Raw Recap, Another Waste of TimeBrought to you by TCE Wrestling Forums & Cage's Blog of StuffSo, we get Raw this week, and continuance of angles leading into New Years Revolution. All I can say is MEH. Lame ass Beat The Clock matches, as if anyone gives a damn about who enters the Elimination Chamber first or last. Whatever, it was retarded. We started with HBK vs. Snitsky.
- Shawn Michaels def. Snitsky. Decent match for a big guy vs. little guy. As if there was any doubt to this one, Shawn took the win after the Sweet Chin Music and an awkward pin. Snitsky is an ugly fucker, let me tell you. He literally makes me sick and near upchucking each and every time I see him. It's horrible, him and his bad acne. Michaels and his balding, ugh, horrible TV. The match wasn't too much to speak of, but it served it's purpose of setting the time to beat for the rest of the night. *1/2
- The Cutting Edge actually delivers Flair this time, but I still don't get this whole scenario for the life of me. Edge shouldn't be pussy-footing around with Flair for the Intercontinental Title. He has the freakin' Money in the Bank that he SHOULD be cashing in at the Royal Rumble, if not WrestleMania. And he needs to win when he does use it, because if he doesn't, this entire year of build up for it's use will have been for nothing and a major letdown. The segment was bleh, but Lita's boobs were very nice. Heaving, billowing breasts.
- Chris Masters & Chavo Guerrero in a no conest? What the fuck was this, just because you didn't beat the time doesn't mean the match ends. WWE and their mindless booking. It was all or nothing for Masters though, and he didn't even keep the move on Chavo to let him tap. I don't see what the point was for this to bring Chavo back for this match. Poor Chavo though. He'll never make it on his own again, which is a shame because he's talented. But he's balding, his uncle just died, and despite getting a push, he still only gets "EDDIE!" chants. Oh well. *3/4
- Okay, WWE continues with their mindless booking. Angle's "MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT" was a bash on the USA which he represents everytime he comes to the ring with the patriotic theme music, colors, etc. Basically it was a lame attempt at getting cheap heat and did NOT require so much hype. I should have counted on WWE to let me down. It's something I am used to.
- The Vince/Torrie segement was golden, and Grisham is the man. His involvement helped the segment, IMO. Good segment, and good ending to it. It's a shame, as great as Vince is on camera, he's ruining his company behind it. Shame on you, Vince. Shame on you for being entertaining yourself, but ruining the overall entertainment value.
- HLA with Trish Stratus and Alexis Laree, I mean Mickie James. Good segment, furthers the slow burn to the Mickie/Trish showdown. New Years Revolution won't be their final encounter, if I guess correctly. I see this being a Mania match as well, with Mickie finally getting the title there. Trish will retain at NYR, and then turn heel on Mickie post match, I think. Which works, because Trish is an amazing heel. She's stale as a face. Anyway, this kiss was a good build-up. Unneeded, shocking, but it worked. I liked it anyway.
- Daivari def. Kurt Angle by countout in what could have been a decent match, but these two are united, so that wouldn't make sense. And we're supposed to believe that the opponents are drawn at random? What a crock of shit, these two had it all planned out somehow, but we're not supposed to figure that out. WWE logic (again). Anyway, Daivari goes to lay down for Angle, Chioda won't make the count which gets a game of Cat and Mouse going between Angle and Chioda who makes his way back to the ring and fast counts to 10 and calls for the bell giving Daivari the victory and leaving Angle pissed. I don't see why they did that, it was lame, but whatever. I can't give this "match" a rating, but the segment worked to get Daivari and Angle over as heels, even though Angle gets huge face reactions.
- HHH and Big Show's contract signing was fun, I thought. Really good segment, probably of the night. Triple H has always (okay, almost always) had a fan in me, but without the title, he is so much more fresh, and seems to have more worth and value. He was entertaining tonight, and his comments to Big Show just belittled Big Show. Makes me think Show will win at NYR, but we'll see. Triple H breaks Show's hand with a hidden and stashed away sledgehammer. Wise move, came across nicely, I loved it.
- John Cena def. Shelton Benjamin in what was a pretty decent match, I thought. Calling his version of the STF (which when applied looks fucking pathetic) the STF-U, is just lame. I hate it. But, the match was good and the TNA-esque reaction from the crowd was great. Shows that Cena isn't as over as they want him to be and that Shelton has plenty of fans. It also proves that no guys cheer for Cena as you could audibly only hear female voices chanting for him. Shelton shows a little heel turn syndrome (or as they call it, "attitude") with the thumb to the eye, but Cena no sells it, and hits the F-U and locks in the STF (I refuse to call it the STFU) and gets the win. **1/4 Decent for what it was, but not worth going out of my way to see. Post match attack was okay too, but I could have done without it. Whatever.
- Vince/Striker segment was gold. Again, Vince at his comedic best and Striker getting the rub by having an on air segment with the Boss. Striker is good, they need to give him more time on Raw to show the fans just how good he is. Cena vs. Angle next week in a First Blood Match. May or may not be good, I can't figure this out yet. I hope it's good, and I will tune in to see it. Good way to get us interested for next week because had he not announced that match, I damn sure would be skipping over Raw because thus far, this show has sucked.
- Carlito def. Victoria in a comedy match, and the apple spit on her face post match was brutal. * And that's being kind. Need I bring up WWE's logical booking again? However, new time set from Carlito. Kane will break it, I can feel it.
- Kane def. The HeartThrobs in a 30 second squash match. -* I was right, but jeez, why continue to ruin the tag division? They've done NOTHING in WWE thus far except get squashed. Whatever, Kane enters the Chamber last, followed by Carlito, Michaels, Masters, Angle and I am guessing Cena enters first against Angle? I don't know if I like that, but I could be wrong. We'll see though.
- Vince McMahon's Review of the Bret Hart DVD (a month and a half too late) was a good segment and HBK's involvement was even better. I am not sure the purpose of this though. Will Shawn FINALLY do a REAL heel turn and stay heel, or are they trying to kickstart the seed-planting for Michaels/McMahon at WrestleMania. Either way, it could be decent, but I'd rather have the heel turn. Good way to end the show, and I think this helped save me from falling asleep on this disaster of a show.
I'd give Raw an overall ** rating, meaning it's a weak D from me, but next week HOPEFULLY will be better. As I write this, I await the replay of Saturday's Impact. Good viewing, IMO.