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.

WWE Raw: The Go Home Edition

Survivor Series is around the corner full of traditional elimination matches. It’s got the old school wrestling fan in me interested. The opening promo on Raw with all the teams meeting and showing that they are actually teams.

I quite liked the Royal Rumble reference by Shawn Michaels and was hoping that the resolution to all the wrestlers in the ring would be a Raw Royal Rumble similar to the SmackDown! Royal Rumble and the PPV. Just have all the wrestlers involved in one giant match. It’s a bit risky, but could have been a good 10PM main event.

VKM and his lovefest for DX? No scowl or anger for DX when announcing that DX will be in a match tonight? I guess all is forgiven since Vince gets to keep so much of the t-shirt sales. (Why not mention that every time DX shills for DX that they are effectively creating a revenue stream for Vince?)

Sabu vs. Umaga – quite the unusual match up.
Sabu with a good match and can easily withstand the loss. I still don’t think of Umaga as a main eventer, but some one has to be. Quite the grill on Umaga – maybe Cryme Tyme can still his teeth.

Masters vs. Lawler + Torrie Wilson
Wow, who writes Masters’ dialog? Carlito the rescue. Their old feud may return. Penis jokes? Par for the course. So Carlito is helping Torrie out of the ring and misses the Titantron image of Masters coming up from behind him. Lawler to the rescue? This is getting odd. What next? Will Todd Grisham save John Cena? Maybe.

Backstage segments:
Nitro and Melina + Grisham – bleh.
Kenny’s the break out star and he can actually talk. Ron “I was the first black WCW Champion, remember?” Simmons and Flair. Interesting.

IC Ladder Match – Why do they explain the rules? It’s not like a TNA Reverse Battle Royal/Tournament + Hot Dog Eating Contest no mustard allowed match.

Excellent spot with Nitro’s standing drop kick to Hardy on the top of the ladder. It’s one of the crazier ladder spots in recent memory (aside from Shelton Benjamin and his MITB match). After hearing some of the commentary on this match, I think Lawler and JR could be replaced with their video game counterparts and no one would know – just create a soundboard with their voices.

Jeff Hardy wins round three. I think this match proved a toughness to Nitro that I didn’t think he had in him. These two didn’t phone it in – very impressive ladder match. That could have been a main event match – maybe these guys will eventually be in that scene.

Dusty Rhodes vs. Spirit Squad Guy
Dusty heals faster than Wolverine out there. His leg was attacked the entire match, yet he can do his dance. Sorry, Spirit Squad guy.

Backstage: Rated RKO, Maria, and Cryme Tyme.
I’m not sure what the hell happened to the writing, but so far, it’s a good show. It looks like this week the WWE acknowleged the WWE Tag championships and the division. A future storyline with Rated RKO as champs with the face challengers Cryme Tyme? Nah.

Lita could have just had her rant without the blindfold match. So she’s leaving. The division gets smaller and smaller by the day. Considering there’s hardly a division, maybe Lita will just take the title with her.

Captains vs. Captains match.
The faces go over (terrible idea) on the tv show and it ends with an all out brawl. maybe there shouldn’t have been a clean finish and just the brawl.

Decent show overall.

Raw is Pretty Awful

Results from WWE.com:

Sgt. Slaughter def. Nicky
Umaga def. Snitsky
Jeff Hardy def. Intercontinental Champion Johnny Nitro (new champion)
WWE Champion John Cena def. Edge (Steel Cage Match)
DX def. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch, Viscera & Charlie Haas and the Highlanders (Texas Tornado Match)
Randy Orton def. Carlito
Mickie James def. Victoria

I watched this episode mostly through Picture-in-Picture as I was more interested in the Monday Night Football game since both my fantasy football QB’s were active.

Anti-DX Diatribe:
The night started off with a long DX Promo. I haven’t been interested in what they have had to say for some time now. Then I caught another glimpse of Vince McMahon buried in Big Show’s rear end. Yeah, that’ll get ratings. That’s can’t miss TV.

