Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[King Patrick Star]

Since there isn’t a thread for the collective outcome / opinions for the WWE Talent shuffle and because I only have one sentence for each Superstar and because I don’t want to violate any rule, and since it was announce on Raw last night, here are my thoughts on the latest WWE 15 Star Trade.

Moving to the Raw roster:

Gail Kim
Before the Female Championships were switched, I hoped she would win the Divas Title to be the first Woman to what Big Show did. Now we’re back to the Pre-Draft possibility and the chances are pretty good.

Alicia Fox
Whatever.

Jack Swagger
Hopefully he is put in the Mid – Card Title race for reasons already stated, All-United States United States Champion.

Evan Bourne
Hopefully he too is put in the Mid – Card Title race.

Mark Henry
Hopefully he’s in the WWE Title picture, at the very least, after Summerslam.

Moving to the SmackDown roster:

Matt Hardy
I could see an Intercontinental Title run for V1 or at the very least, if Jeff is leaving, Face turn + one more run with the Hardy Boyz = nostalgia.

Finlay
I’m not sure where they are going with this.

The Hart Dynasty - David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd & Natalya
The perfect opponents that could benefit from a Hardys reunion run.

Moving to the ECW roster:

Shelton Benjamin
Anyone think Team Gold would work??

Goldust
Anyone think Team Gold would work??

William Regal
This could help Paul and Katie in the long run.

Brie & Nikki Bella
Please don’t leave the WWE or please go to TNA as soon as possible. At the very least, stay on TV!!


Another “Thing” I want to add to what happened last night…

I would have loved to see the Miz vs. MVP Main Event next week with Cena and HHH costing each other the match. That could have accomplished so many things.

Cena Heel turn
The time is now, damn it!!

HHH / Orton feud to come to a pause (cause we know it won’t come to an end till one of them leaves)
Let me see a show of hands of the people who are tired of this.

0% possibility of Cena and HHH in the WWE Title picture…for now
One can dream, right??

Orton vs. someone he hasn’t feuded with…ever at the next PPV
It’s not one of the “Big Four” so why the hell not?? They could always put the Smackdown World Title in as the last match for Night of Belt Marks (like me) and just put Cena and HHH in, wait for it, a Tag Team Title match against Edge and Jericho. How awesome would that be to see Cena turn Heel and Edge turn Face in the same night??

Anyway, none of this is going to happen, so let’s just rave and rant about the show.

 

[Coco]

Last night's Raw was good enough last night. It at least moved from interesting thing to interesting thing. No Vickie, no Santino, no pretending we care about Legacy matches. Just banging out the interesting segments one after another.

-Opening promo was an opening promo it did what you'd expect: It involved Orton for no good reason and set up the big matches for the night. Nothing too offensive and at least we were spared the pain it would be to watch some celebrity who despises wrestling show up simply for a pay day.

-Triple H vs. MVP was interesting. MVP had one of his better matches in a while but nobody cared. I'm not sure if I should say I really care as I never liked him to begin with. At least they dropped the idea that he was on the verge of being the next top contender for the big belt.

-Jericho and Edge are awesome together. I mean I'm beyond sick of Edge winning titles, but they brought a main event feel to the tag division. I know the reign is meaningless and is going to be mishandled, but it'll be fun while it lasts. I like the Colons as well, so I dug this match. Good stuff.

-The Miz vs. Cena video is still awesome 24 hours later. Same outcome but with too much Miz offense for my liking.

-Looking at Mickie and listening to how attractive Maryse finds the other divas does nothing but good things for me. Thank-you Double Double E.

-Kofi is green and I still don't like him every time he goes out there. Show squashing him would have thrilled me... Oh well, at least Show didn't lose. And is it just me or was Show walking really fast down the ramp? It was almost like the said "Hey, we're short on time for the main event, so don't pretend you're Taker or anything."

Main event time:
-Orton is probably in the best shape I've ever seen him in.
-Orton has his mannerisms so fucking down.
-Orton really looks more legit without the guys he was supposed to elevate. How ironic is that?
-Evan Bourne can make anyone look good. He's gonna rock on Raw.
-Best.
-RKO.
-Ever.
-Swagger will be champion by the end of next year.
-The main event of SummerSlam should be Swagger vs. Cena.
-Henry deserves this push and the crowd ate it up. As a Henry fan, I marked out hard.

Better Raw than usual. Good effort.

 

[twiztid_lestat]

I honestly think that Ted Dibease will get a title shot next week when his dad takes the reigns of the show.

Legacy seems to be running on thin ice when it comes to being a stable, or at least in its current formation. Ted was outed before in the begining, and he was told to shut up when Ted told him his dad was the host.

I assume that Ted will get a title shot. I believe Im the first to say this, so...Yeah

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Fuckin AWESOME RAW this week. Loved it.

Opening segment didnt take 25 minutes. Sweet. SWEET.

Real good tag match, one that for once had some heat, and had the crowd interested. Whatever you feel about Edge and Jericho having the titles (*cough KB cough*) Im not sure the last time I could say the words "interest" "heat" and "tag team titles" all in relation to each other. Good times.

The endings segment was about as epic as can be. The utter silence for Evan Bourne upon his entrance, and during the match, only futhermore proves what I have said all along, is that the guy is absolute shit. Sweet RKO though. I had my biggest markout of the Year when Swagger entered. I also really liked him taking the countout. Leaves some intrigue as to how things could go, and of course, looking very much forward to a proper Cena-Swagger feud. fuckin A.

and then Mark Henry with the shocker of the year. Debuting on RAW. Smashing Orton. and getting MEGA pop for it. Awesome, just absolutely awesome. Great episode of RAW.

