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IT WASN'T BAD, IT JUST WASN'T GOOD - SECOND BATCH OF FEEDBACK TO RAW

By PWInsiderXtra Readers on 11/7/2006 10:47 AM
Usually after a PPV, one expects something special. Okay, it's not 1997 anymore so maybe something "special" is way too much to ask for; I mean Bret Hart isn't walking through that door and the sound of glass crashing has been replaced with the sweet sounds of the brass. So I ask what exactly have we come to tolerate as WWE fans?

Kevin Federline being on WWE programming is a catch 22 for most fans. His presence while absolutely unnerving, somewhere in the world of David Arquette unnerving does serve a purpose for the WWE presently, it does give Cena a rub that he desperately needs right now.

The Marine was a B action movie at best, and in order for anyone even WWE films to invest more money into a project of his, it's going to have to at least double the money it cost to produce the film in order for it to be considered a success. With that in mind ANY mainstream coverage, even if it is Kevin Federline, really helps the WWE's big picture in the long run.

Now does the average fan care about any of that? Probably not, because Cena isn't over, at least not the way WWE wants him to be, hence the low box office. If you combine that with the fact of Federline only appealing to a very very small demographic, I'd say that WWE might be spinning it's tail on this one here.

Not to mention the lack of continuity regarding the importance of the WWE title. It has never, and I mean NEVER helped a company/champion/title to have the main main in the Fed mix it up with a celebrity. Lawrence Taylor was a bust, so was Leno and Malone and Arquette. Not since Mr. T has a celebrity really brought charisma and allure to the ring, so I don't see why WWE keeps trying to fix a broken train.

It was really cool how Cena saved Maria though. I liked that. And he cut his promo with Prototype like perfection as usual. Though you can sort of picture Cena scratching his head with fatigue pj's on late last night, perfecting his speech in front of the mirror.

It's an interesting shoot to have a card booked by Bischoff's character. It's pretty much a joke. And I wonder if that's a shoot on the way Bischoff used to book, considering his new book, or if it's just the WWE management gone awry.

The IC title got tainted a bit, with an "on the fly" restart to a match that the defending champion Jeff Hardy won, leading to Johnny Nitro's victory and that's always silly. Have someone do a job, it's more memorable. Nitro is a company heel and he always has been, but he has the ability and charisma to do his talking in the ring both physically and orally, people will hate him for the character he portrays, not because WWE shoves it down our throats that we must.

Actually people will LOVE to hate him.

I was so glad to see Eugene finally make the turn for the worse. Hopefully this idea/angle won't get lost in the WWE's shuffle.

Jerry Lawler getting beat down was pretty pointless. Would rather see Masters fight Umaga in a battle of the bulls slugfest (or I guess it could turn into a rest hold fest with Umaga pinching Master's neck).

The main event was a lot of fun. I love watching Piper and Flair in the ring playing the old man roles they or I guess I should say never thought I'd see. While it was predictable to see the double swerve with DX making the save, I never thought Big Dick Johnson would have gotten the chance to close a show with DX.

The show was a bit silly to be honest, with a few moments of clarity. Seeing the old timers in the ring was a lot of fun, reminds me of times when you didn't have to pull a guys pants of to get a pop...

There was that Cheryl Roberts thing though...

Angelo

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RAW thoughts...

So, I'm usually a supporter of WWE, try to look at the good instead of trashing it just as a WWE hater. But this weeks edition of RAW was just inexcusable. It's not that it was bad, it wasn't... it's that it wasn't good.

What's more is how obviously lazy the WWE creative has become. I'm not eve saying the writing is bad, but lazy; it's repetitive.

Let's see, between Cyber Sunday and Monday Night Raw, we had 3 title matches that involved someone getting pinned after being hit with the belt (Champion of Champions, Intercontinental, Women's) and we had 2 matches on rAW where one participant had an arm immobilized (Lawler v Masters, Lita v Mickie James). Now, I realize that, throughout the years, WWE has assumed that fans have had a short memory span/new fans wouldn't know about the earlier story, but this is just a bit ridiculous.

So, we have repetition, a bad Eugene heel turn, and the antics of Cryme Tyme. Now, I like Cryme Tyme, but they can't carry the 2 hour show... c'mon WWE!

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This has to be one of, if not THE worst RAW ever. And that is saying something. I won’t even do a full rant because my head will explode just going over it again but I will focus on one segment that pretty much summed up the sheer crass, illogical stupidity of the show.

Maria is forced to “wrestle” Umaga. No-one does anything. The big guy kills her with his first move and yet no-one does anything. He hits another big move on an already unconscious Maria and still no help. The finally, as Estrada calls for the Thumb of Doom, Cena’s music hits – because whenever someone comes to the rescue they always have their music playing – and sends Umaga packing. So it took Cena over 2 minutes to decide he had seen enough of Maria being beaten up? Then Todd “Who is Jushin Liger” Grisham asks Cena why he is there. Gee, I don’t know Todd, saving the lady from the big nasty Samoan perhaps? Then Cena delivers a comedy promo as Maria is being helped to the back about the show not making any sense (well, I’m with him on that one) before switching to serious mode and rags on Umaga for beating up a Diva. So, what does Johnny Boy do? He beats up an F’N announcer!!! And that was his moment of “ clarity” amidst this sea of confusion apparently! What an absolute crock!!

And we end the show with a fat stripper having his butt wiped by Eric Bischoff’s face. And this is what the WWE thinks is entertainment for us wrestling fans. Whoever wrote and approved this show needs to be strapped naked to the side of a rocket, be smothered in cooking oil then be fired directly into the sun.

I hate to remind the WWE but the Survivor Series is 3 weeks away. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to, um, you know, actually start building towards that?

TNA, the floor is now all yours – go for it!!

Cheers
LEE RELPH, UK

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The Jeff Hardy vs. Johnny Nitro match happened and a title switch make me wonder that if Nitro would have won the voting on Cyber Sunday, would he have been champion one day earlier. This match seriously stood out to me as proof of Vince's quote of "I know what the fans want better than they do."

Hacksaw/Eugene vs. Spirit Squad was ok, hopefully we won't have a "he's smart now" moment with Eugene's heel turn.

Maria vs. Umaga - next

John Cena's promo was good as all of his promos have been as of late. Although I think it may be a bit early to do Cena vs. Umaga, if pushed right it could be entertaining.

Bischoff making all these threats of firing people had me wondering who in their right mind would be concerned about their job when Bischoff will lose all of his power before the night is over.

Masters vs. Lawler - next!

Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin was a fun match to watch; too bad the story line revolves around playing the race card.

Mickie vs. Lita was very lame. Why make her tie one hand behind her back when the match they had Sunday wasn't exactly thrilling to watch when she has two hands.

When Bischoff was announced as the special guest ref for the main event I kind of zoned out from watching raw at this point. Saw the DX run in helping team AARP retain the titles.

Overall I would say this is your average RAW as of late. Too bad average means it was a 'meh' show.

Bradley Woodard

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I didn't watch much of Raw last night as I was studying for a test, but the little bit I did see was less enjoyable than studying for a test. Yeah that's right, I had more fun studying for a test than watching Raw (the little bit I saw). I'm telling you, the product is a JOKE! Worse than the mid 90s IMO. The mark in me loved seeing Bischoff get humiliated at the end, but it was disgusting to see that fat guy get nearly naked. I never watch raw from 9:30 to 10 because I'd rather watch The New Adventures of Old Christine starring the lovely and talented Julie Louis-Dreyfus, who can act better than all the WWE Divas combined! So if you're gonna change the channel around 9:30 when Raw is disgusting you, turn to CBS.