DX then went on to destroy the entire Raw Tag Team division for the 2nd week in a row and then proceeded to put no one but themselves over. That shot against Chris Masters was uncalled for and their numerous backstage skits were awful. Did I hear a Western Showdown music and see tumbleweed backstage? I know this is a TV show, but WTF? Seriously. It also looks like when Vince is off of TV he gets his dumbest ideas. Yes, let’s see Coach and a fat stripper again. Yet another brilliant idea.

I didn’t find out til this morning that DX wound up booking matches since they threw Coach out. When I saw the Spirit Squad dressed in women’s gear I figured DX must have somehow stolen their clothes (even though the Squad was fully dressed in their first DX encounter).

The Rest of Raw:
Jeff Hardy won the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a very decent match. I am not sure I understand what the IC Championship will do for Hardy. On his first night back he challenged the WWE Champion, Edge. He’s had a decent push – so maybe he’ll elevate the title? I expect the multi-player feud of the IC Championship will be for Cyber Sunday. There’s quite the number of challengers for Hardy to face at the next Raw PPV. BTW – when Hardy put his hand over Melina’s mouth while she was screaming backstage, I thought he became a super-babyface. I had no idea Jeff Hardy could cut a promo. Maybe he is the next HBK?

I didn’t like that Victoria and Mickie James fought in the opening round of the Women’s Championship tournament. I thought they should be in the finals considering they are the two wrestlers left in the division. The Mickie James face turn has been abysmal – why is she a face? She shook hands with Trish? A video package would help before the tournament to let the audience know how we got to where we are. A lack of brackets just says the WWE is making this up as they go along.

The match of the night (except for that ending):
Edge vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship in a Steel Cage. I really like this feud. These guys really work well together and put on good matches. The video packages really built up the match as somethng special.

However, once the IC championship changed hands, I was pretty sure we weren’t getting 2 free title changes on the same show. Way too much interference at the end and DX comes to the aid of Cena. Shouldn’t Cena be making fun of these two old guys? Hell, Cena made H tap at WrestleMania. No flack for that? Nothing?

What about the rest of the rest? Like the Umaga match, Sgt. Slaughter beating Nicky cleanly, and the unpromoted PPV rematch of Carlito vs. Randy Orton. Eh. Umaga beats the man who beat Kane up for a while. Logic dictates that Umaga will beat Kane :P. Slaughter beating Nicky – there’s 5 of them! Cheat, dammit! Carlito vs. Orton – when the hell is Carlito going to get a win out of this? This would be a feud if they exchanged wins every now and then. It’s just Orton squeaking out wins and Carlito looks like a chump.

Overall – a pretty lousy episode of Raw. Maybe Angle had the right idea of getting away from WWE.

Raw: Sept. 4th Edition

Tonight’s Raw had that “Raw before the PPV” feel.

The show opened with the WWE Champion, Edge, doing an excellent heel promo with a snazzy trailer video to put himself over. The segment was interrupted by John Cena who caught Edge (who jumped off a ladder) then FU’ed Edge through a table. Good promo, good segment, great intensity.

Jeff Hardy and his “Watching Paint Dry” Segment was quite good. It’s a bit of a stretch to set up a joke, but it was alright. The Hardy/Nitro match was way better than I expected. I think Hardy did an admirable job carrying Nitro. Nitro also unveiled some new moves like a standing moonsault and a nifty backbreaker-neckbreaker combo. I fully expect Jeff Hardy to win the IC championship at Unforgiven, btw.

There was some tag team stuff and the continuation of the DX/McMahons + Big Show storyline. I didn’t care for much of the DX stuff, but at least there was a tag team match with tag team moves being used.

The shock of the night was seeing a former SmackDown! Cruiserweight and ECW alum go over the WWE homegrown. I’m talking about the Super Crazy vs. Chris Masters match. It was a decent match and Super Crazy showed everyone the prettiest moonsault in the business.