A

 

[tyler1995blue]

I think Jack Swagger should face Orton. And the winner of that feud should face off with Henry. I mean I am just flat out tired of Cena-HHH-Orton. Give the title chase some new life please WWE.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Fair enough program tonight. nothing special, but not shit.

Love the continuing Ziggler push, although I was really hoping he and Mysterio would start a program tonight. Alas, they didnt, but I suppose that will have to wait til the final match between Jericho and Mastrio, which takes place next week. He had a FINE match with RTruth this week, and once again very much played into his "intelligent guy" gimmick.

Kane and Mysterio had a good match as well, as per usual with those two. Good match, good finishing spot. Got Kane back looking strong, didnt really make Mysterio look bad. Well, Knae looked strong until they had him RUN AWAY from The Great Kahli at the end of the match. So let me get this straight WWE....you want this guy to be a horrifying monster, but you have him RUN IN FEAR when he is challenged? really? dumb. Couldnt belive how dumb it was. terrible.

LOL at the Hardt Dynasty jobbing to Cryme Tyme. I cant even begin to think of a reason why that would be even a slightly good idea. Guess thats what they got moved from dominating on ECW to do

Good tag match to end the night, with the champs taking on Hardy and Punk. Kind of silly ending that further shows how hypocritical WWE fans are, when Jeff Hardy leaves his partner to loose the match for the team, while faking an eye injury, and is CHEERED for this. Absurd.


Anyway, decent show. Zigs Vs truth, Punk and Drunk Vs Rated Y2J, and Kane Vs Mysterio were all pretty damn good matches.

C+

 

[Razor]

Oh ma god. The Raw was awesome on my TV.

Million Dollar Man Segment

Did you see that reaction he got when he came out? That's what one of the best ever heels in the WWE gets as a returning Legend pop. Then he proceeded to show everyone in the back exactly what it means to work a crowd with his promo. Everytime they tried to cheer him, he made them boo him. The Million Dollar man was on his game.

Chris Jericho & Edge vs. The Colons

Missed this match, wasn't paying attention. I did however catch the Carlito beat down on Primo. They're breaking up their most over tag team? The boos Carlito was getting proved just how much that team is loved.

Gail Kim & Mickie James vs. Maryse & Alicia Fox

It was OK. Maryse was getting her boos, Mickie James was getting her pops, and Kim was fucking shit up.

Mark Henry vs. Cody Rhodes

That crowd fucking loved Mark Henry. When he was against Orton, and in his match against Rhodes. He played the facial expressions perfectly, though. And Rhodes was great at selling. And when he walked out of the match, he pulled it off. That crowd was PISSED.

Randy Orton vs. Ted Dibiase Jr.

This match was great. Orton played the "I dont want to, but I WILL beat your ass if I have to" role perfectly. Dibiase fought for that respect he wanted like it was a fucking title. It was all around great. This was another example of a talent losing, but being better for it. Cena did it with Miz last week, and Orton did it for Dibiase this week. That little salute from Orton to Dibiase at the end solidifed the story of the match, and gave Dibiase what he wanted. This mini-feud of Orton vs. Dibiase has ended for now, as far as I'm concerned.

MVP Lounge with Jack Swagger

MVP is pulling off this face turn quite nicely. That crowd likes him, no doubt. MVP referring to the lounge as "OUR lounge" was a great touch to his promo. Swagger seemed a little nervous tonight, honestly. But it all came out well in the end. You know you're over when the crowd cheers for you despite you being an ex-con.

Evan Bourne vs. Kofi Kingston, and the Big Show beatdown

Kofi is in the midst of some feud with the Big Show, and that match last night was a push for Kofi, even if they both got counted out. He had Big Show on the ropes. So tonight Kofi helped spread the push to Bourne, I suppose. The match was as good as one would hope, going Face vs. Face like they did.

The Big Show run in has, I fear, made this feud into Kofi and Bourne vs. Big Show. Oh well. One thing I didn't like about this was Big Show selling offense from Kofi, then not selling offense from Bourne. Bourne just beat Kofi, his blows should at least sorta phase the man Kofi brought down last week. Then Big Show just stopped selling altogether and fucked up Kofi something awful. At least the cluth he does is a full on cluth now, instead of that bastardized one legged thing he was using on Cena.

Triple H vs. John Cena

The promos for this were fantastic. I liked Cena's more, but that's honestly probably more a matter of opinion than fact.

The match was legendary. It was a clinic in what two mega-faces do when they go Face vs. Face. They fucking kill each other, that's what. The selling was great and the entire flow of the match was awesome. They played that crowd like it was a Grand Piano. Both were getting massive pops for pretty much anything, except for one of the three or so "Trading slobbeknockers" spots. Cena was booed heavily for that stretch. But other than that, the crowd did exactly what Trips and Cena wanted, when they wanted.

The ending? Cena and Trips get jumped by Rhodes and Dibiase causing a Double DQ. Oh, you dastardly Orton! No one won! Not so fast. Dibiase Sr. saves the day, and gives us the Triple Threat of Cena vs. Trips vs. Orton for the WWE title. The way these men have been playing the crowd lately, I can't wait for that match.

