Raw Thoughts - May 26

· Wow, who would have thought that a bloke playing Stan Kroenke would be first out on Raw. Oh, right – everybody.
· And who would have thought that Stan Kroenke says “each and every one of you” just like each and every.....I mean all of WWE’s employees do.
· Pleased to see JR on Raw. Let’s see if he laughs uproariously when Santina shows up.
· XBA – that’s actually pretty funny. Good to see Vince poking fun at himself.
· I really don’t know whether Vince is going for a Penis joke or an Anus joke.
· Oh right, there we go. That should have been the cue for Val Venis, really.
· Interesting that Vince didn’t make a reference to L. Brent Bozell III, former leader of the PTC who tried to take advertisement money away from WWE Smackdown – this prompted the frankly tedious Right to Censor.
· Average women’s title match. It was a smart idea to make the focus a bit of a bitchfght rather than a wrestling match, as that doesn’t really suit either girl. Finish was a confusing copout though. If Maryse was DQ-ed, why was the referee counting before he threw the match out?
· So, its a triple threat, fairly important because the winner gets to face the US champion next week. So important, in fact, that said champion, MVP, strolls to the ring to get a better look. JR calls “business has just picked up” every one gets excited.......so its advert time. I know that it is done so that people should be hooked and won’t change channel during the advert, but it is so frustrating. Surely hooks can better than this.
· Having said that, nice feel to the show so far. I liked the opening melee, which felt like old-school Raw that I reference last week, and I’m intrigued to see who the mystery partner will be
· My guess, though, would be Vince
· I liked the triple threat, interesting decision to go with Kofi as MVPs opponent. I look forward to the match, but I don’t know if that will draw many fans.
· Enjoyed the intensity between Randy and Ric, even if it was short. Handled that part of the seg well.
· I don’t understand the inclusion of Kennedy at this point, unless he is turning during the main event. To me, you build the surprise all night. Get Cody to run into Randy in the dressing room and whisper who it is, and have Randy sell his dismay. Then have MVP and King talking, and then someone opens a door. They look off camera, and say “you’re our partner? Cool” then fade out. Then you’ve got a build throughout the show.
· “Marella Original” – got nothing, but good line.
· Are you going to buy Extreme Rules for a Hog Pen match?
· I say a history of Hog Pen match DVD is in order. If only to see them release a DVD almost exclusively featuring Triple H getting shit all over him.
· I like the idea of the Kendrick partner search, as long as he eventually finds one to suit him and they have a good run. The execution thus far, though, has been tedious.
· Not a bad ten-man finale. Went on a bit, frankly, and I’m guessing my English lack of knowledge about basketball meant I missed a lot of references.
· Bit of a nothing ending. No real Kennedy involvement, no Flair run in. Just a bit flat.

Raw Thoughts - May 18

· Judgment day was good, Cole, but it was “at times miraculous”? What?
· So Mickie pins the champ one-on-one, then in a tag match, but isn’t number one contender? Seems a bit harsh.
· Hopefully they’ll take the battle royal outcome to conclusion at Extreme Rules. Fancy seeing Kelly Kelly in a hardcore match?
· Nice to see Santino given a plausible match but still not make Chavo look too stupid. Hopefully they can build this for him
· I like that – Josh inferring to Matt Hardy that Matt did Vickie a favour and helped Edge. Wahey! Logic!
· Excellent – Goldust and Hornswoggle as a duo – hopefully mostly on ECW.
· That’s taken Miz back a couple of weeks. He was doing great as a cutting edge antagonist, but a lame rap does not help his cause in the slightest.
· Big Show and Cena in a submission match is another nice logical progression from Cena struggling to procure the STF at Judgment Day.
· Matt needs a change of music. His “Ohh Ye-eah” start still draws a cheer.
· If I’m going to pick Cole up on every little thing, only fair I do it to JR. Matt’s injury is a metacarpal, not a metatarsal, as Ross said. The first is the hand, the latter the foot.
· Two things I’ll give credit for in that Vickie/Santina segment. The first was that Santino had two little patches picked up from shaving. That’s beyond subtle – good work. The other is that Regal came out unannounced and we don’t know why. I like when unexpected and unknown things happen. They should happen regularly and make you tune in week to week to find out the reason.
· Aren’t WWE having some problems with a venue because of a Basketball fixture clash? Presumably Vince is unhappy, hence the multiple negative references to Denver Nuggets on the show.
· That was a very good main event for lots of reasons
· Firstly, I liked the chaos of it. I hate how much the current Raw product looks like it’s so clinical, but this was an old-fashioned (well, Attitude Era) main event where stuff was happening all over the place. Cena and Show up the ramp, confusion about the legal man, then a Flair run in. I like how the camera didn’t pick it straight up, then Cody fell into the frame. I thought Cena had returned. The commentators also didn’t pick up on it straight away. While that’s silly because they can see the ramp, it was effective.
· The match itself was plenty good enough. Standard heel domination (but then they should, they have one more man) and babyface in peril stuff, done well to keep an otherwise quiet crowd lively.
· Next, the Flair involvement, throughout the show, worked nicely to create a minor conflict between him and Batista and then resolve it. Also, his involvement in the finish means there is a nice plug for his involvement next week.
· I also like the way that essentially Cena abandoned Batista. Dave can argue Cena let him down and Flair had to bail him out. Cena can respond that he helped him out earlier on when Batista and Flair were getting their ass kicked. Both men would be right. Doing this would be perfect because there could be a slow build for when they wrestle again – the first time was simply too rushed.
· Overall, below average show until the end. Really good main event and top ending.