It looks like Trish is going to go out as champion at Unforgiven – that’s the right thing to do. Additionally, that will bring uncertainty to the championship picture. Could there be a women’s championship tournament maybe open to all WWE divas (including SmackDown!)?

The main event for next week’s Raw is Vince vs. Triple H. I don’t know if that will push buyrates up or not. I thought Vince was shooting when he said he wanted to main event at MSG and now he will. Let’s hope that it will be the last time the 61 year old does this.

A six person tag match? Once again, seems like a device to use right before the PPV. It looks like Carlito is getting some passion out of Randy Orton. Orton is back to a more aggressive style (like when he was challenging for the IC championship a while back). Edge does a fantastic job selling for Carlito and just about anyone he is in the ring with. Here’s hoping he wins at Unforgiven so he’ll be an unsufferable bastard for weeks to come.

Did anyone else find it interesting to see Cena and Orton wrestle? Those two are supposed to be the future of the business (even though Cena is the present) and will probably end up headlining a WrestleMania one day.

Orton gets the win by RKO’ing Trish. The finish was a good way of protecting everyone.

All in all, a pretty good show. Surprisingly solid.

Monday Night Raw: August 21st Edition

Edge opens the show with a new tile belt. I was hoping the Undisputed WWE Championship belt was coming back, but the Rated R championship looks alright. I’d rather not see Jeff Hardy in the main event scene, but at least he’s got (say it with me) direction.

The Bearded Idiots vs. The World Tag Team Champions, Spirit Squad
The USA chant was a bit odd since Duggan’s own teammates are supposed to be from Scotland. The Spirit Squad’s tag team maneuvers are refreshing. Nothing like a team acting like a team. Kenny still looks like he’ll be the break out superstar of the group. I’m sick of the face in peril tag team match scenario. How about some back and forth action? How about finding out that one team member is a better wrestler than the other? The double slingshot reverse suplex finisher – I’ll call it the Highlander Leveler.

Informercial vs. Edge
The Bowflex, McMahon DVD and the Marine movie poster? Alright.

Orton whines about losing to an old man. Then he is going to take on another old man (BTW, didn’t Flair and Orton already feud with Orton winning in his failed face turn?). Carlito vs. Orton – now that’s cool. Maybe Carlito can teach Orton a thing or two in the ring.

DX and the New Triple H (Where the three H’s stand for Ha! Ha! Ha!). So H is harassing his father in law? It’s odd seeing HBK as a sidekick. Nothing like vandalism by two guys who are fathers. Hey, howabout some wrestling. I’d like to see some wrestling.

Trish Stratus had a good showing against Victoria. A match that made Trish look strong – what a great idea. Trish has been booked weakly recently and she needs this kind of match. I’m glad the McMahons didn’t interrupt the match.

I thought DX had vandalized the WWE headquarters a month ago. Vince is hurt. Poor guy.

“You called me Vince” Segment with Mick Foley.

10PM Main Event: Edge vs. Jeff Hardy:
Why does Hardy have pyro? Is the WWE serious about this guy again? Edge gets heel heat on demand (he called for the crowd to boo him and they did). The Cena-Edge brawl, while predictable was fun. I enjoy that the WWE lets the main event guys go beyond the ring. I’m aware this kind of stuff was done before (with the Rock and Stone Cold) but it hasn’t been done for a while. After watching Edge get thrown into that body of water I thought – now that’s a champion. A heel champ should get his ass kicked. Cena is very good as an intense face and challenger. His title reigns should be kept short to keep him popular just like the Rock.

Kane vs. Nitro turned into Umaga vs. Kane. I assume that Kane spitting up blood was a work as the show would probably cut away if Kane was really injured.

Aside: The quality of commercials since Raw is back on USA is much better. The lack of energy drink and crappy video game commercials is very nice.

