match with "Haas Hogan" was...well, it was a decent way to have JBL look strong. The gimmick where the limo driver didn't pull up far enough to fully open the door and JBL's reaction to it were real and funny.
Botched Spots:
Johnny Knoxville segment- It actually didn't start off bad, but increasingly got worse. Santino Marella came out and if nothing else, made a joke that echoed my comment about how the humorous idea behind having the text the word "HONKY" to vote for the Honky Tonk Man as his opponent for Cyber Sunday. Santino invited Knoxville into the ring and Knoxville made a joke about Beth being a dude to which she tried to slam him but almost dropped him on his head. Then Hornswoggle came in and hit the "tadpole splash" on Knoxville because Knoxville had made a comment about wanting to see "the midgets" earlier. Following that, we got two returns we could all have lived without. First, Big Dick Johnson came out to dance with Chris "Party Boy" Pontius...so we got two men in thongs. Add that to Michael Cole's repeated calling of Rey Misterio's offense as "Swashbuckling" and other than Pat Patterson, I don't know who this was booked for. The Boogieman made his return to do the obligatory worm gimmick to Pontius. Finally, the segment ended with The Great Khali coming out and putting Knoxville in the head vice and then tree slamming him. Knoxville's head whiplashed against the mat on the landing and he seemed legit knocked loopy. If anything, that's one way to prevent the Jackass guys from no selling like Pontius and Steve-O did last year.
Shawn Michaels vs. Batista (Lumberjack Match)- The pace of the match...terrible. Batista getting lost again in a match...terrible. The finish...terrible. Michaels did a decent job selling, but this match, for the names in it was just plain bad. I had hoped that after a really slow first half, that it would pick up after commercial. It didn't. It seemed like a backdrop match for the announcers to explain history of Michaels/Batista/Jericho, the problem is, Michael Cole was the one telling it. The lumberjacks were just a way to get a cheap finish. Batista seems lost in the ring right now. I have no idea if it's a confidence thing or what, but his head doesn't seem to be in it. Is he mailing it in until he gets another run on top? The crowd was much more for Michaels and even boo'd Batista at times. I think they missed the boat on turning Batista in the spring, but it still should be something that is considered.
Miz/John Morrison/Jillian vs. Cryme Tyme/Kelly Kelly- Why??!?! And a plastic mask is what does the heels in? Well, at least it's not the booking that makes John Morrison and Miz seem "too goofy." Ugh.
CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (Batista as referee)- See? You didn't think I'd ever put Punk on the "botched" section, didja? Well, sadly, he is...but it's not his fault. It's not Chris Jericho's fault. It's not even Batista's fault. CM Punk is not allowed to beat anyone worth anything in a one on one match with a clean finish other than JBL. The whole opponent/referee thing is done to death worst than heel commissioner/GMs are. Punk looked to have potatoed Jericho a few times with kicks in the match, but Jericho is a pro and didn't let it bother him. If these guys had full program and house show matches to work out the kinks I think the matches would be really good; but this wasn't a match, it was a gimmick. The work from the wrestlers was fine, the booking is atrocious.
The show overall- Just a real bad and lazy effort from RAW. Old hack gimmicks, cheap finishes and non-entertaining entertainment. I think I've said this before, but when WWE allows it wrestlers and their abilities to be the focus, the shows are just so much better than when they allow booking to get in the way. There's no reason a show with Shawn Michaels vs Batista and CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho should completely suck. Yet this one did. No Mercy proved that less is more and the past two RAWs have proven the writing team has no clue how to write effective story lines without taking the worst of things from the past.
Rest Holds:
Mark Henry/Kane vs. Matt Hardy/Rey Misterio- A rematch from a pretty dull affair last week. This was better than last week, but I still don't see the point. The reason Henry has been successful at the top on ECW is he is generally protected. It makes no sense for Kane to team with anyone, and Henry has been in the ring too much lately. The more you see of Henry the less effective he becomes. I really thought there was something to build on with the tag team of Misterio and Evan Bourne, but instead, they throw Hardy in there thinking he's more of a draw. When the booking is lazy and the show sucks, you could have Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, HHH, Undertaker and anyone else on the show...people will not tune in.
Randy Orton- I like the "don't vote for me" idea and then giving the reason for the fans to vote for him by saying he doesn't want to risk another set back...but Orton has been very effective lately as a wild card and if nothing else has been an intriguing character. This week, he was legitimately "just kind of there" as were Rhodes/DiBiase and most of the RAW heels.
Results:
1. Jericho/Michaels Promo
2. Kane and Mark Henry defeated Rey Misterio and Matt Hardy
3. JBL defeated (Charlie) Haas Hogan
4. Johnny Knoxville Segment
5. Batista NC Shawn Michaels (Lumberjack Match)
6. Cryme Tyme (Shad & JTG)/Kelly Kelly defeated The Miz/John Morrison/Jillian
7. CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho (Batista guest referee)