WWE Raw Review - 6th October 2008

After a good No Mercy it was time to get down to business again and the road towards Cyber Sunday. Would there be any fallout from Jericho and Michaels and what will Batista do now he is number one contender.

Good Points

Chris Jericho

Jericho gave a good in ring promo to kick the show off showing the world how Michaels has permanently disfigured him last night as his injury was well woven in to the storyline. He also put the wheels in motion for his feud with Batista as he was in the receiving end of Spine Buster from the Animal and then as acting GM tried to screw Batista out of his number one contenders spot in which he was unsuccessful.

John Cena videos

It’s been a while since was last saw Cena on our screens so WWE put out two well crafted video segments following his surgery and featuring positive comments about him from fellow wrestlers. Good to see them trying to keep his name out there.

Push for Ted Dibiase

The WWE are really pushing Ted junior as this week he got a singles win against former Intercontinental champion Kofi Kingston. Expect him to be the next Randy Orton within a year.Loss of intensity for Rey and Kane

Bad points

Not much going on

Besides the build for Jericho vs. Batista there really wasn’t much going on. We had a few throwaway matches featuring people that weren’t feuding with each other and a few backstage segments. The content really wasn’t enough to keep the viewer hooked for two hours.

No Heat

After last night’s dramatic end to their match I was expected the heat to be turned up even further on this feud but instead were put in a mix storyline match as Rey tagged with Matt Hardy to go against Kane and Mark Henry.

Overall

Another average Raw. Not enough exciting stuff happening backstage and not enough good matches in the ring. Without Orton being able to wrestle and Cena off the show Raw is really lacking at the moment.

WWE Raw Review - 8th September 2008

After a great ending to Unforgiven I was looking forward to seeing the first Raw under the reign of Jericho. What would happen to Batista? Would we see CM Punk or Michaels show up? All these questions had to be answered.

Solid start from Jericho

It was nothing flashy but Jericho did what he needed to do selling the beating that Michael gave him and acting like any good heel does by trying to squirm his way out of matches that Adamle had set up for him. Next week it will be Jericho vs. CM Punk in a steel cage for the title meaning that we may not see Punk in the main event scene for the next PPV as he gets his rematch early. When Michaels and CM Punk are back then we will see the real start to his reign I think.

Second Generation stars get a backbone

Over the last few weeks Orton has been the master manipulator backstage getting fellow second generation stars to his dirty work for him whilst taking all the credit for it. This week on Raw Rhodes, DiBiase and Manu had, had enough as Orton managed to get clear of the ring before an altercation could happen. Does this now mean they are pushing the group o second generation stars as faces now?

Bad Points

Push for Batista or lack of it

Just after you started to think they were going to push Batista they have now got him involved in a feud with JBL which is not what I would call a push. I’m no Batista fan but they have kept him hanging on down the card for some time now and really need to do something big with him.

Not enough going on

The three main storylines the show featured around weren’t ground breaking and there weren’t any what I would call major developments. The three storylines being, Jericho, Batista/JBL and the Second Generation storyline. Everything else was just filler.

Overall

Not much to get excited about or memorable from this episode. Was good to see Evan Bourne who most wrestling fans who follow the indy scene will know as Matt Sydal get a chance on Raw after some time spent on ECW. Was interesting to see him use the shooting star press in his match as I thought this move had been outlawed after Billy Kidman once messed it up a few weeks on the trot.

WWE Unforgiven 2008 Review

After a better than average SummerSlam WWE were following this up with another gimmick PPV which seems to be WWE’s theme of the year with Night of the Champions, One Night Stand and Cyber Sunday still to come all surrounding around gimmick matches. The gimmick for Unforgiven was every Heavyweight title being defended in a scramble match. There was a shadow of doubt cast over the PPV when Michaels got injured on Raw the week before his big showdown with Chris Jericho so I wasn’t as hyped for this one as I usually am but as it was broadcast free in the UK I wasn’t complaining.

ECW Championship Scramble match

Was better than I was expecting this one and a nice little kick off to the PPV. As I predicted Matt Hardy got the win without Mark Henry being involved with keeps him strong and builds their feud nicely. By having this one first and by having Matt win it started to make you wonder if we were going to see Hardy clean sweep and see scenes reminiscent of WrestleMania 20.