Judgment Day Live Blog

00.58am
Good Afternoon/Evening/Morning, whereever you are in the world. Judgment Day is minutes away. I've just read a Spoiler, which I'm annoyed about. I try not to read spoilers just before big shows, and I broke my rule. I won't let you in on it, that wouldn't be fair. I'll let you know if it happens, when it does.......or doesn't, if you get my drift.

For those who care, drink of choice is Irn Bru (If you are outside UK, google it) and snack is Fruit Pastilles (just the red and purple ones).

01.01am
Is that meant to be an English accent on the voiceover at the start?

01.03am
Trying to pump up the crowd straight out of the blocks, here comes the Punker. He'll take on Umaga first up, and it seems it's Todd and JR on commentary first up. Are we back to individual announce teams?

I like the irony of CM Punk wrestling the man who it was suggested was a Samoa Joe impersonator. For the record, I'm led to believe that not only was that not the case (unless you noticed, there were Samoans in Wrestling before Joe Seanoa) but there is no heat between the men. That thing you may have read in PWI was complete nonsense.

01.07am
Umaga with the......what do we call it, Uranage?.... within the opening minutes. Interesting, since that's the move that was shown as devastating on the recap just before the match.

01.08am
Remember you can join in with the blog - robthegreen@hotmail.com is the address.

01.11am
Nelson, and I wonder why the ring ropes are white?

Slow match so far. Punk with virtually no offense.

01.19am
Clean win for Umaga. I don't like Punk losing too often. I do like Umaga winnning, though. I dig the Umaga character, and would love to see a Umaga/Undertaker programme very similar to Mankind's one with Taker back in 1996 or so.

01.21am
Show with standard chat with Vickie, before someone walks in. Big cheer for Edge (for it was he) but we don't get to hear his conversation with his wife.

01.22am
I didn't know the Unprettier was now the Killswitch. I think that is something to do with the band that play CM Punk's music. Anyone clarify for me?

01.23am
Josh and Striker for ECW so we have a set of teams again. Nice cheer for Christian, and I know I say this every time, but I wish he had his old theme music - same song, but the other version.

Am I talking about songs more than wrestling so far?

Hey, there's my man Tony the Ring Announcer. Remember, Chimel fix it for you.

01.25am
Wow, that's incredible. I went to Umaga's Wikipedia page because I was having a moment of thought about his family tree - and get this, his profile has already been updated to reflect him defeating CM Punk tonight. Who is doing things that quickly?

01.31am
Decent match so far, although it's got frantic early. Some nice spots, and a different match to last time, which is nice.

Great shot of Christian nailing a twisting elbow from the middle rope looking like he was flying into my living room (I'm actually in my office, but that sounds wrong)

Nice realism as the referee doesn't count when Christian's shoulders aren't quite down. Really enjoying this now.

01.34am
Official spot Swagger pulling the tights on a pin attempt, so stops the pin, making him the SMARTEST OFFICIAL EVER

01.35am
Christian pulls the straps of Swagger's wrestling gear down, then rolls him up and pulls the tights. Ref fails to spot this making him an IDIOT!! (Aren't I consistant?)