This Raw gets an A. It was a perfect example of what a Raw should be.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

A few thoughts on last night's RAW

1. The Million Dollar Man was awesome. He cut good promos which required little to no effort at all and I believe he should be the permanent GM.

2. DiBiase Jr. did great against Orton and it looked like he was beginning his face turn but when he slapped his father it had me confused. Maybe they are waiting a while for his face turn.

3. Looks like they are breaking up another tag team. I don't know if this was a reaction to Edge getting injured but now we will see a Carlito/Primo feud. I'm cool with it but I hope they deliver. It would be a nice midcard feud.

4. MVP and Jack Swagger were gold last night. I didn't think they would bring MVP's criminal record up but they did. I expected Swagger to face Kofi at NOC but I see that spot going to Bourne or Show. Swagger and MVP can feud for a while and Swagger can take the title at either Summerslam or the next PPV.

5. Cena/HHH was good but not as good as their match at NOC 2008. It seemed like the match was on for 30 minutes but with all the commercial breaks and whatnot it probably went on for 15 minutes. A double DQ was evident because I didn't see HHH or Cena being left off the crowd. Randy Orton should win at NOC and go on to face either Cena or a returning HBK at Summerslam.

Grade: B+

 

[Spaceman Spif]

I thought this was a awesome match with some close calls, that made you believe Teddy was gonna win the match. It also showed that Orton isn't a fully evolved souless bastard, he showed some remorse in what he was doing Teddy, it's not that he didn't want to hurt and destroy his lackey, he didn't want to hurt his friend. It was also a good give in take match, in that for the most of it, Ted took a beating and Orton gave it as was expected, but what made it for me, was the unexpected portions, Ted kicking out of the DDT, blocking a RKO and almost hitting the Million Dollar Dream, I marked out for that even though he didn't get it. It was good match, made even better when Teddy came back out later with Orton and Rhodes. It solidifies that while they may have the occasional dissagreement, they are still a cohesive unit.

 

[Deadman Disciple]

Anyone else notice that when the commentary was going on, when Lawler & Cole actually came into camera shots you couldnt see their mouths moving, but just strange hand gestures?

Especially during the Cena HHH match, if you look closely during cena's sleeper on HHH, Lawler comes into the shot, you can hear his voice commentary but when you look at him he's not actually watching the match, hes actually typing somat on his laptop and his mouth aint moving.

Either they had tech problems, or they were told just to simply look as they were commentating & had to re-record the commentary a few days later, by watching the episode in a recording booth.

 

[gd]

Well Raw was pretty meh last night even with though Seth Green was a very good guest host.

I liked the open segment, Triple H is very good on the mic and doesn't get enough credit for it. Even though he's only like 5 feet Green had good mic prescence. The Robot Chicken clip was great and the set up for the main event was done really well.

Diva's match was nothing special excpet for the fact they were in bikinis. Gail Kim was impressive, she should definetly get more TV time. I'm guessing Mickie will win at NOC, but no one will care.

I was looking forward to Miz vs. Primo since their match earlier this year on ECW was fantastic. However, it was too short to develop into anything. I thought the apple spit in slo mo was funny though.

Crowd was absolutely dead during the MVP/Swagger match. I blame MVP, not Swagger. The match itself wasn't that good either. I'm one of Swagger's biggest fans, but something about the whole match seemed off. Maybe those two just don't work well together. At least Swagger got the win.

Jericho segment was pretty good. Even though he more or less says the same thing every week Jericho is still one of the best heels in the WWE today. Nice way to put Edge over as a face. When Henry initially came out the facial expressions between the two were great. Sexual Chocolate continues to ride his huge push by dominating Y2J. As for the Jericho's new tag partner, I'm guessing the Miz or Ziggler if he isn't in the IC Title match.

Chavo v. Hornswaggle. Why? I'm ok with Horny picking up a win in a fun match every month or two, but why does he need to bury Chavo. In the past year or two Chavo has fallen more than perhaps any superstar ever.

Big Show/Bourne was another headscratcher. What is the point of having Big Show in the US Title picture and squashing little guys like Bourne and Kofi. I don't like where this 3 man feud is going.

The main event was pretty decent. Green did a good job in there and I'm glad the face team didn't pick up a win against Legacy. I'm actually kind of looking forward to the Triple Threat match now.

Overall, an up and down Raw with a few more downs than ups.

I'll give it a B-

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Am I the only motherfucker who watches this show?

NorCal NightCap

Entirely non descript episode. Besides the fact that they are FINALLY letting Punk do the straight edge against waster fuck head loser promos, I cant remember much of anything standing out the other night, really. Hey, it only took them a year and a half from me and Jake discussing such an angle to actually use it. Not bad WWE.

Why doesnt RTruth rap to through the crowd anymore? That was spiffy. Nice sell on a big boot from Kane, as the WWE continues the bewildering trend of booking Kane like a monster during the matches, and like a pussnozzle AFTER the match concludes.

LOVED Dolph Ziggles being in the ME. Also, from what they have mentioned, and from the matches leading in, dare I suspect that we may be heading towards John Morrison Vs CM Punk for SummerSlam? It somewhat appears so. Leave the fact that they have no one else as a legit contender, unless Rey Rey drops the title to Dolph at NOC *crosses fingers*

Pretty meh episode. Loved the Punk Promo, and the interaction between Jericho and Edge.

C

 

[tLight]

I havent watched Smackdown in about 2 months, because my DVR wouldnt not record it for some odd reason, but heres what I noticed about the show.

