TheOneBigWill's 'take' on Monday Night Raw, August 25th, 2008:
The Matches:
1. Non-Title: C.M. Punk v. John 'Bradshaw' Layfield: We don't get an opening segment, as we go straight to action. Since moving to Raw, Punk left the channel and the brand that originally helped push him into 'so-called' stardom. This is Punk's return, apparently, to the channel that helped make him.
I'll admit this match was a bit more enjoyable to watch than their p.p.v. contest, and Punk still hasn't changed one bit. I spent most of the match trying to figure out how to get into enjoying Punk and his reign, since it doesn't seem to go anywhere and I think I've come to the strong hard conclusion that it just isn't possible. Punk is a great athlete for the Intercontinental division, and watching this guy against Jericho, Regal, Kingston, Dykstra, Benjamin, Hardy(s), and other mid-card-kinda Main Event level players is entertaining and good. But against the Kane's, Batista's, J.B.L.'s and other big men of the W.W.E.. Punk just looks like a child, trying to fight off a drunken Parent.
All in all, again, this match was better than their Summerslam showdown, and it ended with the same result. I had to laugh at that as well, because Punk's only Main Event level victory's come off J.B.L. He's defeated the guy 3 times now, twice fairly and once with outside issues. But none the less, Punk's Main Event career is being made off beating J.B.L., while J.B.L. must of clearly pissed someone off to be the only guy that has to constantly lose to him.
2. Non-Title: Beth Phoenix v. Kelly Kelly: I have to be honest, outside of the out come I was very surprised this wasn't a Championship match. I'm assuming they'll rematch for Unforgiven. Kelly Kelly really has come on as a diva's wrestler. She isn't a 'Lita' or 'Trish' by any stretch, and she'll never be that great I wouldn't imagine.. but she's definately found her learning curve and she's adapted nicely. (A lot better than McCool)
Beth gets her nose busted, and possibly broken, early on in the match. The only other note-worthy comment is Kelly went for her twirling backflip, and that's how the match came to end, as Santino tried helping by pulling Beth out of the way, only for Kelly to stop short and roll Beth up, picking up the non-title victory. After the match, Beth beat the crap out of Santino, to thank him.
3. Charlito (Haas) v. Primo Colon: I'm instantly not sold on Carlito's 'brother'. (unsure if he is, or it's a gimmick, I'd assume he is though) I'm also suddenly thinking Haas has found a way to get both air-time AND job on a constant basis. It looks like he's stolen Stevie Richards old gimmick, of trying to rip-off other people's gimmicks.
I fully expect Charlito to appear next week as possibly "Chantino", "C-Lo Haas", or even "Chane", or "Chatista". This really is gimmick gold if you can find someone funny enough to work it, but I'm not sure if Haas is that person. All in all, I'm remotely happy they've found something for him though, because of Haas' background in the sport and the death of his brother. While his career hasn't and at this point never seemingly will reach anything high, at least he's doing what he loves.
As far as Primo goes, well.. he was right when he said he's not his brother. His brother was a lot more entertaining in the ring. Primo's tights are horrible, his gimmick seems too.. old school and unwanted. And even if he's not trying, tying himself with being related is only causing him more harm than good. His finisher was a cross body block, which tells me they haven't "assigned" him one yet, and that also tells me they don't foresee using him a lot.
To be honest, I would've rather this match been Carlito v. Primo Colon, a battle of the brother's would've been great for Raw. (even if Carlito's on SD)
4. Non-Title: Wall Street v. Jerry 'The King' Lawler & 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan: A month later we end up getting this match-up, and the stupid thing is.. some of us (namely me) are still waiting on Hardcore Holly to return and attempt revenge on Cody. This match is about a week or two late, and a whole crowd short. It wasn't entertaining in the least, and the only interesting fact is I'm sure both Lawler and Duggan have worked (I know Duggan has) matches with each of their Father's, so that just makes it even worse to think how mismatched and out of place this match truly is.
In the end, DiBiase gets the finish with his updated version of the Million Dollar Dream, into a Russian Leg-Sweep. I love that finisher, but he needs to use it more often. They also need to get a Tag Team finisher, in my opinion.
After the match, Cryme Tyme addressed them from the crowd and basically said they took the titles so they could gain a title shot. Wall Street agrees to a showdown at the p.p.v. which in today's Tag Team division, this is a Mania sized match-up, so I'm instantly awaiting it.
5. Intercontinental Championship: Santino Marella (c) v. Kofi Kingston: Santino is the new 'Punk' of the midcard division. That's it in a nutshell. If Kingston were going to win the Championship back, it could've and easily should've been here.