Diva Bathroom Break

The Marine Trailer: I’ve actually watched this on WWE.com. It’s over the top and could be a dumb action movie. That being said, it’s been a while since there’s been a dumb action movie so I think The Marine might not suck. Maybe I’ll cover it on my podcast, Killing Time. (Cheap plug).

Ric Flair vs. Orton. Ric Flair has already cemented himself as the greatest wrestler of all time. In his old age, he’s still having amazing matches. The fact that I’ve seen a Ric Flair ladder match and two hardcore matches shows Flair’s commitment to wrestling. He is a legend in the business and does not need to be a full time wrestler. Ric Flair at his age is still better than probably 80% of the roster. Orton needs to expand his moveset and borrow some of Carlito’s charisma. BTW: Anyone else notice that 3/4 of the Evolution members are now faces?

Kiss My Ass Segment = Main Event? I hate when a segment is the main event instead of a wrestling match. I assume that Melina will turn on Mick and allow Mick to turn face. (I wrote that at 10:53 PM EST). It would be interesting to see Vince act as a guy who runs the company. Vince should be a man who is forced to deal with crap since Vince would rather see some green than personal vendettas being handled. I say this because Vince would be an idiot to fire Melina – she’s money in the bank. So Foley kissed McMahon’s ass. Now what? Yup, the Melina turn.

Raw ends on a sour note. Bleh. This segment should have been the 10PM main event and the WWE Championship storyline should be the true main event. Looks like the WWE Creative was watching American Graffiti and not Mythbusters when they showed the axle being removed from that vehicle by a chain. Mythbusters proved that such a thing was impossible.

Vince screams like Mumm-Ra of ThunderCats.

Raw is Edge

Tonight’s Raw Feedback is a running commentary as the show unfolds:

Edge is starting to remind me of Ric Flair. He’s cocky as all hell, he’s got the cool slick look and he’s got some great intensity. I quite enjoy the “Rated R Announce Table” gimmick. It sets him apart.

Poor Shelton Benjamin. Such a talented wrestler but he’s got to to job to “Mr. 5 Moves of Doom.” Shelton actually got some good offense in there. I only expected a two minute match. I am very surprised with the amount of offense and aggression shown by Shelton. Excellent top rope enzugri by Mr. Benjamin.

Raw had an ad by a car company? Is it possible that advertisers believe that viewers of wrestling can afford to buy vehicles?

I still don’t believe that STFU finisher. I am a fan of the Edge-Cena rivalry. They are good on the mic and it’s easy to believe the two don’t like each other. Edge getting the upper hand on Cena with the spear and impaler DDT was a great change of pace. Super-Cena looks a bit weaker. Considering the predictable WWE booking, I guess Cena is going over on Saturday.

The Hulkster returns for an appearance on Saturday Night’s Main Event. There is no way that the WWE is setting up yet another Hogan returns storyline. Hogan is the smartest man in the wrestling business.

Once again, I have little interest in the DX storyline. Additionally, we get a video recap about their hijinx every week. It’s times like this I enjoy having picture in picture. That Hell’s Kitchen show on Fox is pretty good. Well, at least Edge got to open the show instead of a DX recap.

Eugene. The “Dr. Issac Yankem” reference was good. I wish they would send him to ECW and let him be Nick Dinsmore.

Anyone else notice an announcer who wasn’t JR or the King promoting the Trish vs. Melina match? Melina isn’t doing much wrestling as much as fighting. Hiding under the ring to sneak up on Trish was pretty smart. Melina reminds me of a young Randy Orton in her wrestling style. Rest holds, brawling and a lack of technical wrestling. Trish is working hard to have a good match with Melina. Trish loses once again. Holding onto a wrestler’s tights to gain a win has been done to death. Nice teamwork by Carlito and Trish, no doubt setting up a SNME match.