Did anyone else notice that the crowd was not into Cryme Tyme vs The Hart Dynasty? Like at all. Cryme Time got a huge pop during that entrace, then there was nothing the entire match. It was a decent match, but I think more people were happy to see it over than to see it as it played out in the ring. I like how the two groups are coming along, but I dont see either of them lasting if the live crowd doesnt give a flying fuck about any of them. I want to get behind the Hart Dynasty, but I'm just having trouble doing it, and this is their 3rd lose since going to Smackdown? What the fuck?

Why do Maria and Layla still have jobs? I understand their working on turning Ortiz heel, but I would of rather saw him wrestle in a match than see the whole dancing build up to nothing that took place. Maria has a thing for Dolph? Thats great but it was more time that could of been use to futher or start a story line, or in an actual wrestling match. No Michelle McCool? or that other annoying bitch Melina? Isnt the Women's title on the line at NOC, but yet the the Womens Champion didnt have a match or segment on the show? I know shes fucking Taker, but come on she's still gotta work.

As far as the rest of the show, I loved he Jericho/Edge segment. I love that Dolph got instantly upgraded to the main event. CM Punk/Hardy is getting real good, and the CM Punk vs. Morrison match was great, these two always bring out the best in each other. I also didnt mind the Jessie trying to get in with Cryme Tyme story theyve been working on. And not to mention my favorite part someone beating Rey Mysterio ass.

 

[y2empleh]

tonight, raw sucks. simply put. We have basically the exact same main event as last week which proves wwe isn't caring. zz top being the host from an "undisclosed room" only talking to jericho and santino basically. only good parts so far are the surprise attack from maryse and that the jericho/priceless bit which shows they are at least making some effort to put the emphasis of that match back on the titles and not "who is jericho's partner?"

 

[Razor]

Raw 7/20/2009

Opening Promo--

Whomever said John Cena isn't over needs to rethink their position. That opening pop was resounding. Also, I would like to see whomever said Cena can't cut a promo. He had that crowd on their toes. I think I heard a pop for Orton when he came out to interrupt, and that scares me. ...No, when he started speaking the boos came. It was probably just some weird "Ooh, Cena's about to interact with Orton" pop. This promo was Cena and Orton doing what they do best. Cena is the face who gets the crowd laughing and popping while getting serious when it's time for business, and Orton is the man who gets booed. Trips came out, and I was worried he'd not quite live up to what Cena was putting out. My worries were for nothing, though. Trips was doing fine, and Cena was consistently funny. That exchange about Seth Green being a hobbit was funny, and Cena's "Well played Orton...well played INDEED." was hilarious. I loved it.

Santino and ZZ Top--

I don't know if it was the Cena/Trips/Orton promo, but I was laughing at this. I suppose it's a valid way to introduce the celebrity hosts without them interrupting the majesty that is Cena/Trips discussing whether Seth Green is a hobbit or a Hornswoggle.

Kofi Kingston, Primo, MVP vs. Swagger, Carlito, Show in a 6-Man Tag Match--

Fuck me, Kofi got a great little pop. Primo got a reaction, and MVP pulled something himself. Swagger got some strained boos, and I think Carlito might have got some cheers. Show didn't get a reaction as Swagger barely did. I don't like that I had to strain to hear any reactions bare Kofi's. Crowd REALLY hates Show, as it would look. They only cheer or react for Kofi strongly whenever Show is in the ring. Oh well. That's what the Show/Kofi feud is for. To fix that problem. Damn, the crowd really woke up for the finish. They really mapped that match out well. Primo and Carlito woke them up for a really loud "Omg, everything's happening!" reaction. Primo got the pin, but Show fucking dominated at the end. This nails it, Show isn't winning on Sunday. I call a Swagger win or Kofi retaining.

Jericho/ZZ Top Promo--

I was, at first, utterly confused as to why Jericho would be on Raw. I guessed a Unified Tag Title defense. But no, Jericho is wrestling Mark Henry. And I suppose Santino is going to be sticking by ZZ Top all night. Oh well. It's not like Santino is doing anything else.

The Brian Kendrick (Holy shit) vs. Lawler (Fuck me)--

This is stupid. This is going to get tired, and fast. But oh well. The crowd likes Lawler, and this will get Kendrick over. They couldn't really find a better person to get Kendrick over after months of inaction. The crowd popped louder for Lawler then they did Kofi, MVP, or Primo. So what the hell. Might as well. Top rope punch (LULZ) wins it for Lawler. Kendrick just lost to a old announcer who hasn't actively wrestled in years. Welcome to his push.

Mickie James Interview--

Mickie James is hot. Tummy, boobs, and ass. Oooo, Mickie James made a horrible pun. Not really funny, either. Oh shit, Miz. Are they pushing the Miz/Maryse relationship thing they were teasing? Mickie James pulls the "you can't fuck Maryse" card, haha. Their interaction didn't completely suck...then Mickie James completely oversells getting hairspray sprayed in her eyes. Damn, you'd think she got maced. Maryse is definitely hotter than Mickie, just in case you were wondering where they ranked with me.

Jericho vs. Mark Henry--

What's that I hear? Mark Henry getting a pop from the crowd? He's really having a blast. He must love being a face. His facial expressions are great. And that beard is magnificent. This is a competitive contest, much better than that squash last week in terms of "Jericho getting squashed." Jericho cheats out of desperation, and Henry wins via DQ. Henry fucks his shit up, because he can. Henry gets something out of the crowd, which is surprising because this crowd is exceptionally pissy tonight.