Instead, Kingston jobs out to Marella in the end, and from what I gathered, the p.p.v. match (assuming one will be signed) will be Santino Marella v. Beth Phoenix, for the Intercontinental Championship. It's the new Chyna/Eddie Guerrero storyline, which is funny and sad all in one.
Promos/Segments:
Mike Adamle/Cena Injury: Adamle comes out to announce that John Cena apparently injured himself against Batista at Summerslam. (even though the following night, he was in a handicap match) The injury is being played off regarding a disc in his back, but I think the real one might be regarding his neck. The funny thing is, I think Adamle said "Cena's suffered a herniated disc in his neck
s. Yes, "necks".
All in all, I don't know if this injury is real or not, but to be honest it would make sense to pull him from the Championship Scramble, because Cena and Punk in the same title match.. with Punk being the guy they're pushing, just doesn't even feel right. So it makes perfect sense that Cena's being pulled. Injury or not.. it was fate and common sense that brought this decision forth.
Kane: I honestly can't even remember this interview. I'm going off the report on WZ.com. Apparently Kane explains how pain isn't a bad thing, it can be a good thing. And what Batista did to Cena is nothing compared to what he's done to Mysterio. The announcer's later in the night mentioned that Kane said something about "being beautiful" but they didn't report him saying anything like that, so I don't know.
Adamle/Primo Colon: Adamle instantly mocks Carlito, by telling Primo he's got a bucket full of apples and the ol' cabana. Primo says he's nothing like his brother, then says Carlito's a jerk to everyone. (slap in the face, is it?) Adamle finds something amusing, and when Primo asks, Adamle explains he'll find out before his match. I have to admit, if Primo is the brother of Carlito, all this is is W.W.E. finding out how much muscle they have to turn Family against Family in promos and storylines. Sickening.
Also, before the segment ended, H.B.K. comes in. He says he wants Jericho, and Adamle says Jericho isn't in the building yet. H.B.K. goes to leave, and Adamle mentioned Rebecca's name, asking how she is. Shawn stops, looks like he's about to kill Adamle, then just walks off.
Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho: Shawn starts off his promo by addressing anyone who's concerned about Rebecca. (like most fans even care) He said she's hurt, but after being with him for 15 yrs. she's tough and she'll be okay. (Alright, HBK-aholic, this is your cue.. I didn't think they were together 15 yrs. I thought it's only been like 11 at most, 97/98-08 what's the real story?)
Shawn continues with saying that the reason he didn't send in a letter to retire, but instead wanted to publicly do it was because after 20 yrs. in the business, he feels he's deserved the right to come publicly say thank you to everyone who's supported him. He said it was hard, and that's why Rebecca was with him.. only to get punched in the face for her troubles.
H.B.K. said when Jericho disrespected them on the following Raw, he knew he wasn't leaing. (shocking development there, I NEVER fucking saw that coming) Chris Jericho appears on the tron, apparently not in the building tonight. Jericho explains that he's not there, because of what he would/could do to H.B.K. Jericho goes on to say that H.B.K. only wants another match, to bring Jericho down. H.B.K. fires back by saying he wants it, because the things he wants to do to Jericho, would usually place him in jail.. but in a ring, it's legal. Shawn says he'll do anything to get it, sign anything, agree to anything.
Jericho agrees to the match, roughly after H.B.K. taunted him by mentioning Becca being stronger. Jericho demands that Shawn not allow his Family to watch, because it's going to be brutual. H.B.K. says he isn't looking to steal the show, he's just trying to get an eye for an eye. He then says he'll never forgive Jericho, leading them into Unforgiven. Cue commercial.
Batista: Batista basically does nothing more than claim he has respect for Cena and hopes he returns healthy and quickly. He then says tonight, he's facing one of the guys that'll also be in the Championship Scramble, but it won't be about titles.. it's personal.
All in all, I was looking forward to this match, and Batista's been on a roll, but his promo ability still has it's holes.
Adamle/Cena Replacement: Another not so surprising move, and a major let-down for me, because this was a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE opportunity to bring in the one guy that's name has been floating around, regarding a big return. Sid.. fricken.. Vicious. The idea of a Sid Vicious/Kane or Sid/Batista feud could be ate up with a mark-sized spoon. Instead, we toss little Rey Mysterio into the match.. and suddenly, you take out one HUGE Main Eventer in John Cena, toss in Mysterio.. and Punk's odds of winning go up greatly, as well as the overall match looking more in Punk's favor now.