Edge and Lita at the hotel. Edge plays a fantastic heel – and he’s a ham. Sometimes I like the segments where the WWE cameras go beyond the arena. It’s a nice change of pace when used sparingly.

A Herpes drug ad after the Edge and Lita hotel segment is kind of funny. There’s no way the WWE’s smart enough to pull that joke off.

I had read someone’s review on the Highlanders on PWInsiderXtra.com (I think). He mentioned that the last time he visited Scotland it was no longer the 12th Century there. Now, I’ve never been there, but I am going to believe that. The Highlanders have a task ahead of them as they take on the tag-team specialists, the greatest tag-team in the history of histories, the New Strike Force themselves: Rob Conway and Matt Stryker.

The Original – well, the second – Nature Boy himself, Ric Flair. Mick and Ric. I think these promos are so easily done considering the heat between the two men. Mick Foley’s “Easy Way Out” promo – I don’t think this makes him a heel. Foley cut a great promo. “You used up hack!” These are the promos leading up to the SummerSlam match. “No rematch.” Terrific promo. Flair, calls out the Hardcore Legend. ECW? Why is Show out on Raw? Either WWE doesn’t think that ECW can’t succeed on its own, or they are treating them as a favorite child by spotlighting the ECW brand on Raw every week. SmackDown! wishes they were featured this much on Raw. Ric to ECW. I expect to see Foley tomorrow night.

I wish Candice wouldn’t talk.

Haas vs. Viscera. Haas could make this more interesting if he pulled a tranquilizer gun a la Kurt Angle and his Big Show feud. A match turning into an angle? The Somoan Drop on Lillian? That’s just not right. Perhaps they are the new “He-Man Women Haters.” She dumped them both, now they are buds. Haas, Viscera and Val. They could have some funny segments scamming on women.

Edge and his mimosas. This will backfire, but he works well with Lita and plays the jackass heel excellently.

Miz? He’s the equivalent of Eugene for SmackDown! One day, he’ll feud with Ken Kennedy when Ken Kennedy becomes a face by interrupting this blowhard. Did he forget his lines. He’s got one job and he’s awful at it. For the most part, these girls look like they’re clones of each other. I’m going to say a blonde is going to win. Honestly, hearing this individuals ask for votes is no different than watching any pageant. Milena with a decent promo. She may throw off my blonde prediction. Rebecca sounds like a transvestite. A waste of time.

Orton and his Hogan challenge? Eh.

Edge, Lita, room service, and teh WWE cameraman. I thought Cena would have been in the room service cart. Cena coming in to kick Edge’s ass. Nice. Sick “thud” noise with that belt shot. Maybe Edge will retain after all.

Todd Grisham should be fired. DX hasn’t been on all night, and the McMahons are out. What could possibly happen? DX and Vince seem to be doing a Bugs Bunny Routine. Eugene gets the win. He won a handicap match.

Good build up for SNME and Tuesday Night Raw, er, I mean, ECW.

Monday Night Raw: 07/03/2006, Edge wins the WWE Championship.

Last night’s Raw was pretty much terrible, but it was capped off with a title change.

The DX and Vince storyline was center-stage and I found it pretty lousy. WWE usually has stupid storylines filled with toilet humor. However, with DX around, now it’s almost guaranteed every week. I will admit seeing Shawn Michaels looking for Mr. Fuji got a laugh out of me. HBK is trying to balance his beliefs with his DX role and I think he’s handling it okay. I had read on another wrestling site (either PWInsider.com or Lordsofpain.net) that HBK is HHH’s sidekick and I agree with that. Because he can’t take a lead role because of his beliefs, HBK is playing second fiddle. Maybe he’ll get back in the title hunt against Edge.

What was supposed to be a tag match became a WWE Championship Triple Threat match. I did not expect to get a clean finish until I heard the announcement of the no disqualification and no count out conditions. I was afraid WWE would put the title back on Cena. I was quite pleasantly surprised with Edge’s 2nd WWE title win. He’s the best heel in the company and we haven’t had a heel champion for a while. I believe the title switch occurred because of RVD’s run in with the law. Had he not got busted for drugs, I think the championship would likely have changed hands on Saturday Night’s Main Event.

