Monday Night Raw: Sept. 24th, 2007 Review:
Opening Segment: Mr. McMahon giving Coach the power to strip John Cena of the Championship was what Raw was centered around, the whole night. All in all, that made the over-all feeling a bust, as there was a 97% chance that it'd never happen. Randy Orton's "suspension" got people seriously questioning whether or not Orton may of been on that list & finally got his suspension, but later was revealed it was only for a night - it was also revealed that, personally, it was due to him getting married. Nice plug for the returning suspended Superstars next week. And finally, the Hornswoggle/son storyline.. I have NO clue where this was going, but overall apparently it got Melina some air time (which was over due) & an apparent Women's Championship match?
Matches: The RETURN of Hardcore Holly made me extremely happy. I never, ever thought I'd be happy to see a mid-carder return, but I have tremendous respect for this man, & with all he's went through, I'm happy to see him back. Apparently Cody Rhodes has been taken under his wing, as I see more of these two in the future.
London/Kendrick v. Cade/Murdoch: Its one thing to cut their in-ring time short, its a complete other to not even give either team an entrance. This match was basically a set-up to turn the High-Landers, heel? Or at best, tweeners. And for what.. a Highlander/Londrick match-up next week with the winners facing the Rednecks. I clearly see an Unforgiven rematch at No Mercy, as the Highlanders are most likely a few steps away from being the next names on the "released" list.
Steel Cage: Triple H. v. Carlito/Mr. McMahon: What could've been a half-way decent steel cage match, was turned into what looked like a botched finish. I'm not even sure if Mr. McMahon was suppose to win, as it looked like he slipped down the cage, caught himself, then realized there would be no real way to explain why Triple H. could've came up & over to catch him, so he looks up, laughs & drops to victory. Again, Carlito/HHH could've been golden, but it never had the ability to be, with McMahon in as the 3rd wheel.
Santino Marella v. Ron Simmons: Another great return, took long enough for it to happen. (I actually caught a squash match on wwe.com/heat this last weekend where Simmons destroyed a no-name) My only question here is simply put.. why is Santino not yet gone? I do love his promos, I do.. but wrestling wise, if he has talent, they sure aren't allowing him to show it. And I understand Maria's character is that of a ditz, but how much longer is she going to continue coming out with Santino? All this is doing is actually hurting her. I literally had a moment of thought, where I could've seen Maria turning heel & helping Santino, but if that EVER happens.. it'd only kill Maria's character completely off.. as a heel turn to "manage" a loser is NOT a good way to go, staying in the back doing interviews gets her bigger pops.
Main Event: Jeff Hardy/Candice Michelle v. Shelton Benjamin/Beth Pheonix: So the hometown girl received a slightly silent pop. The only thing the crowd seems to have truly popped for, was her being announced from there.. not actually for her though. I'm not a fan of how Candice looks, but I've tried to be a fan of her wrestling skills coming along quite nicely, however.. I can no longer fight the fact that the crowds just aren't getting into her matches.. & she's not doing anything to change that. Jeff Hardy/Shelton Benjamin deserve the main event spot, but not in this way. This match was quickly done to make way for a crap ending to an overall middle rated show. Beth gets the win over the Women's Champion, setting up a nice return (most likely) at the p.p.v.
Segments: I'm curious to see how Coach & William Regal will act once he returns next Monday. I'm almost wondering if they're setting up a Regal exit from W.W.E., but I can't see it. Melina was littered throughout this entire show & I can't complain about that. The shower scene deserves a nice pervert pop, & I'll agree with MadMetal in saying I was highly disappointed when Hornswoggle did turn out to be the bastard son (for now) but it does make me laugh, which I'm sure I felt it would all along.
Triple H./Mr. McMahon next Monday is definately a sleeper match in knowing it'll be where Triple H. gets destroyed.. haha no, not by McMahon either. Of course, by the returning Umaga.
Matrix type promo toward the end of Raw, did anyone else see it? Clearly a couple did, as it's already a thread of its own. SO, is this the new look return of Y2J, Chris Jericho? I highly think it is.. & I for one, am thrilled.. hopefully it won't be a let-down.
Raw Ending: So, the entire build-up was surrounded by John Cena being "stripped" of the Championship. And to be honest, I was pissed at the beginning of the show when they even announced it being a "big issue." In my personal opinion, they told Cena if he touched them, he WOULD be stripped.. he touched them, yet he remains Champion.. not because of Hornswoggle, either.. because W.W.E. doesn't ever have plans on stripping their golden boy like that.
Fact is, this was probably the BEST way to get the Championship off him, & still make him seem unbeatable. It'd be a Goldberg/WCW, RVD/ECW way of screwing him over, & it'd work.. but W.W.E. has never been one for great ideas, especially lately. Sadly, if they would've stripped him.. they could've set up a one night tournament at No Mercy, or Cyber Sunday & it'd draw huge interest. AND, it'd continue to keep John Cena IN the Championship picture, but without the Championship, for once.
All in all.. it was pre-predictable to see Hornswoggle be the reason Cena kept his Championship. (Well, when they announced "Mr. McMahon" said he could keep it -- as the 'real' Mr. McMahon never would've done that) To be honest, the finish I seen happening was Cena locking in the S.T.F.U. & forcing Coach to tell the crowd he'll allow Cena to keep his Championship.. but either way, the Golden Boy is still Champion.. & in all honesty, noone expected him not to be.
Overall Thoughts: Nicely put together, matches were solid for a change.. even with the lack of depth currently on their roster. Hardcore Holly's return got the best pop of the night, from me. Ron Simmons was probably 3rd, only to the Melina segments. (yeah, pervert - I'm male) Hated the drag along for no reason on the Cena Championship strip.. just do it already, otherwise, quit teasing us. I'd give this Raw a 5/10 rating, simply because of the matches..
but yes i do look forward into tuning into Smackdown to see where they go with some of the angle, especially the JBL one with Rey and Finlay.