Chavo and ZZ Top promo--

My god I hate Chavo. To bad the crowd doesn't, or else he'd get half a reaction. A Sharp-Dressed Man match, can't wait. The show's been rather good so far, might as well fuck it all up with a Bra and Panties match, Chavo Guerrero style.

Chavo Guerrero vs. The Swoggle, Sharp Dressed Man Match--

Guerrero has his legs stitched together, because he's a noob. The crowd is actually giving The Swoggle a reaction, which is really bad considering Kofi and MVP and Primo couldn't have half shit from them. You would think Chavo would just take the pants off and wrestle without them. He wrestles regularly in tights. The Swoggle wins, because Chavo is a dumbass. And apparently a spear from Swoggle knocks him out of the ring. Losing to a midget with an earring. You suck Chavo, you suck indeed.

Cena and Triple H exchange--

Your typical "We're enemies, but we need to team up and win" promo. Oh, and apparently Triple H didn't mean what he said earlier about "Not really caring who wins, as long as Orton doesn't." Like we needed to be reaffirmed of that fact. Oh well. Not complete shit.

Santino, Dancing Divas, ZZ Top--

Waste of time, but Kelly Kelly on a stool is hawt. Gail Kim is something else. ...and then Santino runs ZZ Top away.

Chris Jericho and Legacy promo--

Well. It did it's part. Not horrible, but not great.

Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim vs. Rosa Mendes and Alicia Fox in a ZZ Top Legs Match--

Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim are fucking hot, by the way. I'd destroy either one of them, and without hesitation. What can I say, it was a women's match. Lawler goes pervert, and the girls do several erotic moves on each other that make me wanna go fuck the hell out of a girl. I'll never understand why the Divas try to pin after a snap suplex or some other lame ass move. I just realized that Kelly Kelly is wrestling in tennis shoes. She's not fucking John Cena. ..Though they probably teased a relationship between the two in the past. I wouldn't doubt it. Alicia Fox picks up the win in some jankety ending to the match. If only Kelly Kelly's ass was bigger. She'd have been under the ropes and the pin would have broke.

Main Event--

ZZ Top drive in with a cool looking car. Orton, Rhodes, and Dibiase Jr. come along, slowly strolling down the ramp. Rhodes looks all confused, like he can't get the rythm down. Dibiase Jr. is right at home. Trips comes out to half the reaction he got earlier. It's like you can't get the entire crowd to pop for anything. Nevermind, they popped for Cena. LULZ. I didn't reall pay attention to this match, which is saying something. I meant to pay attention, honest. I mean, damn. I'm writing up a review. We come back to Cena selling Dibiase's offense. Trips is tagged in against Rhodes, fuck. No more selling for you, bitch. The refs is fucking this shit up, I swear. Towards the end I either heard a "Randy Orton!" chant or a "Triple H!" chant. It all sounds the same. They had that crowd lit up towards the end....and Cena gets the pin on Orton. That crowd loved it. Legacy actually looked like a threat, at that. Fuck me. How a few minutes of selling goes to help competitors.

Aftermath--

Trips and Cena shake hands. How cute.


This show was good. Not great, but average. Would have been better if the crowd actually gave half a shit the entire night. If Cena was putting this out because he was married last week, he needs to get married every Wednesday. B.

 

[Mrs.Miz]

Well, my thoughts are I just haven't been enjoying this whole "guest host" of RAW. I enjoyed the million dollar man,at least he had some past relevance,but seth green? zz top? I mean I like these people just fine I just don't see the point of having them as a focal point of a "wrestling" program. Also on a side note how many frickin times can we be treated to a tag team facing legacy(w Orton) it's like enough already! I hear that Shaq is going to be the host of next weeks show, which i've already decided not to watch. If the plan is to have a surprize face every week, stick to former WWE employees(that they are still on good terms with)and a celebrity the odd time, I'm sure something along these lines has been voiced already

 

[tLight]

If I forget to mention it, it probably shouldnt of been on the show at all.

This Raw was lack luster as usual.

I missed the opening 20 minutes, I have it DVR but its probably not worth the time itll take to watch.

The 6 man tag sucked. We have nothing better to do with these 6 guys, so lets throw them into a 6 man tag, and a 6 man match at NOC. Big Show should automaticly win this, due to dominating everyone else in after the match. My money will be on Swagger, or Primo winning the best, due to neither of them holding it before. Why wasnt Bourne in this match? or the Miz?

TBK vs Lawler....ugh slit my wrist already. Much like Flair is doing, Lawler needs to stay out of the WWE ring, unless he's making an announcement, in which case he should still stay out of the fucking ring. I see TBK and the WWE parting ways very shortly, because they cant use him correctly, but that isnt new news, because they cant do anything right.

Why did the Maryse/James/Miz segment have such a fucked up camera angle? And this is the first time in weeks Mickie didnt look like a beached whale, black is very slimming on her, maybe she should wear it more. The Miz and Maryse are what made this segment worth watching, although it was still pretty terrible.

I find it interesting that Chris Jericho made Henry look legit. Jericho made this match good, and I feel this Mark Henry face turn will get old, and boring very soon, say in 2 weeks when he's out of top notch heels to do all the work in the ring for him? I enjoy that Jericho is pulling Triple duty and working on Raw, Smackdown and Superstars, but I dont enjoy him losing to Henry two weeks in a row.