The Other Stuff: The Highlanders made their debut to defeat the most feared tag-team in the business, Rob Conway and Matt Stryker (the new “Stryke Force”). Additionally the Spirit Squad got to beat up on 5 guys. That was nice. Carlito getting screwed out of the WWE Intercontinental Championship continues this storyline. Hopefully, the two can work together and put on a good series of matches. And I seem to have forgotten the match of the night, the five-star classic – Umaga vs. Scott Wright.

I’m curious to see what will happen on ECW tonight since Edge was supposed to have a match against RVD for the WWE Championship. Maybe RVD will defend that ECW Championship for once.

Raw is up against the NHL Finals: Game 7.

I’m watching Raw on the left side of my TV and I have Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on the right side; picture and picture televisions are a great thing. Normally, I watch Raw live, as it happens. After witnessing the first four minutes with the DX pranks on Mr. McMahon, I decided that I would probably enjoy tonight’s episode better if I were watching the NHL as well.

Personally, I thought that the opening segment with DX and McMahon was terrible and if this is what we have to look forward to – a 41 year old and a 37 year old acting like teenagers – Raw will suck for a long time. DX works when the players are young and brash. If anyone is really up for a DX-like unit is someone like Edge or Carlito, not HBK or Triple H. By the way, I’m still waiting for the storyline explanation on why HBK and H are buddies again after trying to kill each other for the past 3 years.

What else happened tonight? The USA promo with the Dead Zone’s Anthony Michael Hall, Triple H and John Cena was quite funny. Maybe the commercial writers could get a job writing for the WWE. Sliming the Spirit Squad? I didn’t even hear anyone say, “I don’t know.”

Cena and Sabu? WWE is really pushing the ECW show and the Vengeance PPV. Good job. DX is screwing with Coach as I write this. I’m sure it’s hysterical, but the NHL finals game is quite good.

I forgot about Mickie James. She’s the best thing they’ve got on this show. She single-handedly won her tag-team match, beat up her tag-team partner, and then stripped a girl in the crowd. Then she yelled “Get that hooker out of here!” She’s comedy gold.

It seems as though Edmonton does not understand that when you are on a power play, you have one more player on the ice than the other team. Oh great, they pantsed Coach. That’s going to get ratings and increase the buyrates. Yeah. Ugh.

Speaking of Ugh – let’s talk about Umaga. The only good thing about that guy is his manager, Armando Alessandro Essss-trrrrrada. Unfortunately, Armando cut himself off while introducing himself – now that could get him some heel heat since he’s way over with the fans (including me). He should back Charlie Haas or some other guys and build a stable a la the Bobby Hennan Family (might I suggest “La Familia de Estrada”).

The Highlanders are coming to Raw. Magnificent. Perhaps they will become the new World Tag Team Champions and shock the wrestling world (because then Raw will remember that they have Tag Team championships).

Edge vs. Flair. Back when Edge was champ he had an excellent ladder match with Flair. When Edge becomes champion again on Sunday – it’ll be a good day. He is a very good wrestler who can wrestle almost anyone. Edge is selling like a champ for Flair. These guys have a good chemistry – but then again – it’s Ric “I could wrestle a broom” Flair facing the incredibly competent wrestler Edge. Edge isn’t great yet – but he’s close. Foley’s interference makes for some good video footage for the PPV on Sunday. What’s this? WWECW Champion RVD? ECW does not respect the separate brand thing.

The Oilers blew it. Carolina with the empty net goal. It’s over. Kornheiser is going to be unbearable on PTI.