If you step back and look. Punk has faced all of them before. Batista, Kane, J.B.L.. the only guy he hasn't faced is Mysterio, and that's a match-up that would be worth seeing Punk in. So this match just instantly got better, all because they removed the one guy that eclipsed everything Punk ever will be.
Main Event: Batista v. Kane: This match wasn't nearly as good as I'd hoped it'd be. I don't know what to say regarding it, other than while I was watching it and noticing Kane working over Batista's knee, I kept thinking.. "I wonder if they'll have another injury angle take Batista out too". I say that, because Batista is the second biggest star in the Scramble, and without him, arguably Punk really would be one of the bigger names in the match.
At any rate, the ending was a thrown out match after Kane blasts Batista with the chair across the knee several times. Instead of playing completely injured and out of action, Batista fights back and hits a spear. Then he takes the chair and returns the favor to Kane's knee, which has Raw going off the air with both men clutching injured knees. (ironically, both clutching their left knee, which is always the signature injured limb - I still never got why.)
Overall Thoughts: Raw had a nice pace of action tonight. Good flow, nice mix of stupid-pointless matches, yet each also had their own little meaning. I pretty much summed up what I thought in each match description, but overall I'll give some cliff notes.
Primo, to me, likely won't make it beyond next year's cutting block. Charlie Haas has more chance or remaining with the company than Primo, and even though the guy just debuted, the fact is you can tell a lot about a person from their debut. Whether they'll make it or not. I just don't think Primo will.
I have to admit while I'm impressed more and more each week by Kelly, I'm not interested in another match-up with her against Beth, especially on Pay per view. I'd be more interested in seeing Beth Phoenix v. Santino Marella, for the Intercontinental title.. with both of them playing "I love you, I love you not" silly mind games throughout a 5-10 minutes match. Just the idea of Beth demanding Santino to lay down, then Santino getting giddy with doing it, only to roll her up is hilarious.
Can anyone truly explain to me. John Cena gets pulled, and Mysterio's been "missing" for about 7 weeks now.. so why'd Adamle put Mysterio in as the replacement, if noone's seen or heard from Mysterio to know if he can even go for that type of match? Doesn't that kinda just ruin the whole storyline? Wouldn't it of been better to have Mysterio show up at the p.p.v., costing Kane the match, then having the story explaining how he "escaped" and wants revenge?
Instead, they make it instantly seem like Kane toyed with him for a bit, then randomly forgot about him to the point that he just.. let him go.. now Mysterio's getting a title match. Pointless.
I'm torn on whether or not to believe Cryme Tyme will win the Tag titles come the p.p.v. This reminds me of when the Highlanders first came in, challenged the Spirit Squad, then lost in the end. (ironically, it was at an Unforgiven) I'm thinking the whole point Cryme Tyme even 'have' the titles right now, is to just push their gimmick of stealing.. but in the end, wouldn't it be better served to have Wall Street cheat to retain? Then on the flip side, I doubt it'd hurt either team regardless of which direction they took this with.. and Cryme Tyme seem to have that whole Michael Hayes crap playing out on their side, so it wouldn't shock me to see them win and the streak of African American Champions increase. (sorry, but anyone who doesn't think that's a prime reason is blind.)
I have to admit, an "Un-Sanctioned" match instead of a blindfold match will be more entertaining. And to be honest, this is something I was thinking H.B.K. needed right now. When he originally returned in 2002, it was in an "un-sanctioned" match against Triple H., and H.B.K. claimed he wasn't out to steal the show.. yet he did, and it was arguably his best match. I think Jericho replacing the Game, this is going to be nothing more than a repeat with different moves.. but in the end, I bet it turns out very similar, with tables, chairs and ladders all playing into this contest. I can't wait.
Do I even have to bother anymore with explaining how much of a flop-fluke Champion Punk is? The guy is fucking opening the show. He only wins when he's opening or mid-carding, anytime he's Main Evented, I can't recall when he's won (since J.B.L. - in fluke fashion) outside of a Tag contest in which his partner's carried him. You know, stupid idiot Punk marks claim I'm being blind, but I fail to see how I'm blind, when I'm proving my beliefs with facts, and all Punk Bastards are doing.. are replying to me saying "you're blind because you just hate him being from R.o.H.". Wow.. nice rebuttal. No wonder you're a Punk Bastard, your debates over the subject are as flukish as his title reign.
In the end, like I said Raw was good. It had all the key elements and nicely timed segments/matches.
I'd give it a 7 outta 10.