Save Chavo (and me) the pain, and fire him. While your at it fire Hornswoggle.

Santino steals the show again, but was any of this really needed? It worked to build up into a train wreck of Diva's tag match that did absolutely nothing for anyone involved.

And the Main Event. All I can say is thankfully Cena beat Orton with a small package roll up. Because now I know Orton will retain the title at NOC. And this slow gain of repect we've seen between Cena and Triple H will lead to them tagging together vs. Legacy, Jericho and his new partner (Ziggler), and the other WWE Tag teams, until they can split them up and turn one of them heel.

But back to the best part. Orton will retain at NOC. My pants are already wet thinking of Orton retaining the title, and moving away from Triple H and on to better things.

 

[MARYSEPHOENIX]

Raw 7/20/2009

Opening Promo--

Good promo, but John Cena is WAY too kidish for me. I'm sorry, but he needs to go back to the old Cena. I know it's PG, but come on. Anyway, good interactions between HHH/Cena/Legacy. Another handicap main event.

Santino and ZZ Top--

Santino rules Raw. I loved the way he was used in this. However, ZZ Top has to be the least entertaining host thus far.

Kofi Kingston, Primo, MVP vs. Swagger, Carlito, Show in a 6-Man Tag Match--

Good action. I like how the midcard had this attention. However, why did Primo get the win when he isn't in the match Sunday? And why didn't The Miz get involved? Like on commentary?

Jericho/ZZ Top Promo--

Jericho is awesome. Why is he on Raw if he isn't defending the championships? Who knows and who cares!

The Brian Kendrick vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler--

Why did they give Jerry the win? And there goes my hope on Kendrick being Jericho's partner at NOC. If he was, they wouldn't have teased it tonight and make him loose.

Mickie James/Miz/Maryse-

Very entertaining promo. Mickie and Maryse are really improving this division. I loved every second of it. The Miz only helped and it is great to see the Miz/Maryse thing continue. Maryse spraying Mickie was clever and well done. I'm excited for their match this sunday.

Jericho vs. Mark Henry--

Mark Henry is getting on me. He is so much more entertaining as a face and I'm glad he is getting wins (even if they are by count-outs and DQ's). Jericho was gold.

Chavo and ZZ Top promo--

Not another Swoggle/Chavo match!

Chavo Guerrero vs. Hornswoggle--

A male verison of the Bra and panties match? Why? Please get rid of Hornswoggle.

Cena and Triple H exchange--

I'm glad they cleared up the title thing. HHH said he didn't care who won the belt, as long as Orton lost. That is telling us that he doesn't care about the belt. Oh well, he cleared it up and it was a good promo.

ZZ Top leaves--

Kelly Kelly...Alicia Fox...Gail Kim....Rosa Mendes....Santino Marella!

Chris Jericho and Legacy promo--

Good promo. I really hope Jericho's partner isn't a Legacy memeber.

Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim vs. Rosa Mendes and Alicia Fox--

Ok match, but they should have let Gail shine more. I don't mind that Alicia got the win, and I'm glad she pinned Kelly instead of Gail Kim. Rosa and Fox need to improve some more, but it was still a pretty cool match.

Main Event Handicap Match--

Fun match, and I knew Cena and HHH would win. I'm glad Cody didn't get pinned though. Cena pinning Orton was a shock though. Sunday should be great and I hope Orton walks out champ.

Next week's host--

SHAQ is coming! I love Basketball and I love Shaq. I can't wait. It should be very entertaining. I also hope Beth Phoenix comes to Raw next week. She needs to get back into the title hunt with Mickie/Gail/Maryse.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Meh. Let me count the ways Raw sucked..

1. Cena/Triple H/Orton Opening.. Again: While I quite enjoyed the banter back and forth between Cena and The Game; including the Like a Hobbit -- What's a Hobbit? back and forth conversation.. the fact remains, its the same exact shit.

You take out one or two parts of the conversation.. and I'd almost guarantee they're saying exactly the same thing. It got old, 2 years ago when they did it on the Road to Wrestlemania.

2. Declining Divas: Gail Kim = Refreshed herself in T.N.A, returned to W.W.E & declined. Its like the quote from Jeff Dunham.. If you polish a turd, its still a turd.

Gail Kim has talent. Kelly(2) has some talent.. but when you mix them with pure shit.. they mirror it, and act like shit themselves. Meanwhile, Maryse and Mickie James (you know, the two actual divas having a ppv match.. get left completely out of a match, in place for a meaningless segment -- unless Mickie shows up Sunday with a blindfold. Which I hope for.)

3. Stupid Time Consuming Shit: Not just the Chavo/Hornswoggle crap, but the entire ZZ Top "no lyrics/fake guitar playing" segments. Holy crap, really? I get they were the special guest hosts.. but shit, just give them ONE SEGMENT to put on an actual mini-concert.. WITHOUT FUCKING SANTINO IN THE MIDDLE!

Whats next, is Shaq going to fucking play basketball next Monday with MVP, and Big Show?! Better yet, Chavo/Hornswoggle in a game of "horse".

4. Santino/ZZ Top "Live" Segments: Ties in with everything I said above, but this was actually me disappointed with the fact that all those "live segments" likely weren't even fucking live.

Wow, they drove out in a custom car.. thats the extent of their "live" appearance. And neither one acted as if they knew shit about Wrestling.. at least Seth Green tried.. and Shaq has been an avid fan of the sport. ZZ Top was as out of place as Klunder in a swimsuit contest.