The Main Event tonight: DX’s official reunion. I dislike it when non-wrestling events are the main event of a WRESTLING show. Alright, the game’s over so now I’m watching DX. Their entrance is unique (I’ve read about it, but I wasn’t watching it when it originally happened). I’ve seen clips when DX was around with the very young Triple H. This old-man edition of DX is a bit odd. Trips and his comment about who knocked up Stephanie – quite amusing. Dwarves – why do the WWE think that dwarves are the funniest thing in the free world? And they moon people… Great. Bleh.

(BTW – Give yourself 2 points if you got the “You Can’t Do That on Television” joke).

So many wrestling shows

All right, there’s been a lot of wrestling this past week. ECW ONS 2, Monday Night Raw, New ECW (Sci-Fi Edition) and Friday Night SmackDown! I’ll just give some overall opinions instead of doing a match-by-match analysis

ECW ONS 2
Purpose of the PPV: Getting the new ECW Legitimacy

• Taz and Lawler provided a good start to the PPV. Personally, I was quite sick of hearing Lawler go on and on about how crappy ECW was. Seeing him get choked out within a couple of seconds was a good finish to this storyline.
• Kurt Angle and Randy Orton had a pretty good match and I thought Orton excelled as a heel in this atmosphere. If only WWE audiences could give him this much heel heat. The new ECW crowd appreciated Angle as one of their own and Angle got to show off a new style. I think Kurt Angle: Shoot Wrestler Edition will do well in ECW if Paul Heyman gets to keep control of ECW.
• The Main Event: John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam. I’ve thought that Cena is much better as a heel than as a face. These two had a much better match than I thought they could. Cena losing his WWE Championship at an ECW event shows how much the WWE wants the new ECW to succeed.
• Did it live up to its purpose? I think that the ONS PPV did what it was meant to do. It showed off the ECW Wrestlers and established ECW as a strong WWE brand. They gave the ECW the main WWE championship.

Monday Night Raw
Purpose: Keep pushing ECW and the Vengeance PPV

• First, the show starts with Paul Heyman talking about how the decision stands and RVD is the new WWE Champion, then WWE sent their #1 Boy, John Cena, to ECW’s first regular television show to give the ECW a strong rating. Edge was also scheduled to appear. Raw threw together Vengeance on this show. I think there had been only one match scheduled before Monday night, and that was the Edge vs. WWE Champion (who I thought would have been John Cena, but I was wrong). The reunion of DX finally happened this past Monday. I don’t know how effective they will be, but it may be interesting. I think they need to draft some directionless characters like Carlito and Charlie Hass. I bet those two could act quite juvenile and it would be amusing.
• Did Raw achieve its purpose? I think it did. Tons of ECW on Sci-Fi promos and plugs and Vengeance was put together in one night.

ECW: Sci-Fi
Purpose: Kick off the ECW with a bang.

• Some sneaky camera angles try to keep the SmackDown! portion of the set off the air. The opening promo with RVD, Edge and Heyman ended up pushing the Vengeance PPV some more. I forgot to mention that Kurt Angle will be facing Randy Orton once again at Vengeance. I think that Vengeance has these inter-promotional matches because the WWE just didn’t have any ideas to put together this PPV. I imagine after Vengeance, the inter-promotional matches will cease until the big four PPVs.
• I’ve got to mention the Zombie. I think this was a message from the WWE to the Sci-Fi network. “If you make us do science ficition angles, the science fiction characters will get their asses kicked.” Effectively, the match between Sandman and the Zombie was a rehash of the Eugene / Sandman segment from ECW ONS 2.
• ECW lived up to its purpose. I just had to kick off the start of ECW. It was an uneven show, but still more solid than most Raw or SmackDown! episodes. I think the one-hour format will help out since it’s only one hour of material to put together. In ECW that could be 3 matches and 2 segments and you’re done.

SmackDown!
Purpose: I don’t know, I didn’t watch.

