Quick Monday Night Raw Review:

Just got done watching a pretty good Monday Night Raw. The WWE has been doing very well leading up to WrestleMania — they go right back to basics. It’s odd how just creating competition (for a title or the Money in the Bank match) is a great way to create good wrestling matches.

The conflict within Rated RKO was interesting, but you knew that Edge was going to win once you saw the combatants in the Last Chance (Raw Only) Battle Royale. The battle royale match itself was quite good and Edge showed himself to be a very entertaining heel when he won. The match almost definitely cemented the Ric Flair versus Carlito showdown for ‘Mania as well.

The Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton match was also a fun preview of the Money in the Bank match. The DQ finish was a nice way of keeping both competitors strong and Hardy’s over the ladder legdrop was quite the sight.

I like the WrestleMania Reversal Matches. Granted, we only had one this episode, but it’s still a great concept.

The HBK-JBL (that’s a lot of initials) encounter was good for what it was — a device to get audio for the spectacular video package that will air right before Raw’s Main Event of HBK vs. Cena.

The Benoit-Cena match was very good and told a story as well. While I was hoping for a DQ finish or something other than Benoit losing cleanly, the ending was well booked with Cena using a take-down to get Benoit in position for the STFU.

The Battle of the Billionaire angle was pretty predictable, but was nonetheless entertaining. Vince’s yelling that he was symbolically shaving the heads of those who booed him was odd and showed that he was a bit demented and strange leading up to the WrestleMania match.

Also, it looks like the end of the Masterlock Challenge. I didn’t think that Masters was going to be successful against another brand’s champion (even if that brand is ECW). Lashley was believable as the first person to break out of Masters’ challenge (although my wife did ask why didn’t anyone just kick their way out – either by kicking low or stomping on Masters’ foot).

Melina’s angle with Ashley was served well via Candice Michelle. Melina’s a bit like the mean popular girl in high school — at least in the way she acts.

Overall, a pretty good show. Great ending with the announcement of the No Way Out rematch of Cena-HBK vs. Batista & Undertaker. Conflicts a plenty in that match.

RAW: Pre-Royal Rumble

I watched most of the show in fast-forward (I had recorded it while I watched 24). Even in fast-forward the show was too long and drawn out.

Raw started out with a bang with a good HBK and Edge promo leading up to a street fight. If Edge wasn’t in this storyline, I probably wouldn’t care about it. The street fight was pretty good with some painful looking spots. It lead up to a Randy Orton run in to save Edge followed by a series of events reminding us that the Royal Rumble was coming up this Sunday. Plenty of people were thrown over the top rope with HBK standing tall after superkicking everybody in sight.

Face champ + Heel boss? I’m pretty sick of this combo. It worked a couple of times, but a change would be nice. The Vince promos must stop. He wanted to read a letter? That is the promo? Bleh. Bleh, I say.

Cena and Coachman (then the tag division, then Umaga) = Yawn.

Joey Mercury loses to another Hardy – why is the injured guy fighting both Hardys? Shouldn’t Nitro have a match since he’s the healthy one? BTW, another thing that has been bugging me as of late — heels always break the rules; they don’t listen to officials. Why is it when a ref tells the heel at ringside that the heel is to leave, the heel actually listens? Why not just flip off the ref and stay at ringside – or hell, just hide under the ring?

I started Monday thinking I would be purchasing the Royal Rumble, but after the go-home edition of Raw my Royal Rumble purchase may be in question.

Readers?

I’ve been writing stuff on this blog because I want to get my thoughts on professional wrestling to the world. I’ve been checking the stats and this site has been getting a lot of page views. Do any of you readers want to contribute to this site with show reviews or columns? E-mail me at killingtimeshow@gmail.com. Hell, if you want, we can talk about pro wrestling on my podcast – KillingTime.tv.

SummerSlam 2006 Thoughts

Now I had said I didn’t want to pay for SummerSlam 2006 because the card didn’t seem too great. But then I got caught up in the SummerSlam hype. I actually attended the first SummerSlam with the MegaPowers vs. the Megabucks – so I’m a SummerSlam fan.

They got me to pay up the 40 bucks and I watched the show. Here’s my opinion on it: It was a decent show that was quite fun and set up storylines for a while. Did anyone else notice that every match (except the DX one) had the loser enter the ring first?