5. Wasted Talent: THE Brian Kendrick jobbing to Jerry "The Has-Been" Lawler. Seriously?! Just give the guy a fucking decent Tag team partner, or switch him to E.C.W where he can realistically challenge Christian and/or Dreamer. But quit jobbing actual talent out to your fucking color commentary!

6. Rinse/Repeat Main Events: So, we have special guest hosts each week. Naturally, its just "on-screen" appearances.. but you're at least moderately suppose to be lead to think they made the actual Main Event.

So who's going to explain why each "guest host" passed around the "Main Event for this week" plains.. because HHH/Cena v. Legacy has only happened, ohhh, 2-3 fucking straight weeks in a row now.

I was at least thinking Orton/Cena one-on-one, and HHH/Priceless in a handicap, or something along those lines. I mean, COME ON!

The Good, to the Bad & Ugly: A half way decent Six Man match, along with the continuing push of Mark Henry.

Now, before people jump down my throat for the Henry love.. come on, the guy has come the fuck out of a shell.. it only took over a decade, but hes finally done it. So quit fucking having him win via DQ's and countout's.. and let him get involved in something meaningful.

Henry could've easily replaced Carlito in the Six Pack Challenge for the United States title. But I think they're saving up a possible Big Show/Henry showdown, for Summerslam. I kinda hope not - as I love seeing Henry in a dominate role, and I doubt he can "dominate" Big Show.

Regardless, I now, finally, want to see Mark Henry on my television.. hes great to watch suddenly, and hes fucking dominating everyone. He flat-out caught Jericho's Codebreaker, and turned it into pancaking his ass on the mat! Think of what Henry can do, now that he's the aggressive fan favorite. They've finally mixed everything great about the heel version of Henry.. and given the fans some odd reason to cheer and like him. AND ITS WORKING!! (for now) SO USE IT!

 

[Baximus]

A few thoughts if I may:


WWE needs to stop having pre-booked main events. What ever happened to the days of the show opening with someone's music hitting, the crowd going nuts, cutting a promo and then someone else comes out and cuts their own promo and issues a challenge to give us our main event? Seriously, when was the last time WWE didn't give us a pre-packaged main event that the announcers told us about right away? Just because Randy Orton was added to the set match doesn't mean anything either because who really thinks DiBiase and Rhodes had a chance in hell against HHH and Cena anyways?

To digress briefly, Impact! had a great example of this last Thursday. Foley came out to the ring and brought Angle out and they cut a promo. They were then interrupted by Sting who challenged Angle to a grudge match and the next thing we know, we get a cage match main event that was set up by a great opening promo. With the time dedicated to the opening last night, Raw could have set up their main event a LOT better.

I'll be nice though and mention the positives first.

The aforementioned main event was actually a very good match and the crowd was really into it. Legacy looked like a solid force isolating Trips most of the match and all of the near tags only made it more exciting. One of the better offerings from RAW in a while. We had a couple of near-falls and false finishes before Cena got the pin on Orton and it was definitely a solid setup for the PPV.

The six pack match was great but why the hell didn't they at least put the Miz on commentary. He was great against Cena, showed very well in the NOC qualifier match and then he's been invisible on RAW since. Why not keep him dogging Cena to add more intrigue to the World Title Match? Or at least set him up in a legit feud with someone in the US title scene? If he's on commentary, he can surrepitously attack one of the faces and build some bad blood and then when Show goes off and cleans house he can be the only one smart enough to avoid him. However, the match itself was very good and I'd like to see Show actually win something for once.

While I thought the Kendrick-Lawler match was pointless, I admit it was a guilty pleasure rooting for the King. I was definitely rooting for a piledriver the whole match.

I also thought that any scene involving Chris Jericho was great. "What if Randy Orton is my partner?" was the line of the night. His match with Mark Henry was fun but I'm getting sick of the constant disqualifications, count outs and general lack of submissions and pins that we keeps seeing. When was the last time the Walls of Jericho was actually locked in during a match?

I also thought Santino was fun with Zzzzz Top, though you could see Vince's influence when he took his friggin pants off.


Now on to the negative.

What the hell is the Miz doing involved in the women's division? While the segment was decent, most people don't care about women's wrestling outside of whether they're hot or not and it was just a waste for one of RAW's best on the mic to make his only appearance like that.

Chavo-Hornswoggle was horrible. What was the point? You bury Kendrick against King and don't even do anything useful with the Miz but you give all that time to this stupidity? I really hated this segment.

ZZ top was by far the worst guest hosts we've seen. At least Seth Green got involved while promoting his shows last week. ZZ top played air guitar and came out at the end of the show to advertise their concerts. God I hope Shaq is better this week.


While it wasn't a terrible RAW, there certainly was a lot to be desired.

 

[RatedxOMG]

What do you think will happen with Miz and Maryse
We all know they are banging eachother in real life.
I think it's natural for them to be managers to eachother to put eachother even more...
They have the same fucking gimmick for christ sake.

What I think will happen is that Miz will interfere on NOC having Maryse retain and which will lead to Miz and Maryse helping eachother to win matches.
I think this is a very viable prediction.
it would help them both and is also logical.
What u guys think??