• By Friday night, I was more interested in watching my House, M.D. DVDs than watching more wrestling. The show is depleted without Orton, Angle, and Benoit (along with Lesnar, Big Show, Carlito and all the others who were good on SmackDown! but are all gone). Additionally with JBL on the mic, I don’t know if I want to hear it. I recorded the show, so I may watch it later.

So many wrestling shows

Alright, there’s been a lot of wrestling this past week. ECW ONS 2, Monday Night Raw, New ECW (Sci-Fi Edition) and Friday Night SmackDown! I’ll just give some overall opinions instead of doing a match-by-match analysis

ECW ONS 2

Purpose of the PPV: Getting the new ECW Legitamacy

• Taz and Lawler provided a good start to the PPV. Personally, I was quite sick of hearing Lawler go on and on about how crappy ECW was. Seeing him get choked out within a couple of seconds was a good finish to this storyline.
• Kurt Angle and Randy Orton had a pretty good match and I thought Orton excelled as a heel in this atmosphere. If only WWE audiences could give him this much heel heat. Angle was appreciated by the new ECW crowd as one of their own and he got to show off a new style. I think Kurt Angle: Shoot Wrestler Edition will do well in ECW if Paul Heyman gets to keep control of ECW.
• The Main Event: John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam. I’ve thought that Cena is much better as a heel than as a face. These two had a much better match than I thought they could. Cena losing his WWE Championship at an ECW event shows how much the WWE wants the new ECW to succeed.
• Did it live up to its purpose? I think that the ONS PPV did what it was meant to do. It showed off the ECW Wrestlers and established ECW as a strong WWE brand. They gave the ECW the main WWE championship.

Monday Night Raw
Purpose: Keep pushing ECW and the Vengeance PPV

• First, the show starts with Paul Heyman talking about how the decision stands and RVD is the new WWE Champion, then WWE sent their #1 Boy, John Cena, to ECW’s first regular television show to give the ECW a strong rating. Edge was also scheduled to appear. Raw threw together Vengeance on this show. I think there had been only one match scheduled before Monday night, and that was the Edge vs. WWE Champion (who I thought would have beeen John Cena, but I was wrong). The reunion of DX finally happened this past Monday. I don’t know how effective they will be, but it may be interesting. I think they need to draft some directionless characters like Carlito and Charlie Hass. I bet those two could act quite juvinele and it would be amusing.
• Did Raw acheive its purpose? I think it did. Tons of ECW on Sci-Fi promos and plugs and Vengeance was put together in one night.

ECW: Sci-Fi
Purpose: Kick off the ECW with a bang.

• Some sneaky camera angles try to keep the SmackDown! portion of the set off the air. The opening promo with RVD, Edge and Heyman ended up pushing the Vengeance PPV some more. I forgot to mention that Kurt Angle will be facing Randy Orton once again at Vengeance. I think that Vengeance has these inter-promotional matches because the WWE just didn’t have any ideas to put together this PPV. I imagine after Vengeance, the inter-promotional matches will cease until the big four PPVs.
• I’ve got to mention the Zombie. I think this was a message from the WWE to the Sci-Fi network. “If you make us do science ficition angles, the science fiction characters will get their asses kicked.” Effectively, the match between Sandman and the Zombie was a rehash of the Eugene / Sandman segment from ECW ONS 2.
• ECW lived up to its purpose. I just had to kick off the start of ECW. It was an uneven show, but still more solid than most Raw or SmackDown! episodes. I think the one hour format will help out since it’s only one hour of material to put together. In ECW that could be 3 matches and 2 segments and you’re done.

SmackDown!
Purpose: I don’t know, I didn’t watch.

• By Friday night, I was more interested in watching my House, M.D. DVDs than watching more wrestling. The show is depleted without Orton, Angle, and Benoit (along with Lesnar, Big Show, Carlito and all the others who were good on SmackDown! but are all gone). Additionally with JBL on the mic, I don’t know if I want to hear it. I recorded the show, so I may watch it later.