The night opened up with Rey vs. Chavo because no other match could open. I enjoyed the match and the two have very good chemistry. Chavo selling of Rey’s offense is believable and the two did not disappoint. I think their No Way Out match was better and no Vicki Guerrero interference would be nice, but all in all a good opener with some nice highspots.

Hogan/Orton was what I expected except for the finish of Hogan going over. It’s not like he needs to protect his spot so I don’t understand why he didn’t job to Orton. Hogan played the crowd excellently and he’s the smartest man in wrestling – I wonder how he would do as a booker (assuming he was no longer an on-air talent).

Show vs. Sabu was alright. I was surprised there was no interference by Paul Heyman or RVD or someone. The two didn’t work together that well and the match was sloppy in parts.

The I Quit match was more hardcore than the ECW match. Some crazy bumps had me cringing for both wrestlers. The match ended abruptly with Mick quitting to save Melina and quite possibly means that the feud will continue.

DX vs. The McMahons (+10): I enjoyed seeing Ken Kennedy getting such offense on DX. It would be nice to see a Kennedy vs. HBK feud since the two can be loudmouths very well. Since Kennedy is such a star on SmackDown! it’s only a matter of time before he is sent to Raw. Anyway, the match portion was weak, but I enjoyed seeing the McMahons using tag-team finishers from the past. I was disappointed they did not use the Midnight Express’ finisher. It also set up a Kane-Umaga feud to give both men direction.

King Bookah vs. Batista: Batista needs some conditioning work since he nearly botched the Batista Bomb. Bookah retains and the feud will continue. That’s good for SmackDown!

Edge vs. John Cena: Cena loses in front of his home crowd so Edge will do the job at Unforgiven in Toronto. I’m glad Edge successfully defended the WWE championship at such a major PPV. It was a good match and I still think that Edge is a great champion. He seems like he could lose any match to any opponent (take a look at his ladder match against Ric Flair or his recent match against Carlito). He draws good heel heat and fans want to see him get his butt kicked in the ring.

BTW: I also liked the interaction between the champions. It makes the two shows really seem like two different promotions.

ECW: Aug. 1, 2006: Meh edition.

Live thoughts on ECW

Last night, I was at the WWE Supershow taping of Raw and SmackDown! I’ll do a posting about my thoughts on that later. I’m watching ECW tonight and so I’ll throw my thoughts down in TextEdit.

Paul Heyman looking for company and no one wants to say hi to him. What a terrible thing. Sabu steps up to Heyman. Sabu speaks live? Faces against the heel boss? Where have I seen this before. WWECW in full effect.

When the hell is CM Punk going to wrestle? I’m tired of these damn promos. Tonight? Alright. I’ve never seen the guy wrestle. He’s got some internet buzz and they’ve got that Killswitch Engage song attached to him (Randy Orton’s theme song for a split second).

Stan “The Man” Lee talking ECW and his “Who wants to be a Superhero.” Cool.

Justin Credible vs. CM Punk
I’m actually paying attention to this match. Let’s see what CM Punk can do in WWECW. The last time I saw Justin Credible, he was getting destroyed by Kurt Angle. Could he be an ECW jobber? Justin Credible’s got a nice moveset. CM Punk is quite good. I’m not sure he’s as great as I’ve read about, but he can be something if the WWECW doesn’t screw this up.

ECW puts over Batista
No one needs to put over Batista. The guy is over and is a legit main eventer.

Wow, the Brooklyn Brawler is on TV, twice in a week? Kurt Angle returns (from what, I’m not sure – rib injury?). Kurt Angle’s reaction at ECW is one of respect. Angle slaps around Brawler – once again, I approve. Quick match. A headbutt lead into the ankle lock. It’s good to see Angle back. I’ve read that Kurt was not happy being demoted to ECW, but he’s a good fit. I hope he enjoys the fan reaction if nothing else.

Batista vs. Show
I’m pretty show Batista didn’t win the championship considering he didn’t have the championship when I saw him on Monday night for the SmackDown! taping. The fans don’t seem to want to watch this match. Could it be that ECW fans don’t want to see two WWE guys fight it out for the ECW championship? Nah. DQ’s on an ECW is like seeing flaming tables on a televised Sunday mass.

Hey, it’s Sabu.
I never thought I’d want to watch Sabu. Then I watched WWECW for the past couple of weeks. That guy is crazy. He’s a draw.

If you want a one word opinion on this episode of ECW: “meh.”