 

[DaNewGuy]

I'm going to put myself in a position where I disagree with most, if not all, about the The Brian Kendrick match. It meant he was actually on the show, which is better than sitting backstage twiddling his thumbs. Not only that, but it gave Lawler some time on screen which could be useful to him in his campaign to become mayor (though I agree that this shouldn't have been done on Raw, and suggest that he promotes himself on his own time). Plus, I hold out hope that next week TBK will come out and start beating Cole with a chair (hey, it worked with Tazz and JR, right?). Either that, or he goes on a losing streak, and then snaps.

The divas segment with Mickie, Maryse, and the Miz was poor. Mickie should be kept in the ring, where she can work good matches, because her microphone work isn't up to the same standard. However, the spray was different, though a bit close to TNA's 'Beautiful People'. But then Maryse and The Miz have gimmicks that would lead them into a stable like that. The Miz also got to show off some of his talent on the stick.

However I would like to know why The Miz wasn't even on commentary for the six-man-tag match. I see why he couldn't be in the match, as there nedded to be three faces and three heels, unless of course they replaced the Big Show with Miz. Big Show could still have come out looking like a monster by doing his post-match demolition, just demolishing Miz as well. To me the guy came out of this looking best was Primo. This was the first time that I'd cared about him since the Colons vs Miz & Morrison fued. The crowd popped for him when he got the hot-tag, and if he hadn't jumped up and down so much I would have beleived his seeking revenge on his brother. I suppose that this is the end of the Colon brothers break-up, so I hope that one of them moves away from Raw at the next oppertunity. I almost want to see Carlito as Jericho's partner, maybe even with Primo finding himself a partner to go after the tag-team championship.

The WWE title seems to have no clear owner after Sunday. At the moment Raw has three mani eventer, five if you count Big Show and Mark Henry. If Orton retains he needs a face opponent at Summerslam. If no-one turns, that means that it's either Cena, HHH or Henry, or a combination of them. With Summerslam being a big event the main event should be a big match. This rules out MVP and Henry and the like, who could main event a Royal Rumble, but just aren't ready to headline one of the biggest shows of the year. That means Orton-HHH again, or Orton-Cena. I'd rather see Orton face Cena, and have HHH drop down to elevate guys like Miz or Swagger. If a face wins we either get a triple threay rematch, or Orton vs. the new champion. That is unless HBK returns and challenges the champion, but HBK-Orton, HBK-HHH and HBK-Cena have already been done. Raw's main-event served to hype NOC, without giving much away and made Legacy look better than they have in weeks.

ZZ Top as guest hosts were annoying, I hope Shaq is better, though I'm not really sure who he is. I think WWE tends to ignore the fact that they have an international audience who neither know nor care about many American celebrities.

Raw was pretty good, but the Million Dollar Man still put the best acrd together (sic).

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Will your man love for Mark Henry. Its a straight up bromance.

I pretty much agree with everything, although I thought The Orton-Cena-Trips stuff was fine. Is it old and tired? yea. Same time though...Can you come up with something legitimately better with the roster they have to work with right now? Hardly. No one else has the profile for such a thing right now.

I was very upset with the TBK thing. Before I get accused of smarkism, let me explain that I never had TOO huge of hopes for TBK, what pisses me the fuck off is...Once again, the WWE invests a huge amount of TV time and character development on someone for weeks and months, to just job him into nothingness. Time and development that couldve gone to something actually usefull.

Honestly. Really. WWE. We DO NOT need Chavo Vs Hornswaggle every week, sometimes MULTIPLE times per week. Matter of fact, im fairly sure no person I could ask would be sad about not EVER seeing that match again. Instead, they INSIST on putting it on over and over. It wasnt the least bit enjoyable, and ran WAAAAAYYYY too long.

The six man tag was awesome, and the closing tag match was pretty fucking good. Wasnt a real high spot for a go home show, but we have certainley seen worse.

C

 

[Kenny Powers]

Raw's entire show was horrendous, I really thought I was going to be blowing a guy after it was over. Cena and Triple H acting like they're in seventh grade while they make Orton look like a pansy week after week. What happen to the Viper? I understand that heels have to act like cowards to get heat sometimes but do you have to make your top heel a complete pussy that gets beat by Seth Green and every other douche bag? That show did not promote the PPV at all, same crap over and over again. I understand there isn't much to work with as far as the main event goes but change it up a bit. Have Triple H against Swagger just for the hell of it, like they did with Cena and Swagger. Why have the same main event week after week? A tuxedo match really? what is next Gobbledy Gooker and a coal miner's glove match? Raw pretty much proved that Chavo along with TBK's career in WWE is over. If you lose to the King cleanly that's pretty much the kiss of death. I love how WWE pushes guys for months only to have them become jobbers in the end. Jericho didn't even save Raw with his appearance last night. Mark Henry wasn't as over as he's been in the past but at least he was more over then the rest of the mid carders there. That audience looked like an audience for a Jonas Brothers concert. I think you hit it right on the head, we will probably have Shaq do a free throw contest with Chavo and Hornswoggle. Maybe MVP will go against Swagger like he did with Kennedy a few years ago. Either way it will be terrible unless they have good matches for a change. VMK has lost his mind.

 

[Scott Barton]

wow i actually think Raw is getting worse and worse each week. ZZ Top were horrible as guest hosts and why put Santino in there? that made no sense and helped nothing. The 6 man tag match was decent but other than that Raw didnt have too much else and boy Cena/Triple H and Legacy feud is as stale as week old bread.

For me Raw was far away from the other wwe brands this week and a lot of weeks for a while now