World Tag Team Championship: Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase (c) vs. Cryme Tyme by Cody Rhodes

It’s good to see the tag belts being defended again on PPV on a regular basis. The result of this match was never in doubt as Rhodes & DiBiase are getting a big push. Cryme Tyme need to be given more promo time and made to be thought of as believable contenders and not just a comedy act. Was good to see Manu come down the son of Afa the Wild Samoan to help Rhodes and DiBiase to add to the second generation wrestlers stable. Again my prediction was correct in this one.

Unsanctioned Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho

After much doubt about Michaels injuries and if he would be able to put in a good performance here Michaels contributed to a match of the year contender here. The last ten minutes were just brilliant as Michaels beat Jericho to a pulp but played the character of being remorseful for what he had been forced to do. I thought the pay-off was a bit too quick and they should have waited longer before the fight but as events unfolded later it made a lot of sense. As predicted Michaels picked up the win.

WWE Championship Scramble

We already knew HHH was going to win this but as I said in my predictions this match as all about how the other guys got on in a main event. I think Kendrik, Benjamin and MVP all put in credible performances, nothing special mind. The match was good at keeping Jeff Hardy strong as they eventually build to another Hardy / HHH match at a PPV.

Divas Championship: Michelle McCool (c) vs. Maryse

Nothing much to get excited about here except another correct prediction by me.

World Heavyweight Championship Scramble

This match was built excellently during the PPV as CM Punk was set upon by Randy Orton and his new stable of second generation wrestlers before his match making him unable to compete and a space open in the scramble match. This also gave CM Punk the ability to lose his title whilst never being beaten for it keeping him strong for another push at the title and creates a strong feud with Orton when he returns. In a surprising move Jericho limped out to take CM Punk’s place and managed to steal a victory and World Heavyweight Championship. Kane and Rey can now go on in their feud which leaves JBL and Batista to build a feud. By giving Jericho the belt it keeps him strong and adds a new dimension to his feud with Michaels. Being the top feud it only makes sense for it now to revolve around the title. Am so happy to see Jericho as champion that I don’t care that I got this prediction wrong and missed out on a possible 100%.

Overall

The show on the whole was very predictable until the end which made the ending even more engaging. The show did what it had to do to build storylines and also had The Big Show turning heel on Undertaker in the most telegraphed storyline of the year that even someone who hadn’t seen wrestling before could have seen what was going to happen. I’m looking forward to the first Raw under the new reign of Jericho.

WWE Raw Review - 26th May 2008

I was looking forward to Raw tonight with one Night Stand only a week away I was looking forward to see how the headline feuds would develop and get us in the mood for the PPV.

Good Points

Lots of Vince segments

I think Mr. McMahon is one of the best on screen characters in the WWE so to see him heavily featured was great. He proclaimed that tonight was going to be Fan Appreciation night which lead to many funny backstage segments with wrestlers coming to Vince and telling him what he should do to show appreciation to the fans. This culminated in the end with Vince saying that he is going to be giving away some of his millions in the coming weeks on Raw which has never been done before.

New Wrestler Debuts

Was great to see WWE legend the Million Dollar Man introduce his son and latest addition to the Raw roster who is also called Ted Dibiase. Immediately he laid down a challenge to the tag champs and set the wheels in motion for a feud with Holly and Rhodes.

Finally Burchill has a feud

After Mr. Kennedy getting William Regal fired last week Burchill this week decided to blindside Mr. Kennedy after his match with Carlito and after he had been distracted by Katie lea. I just hope they handle this properly and make it a good feud so that Burchill can get some regular TV time and a PPV match.

Bad Points

Lack of build for One Night Stand

Besides the first ten minutes which had a face off between HHH and Randy Orton little was done to build the main event matches for ONS. The last match of the night was Jericho vs. HBK when you also have Cena / JBL or HHH / Orton who should have been part of the last match. The show was then ended by a great Vince McMahon segment but in my opinion this should have been saved for the episode of Raw after One night stand.

Silly Roddy Piper segments

Now I know they want to give Roddy something to do and that the involvement with the Jimmy Kimmel show is great publicity but I can’t stand these segments with Roddy getting involved with the people on the show. If they were to be having a match with either Roddy or the guys from the show on One night Stand then it would make sense but at the moment it just provides a throw away segment every week.

Overall

The complete opposite of last weeks show, last week was heavy on the build for ONS but light on the entertainment whereas this weeks show was light of the build for ONS but heavy on thee entertainment.