Seriously, though, I like that. That was nicely put together, and Striker's explanation post-match about straps being kept up in amateur wrestling was a terrific call.

Well done all round. Really enjoyed that match. Great pacing, clever thought process, nice counters. High quality stuff. Kudos to the guys and the agent involved.

01.39am
I'm still to be convinced of babyface Morrison (I'm the same with babyface Carlito. There are some characters who just fit with heel in my opinion) but this match should be good. Really nice feel to the show tonight. Crowd seem up, announcers on their game, and so far one one pretty good match and very good one for me.

Nice crowd shot of Chicago. I have been there for a week or so (Bound for Glory last year), and it truly is a fantastic city. Hope to go back someday.

01.41am
Benjamin has Haas with him. Let's see if that becomes important.

J-Mo does one heck of a move to the outside. A springboard 450 plancha I guess.

01.43am
Here's a thought. When Show and Vickie were talking, they mentioned Cena being out of action along with Triple H. Never mentioned Shawn Michaels. I wish they'd mention guys when they are nowhere to be seen and tell us why.

01.45am
JR is not into poetry apparantly. Forsooth, who would have guessed it?

01.46am
Back to the Christian and Swagger match briefly, and I'd to credit WWE for booking the finish I predicted :-) - that being a conclusion to give Christian the credit for being resourceful and using experience, and making Swagger's only negative being that he is young.

01.51am
So much fun. I've been saying for a long time that I think Morrison is the next guy ready to step up and be counted. This is the first time I've truly believed it, and I now think he could be anything he likes.

In one performance, he's.....well he hasn't converted me, because I was already a fan, but he has made me a firm believer. I tell you what, I'll take back what I said pre-match too. Morrison's offense was so flashy, so good to watch, so Jeff Hardy like, that people will cheer it.

Only disappointment was that they slightly botched a spot with Shelton supposed to be catching Morrison and powerbombing him into the corner, except he toppled just short.

01.55am
Proper heat for Miz, now. He refers to Morrison as Marty Janetty and rags on the crowd. Great stuff. He's challenging a Chicago Cub player who is looking like he is a mannequin. Some references that I'm afraid I don't understand to the guy being injured. He barely looks angry, amused, annoyed, or anything. Is he an Anglophone?

Miz claims this as a win over Cena, because the guy is apparantly a Cena substitute. He is 4-0, and......Santino? Speaking of lovable losers........

Santino says about the Cubs player being a fellow Italian, which gets a laugh, so I assume he isn't.

We end with Miz and Santino fighting, and the former getting the upper hand. Santino officially a babyface now, I guess. A little bit of fire for Santino, which was interesting. Hopefully Santina is no more, but I wouldn't count on it.

Chavo attacks Santino after Miz does. Great stuff. I like it when things overlap. From Edge/Vickie, to Chavo, to Santino, to Miz, to Cena, to Show, and back again. Nice stuff.

02.07am
IC title time. Nice build-up promo from Jericho, and then out comes Rey.

02.08am
Letter alert!!!

"hey, delliott here. You said that WWE are booking it straight with no gimmick matches right? Did u think about the next ppv being all gimmick matches?

Maybe they're trying to increase the shock vaule of extreme rules."

Very fair point. Hadn't thought of that at all. It makes for commons sense. I hope, though, that they manage to do it more often so as to increase the value of gimmick matches. I hate an entire PPV being gimmicked. Lockdown has worked a couple of times, but generally I can't help but think it's a bad idea.

02.12am
Early Y2J chants from the crowd to counter the great reaction Rey got. I hope this match can ebb and flow, and swing from one man to the other. The crowd will dig that.

02.14am
Couple more letters. Firstly Bob Baker:

"Do you think the Umaga win was to put us off the scent of a Punk cash-in in his hometown?"

Probably not. We thought it might last time, didn't we, with Kane? Mind you, the reaction would be a amazing. This crowd are hot tonight.

And from LuisBoy:

"Have you heard the spoiler that......" I'm ending this email, which repeats the spoiler I talked about earlier. Grr, I hate opening emails sometimes. Thanks Luis.

02.17am
ASK HIM!!

02.18am
I might be making a leap here, but Grisham just did a major pause, simply saying "Jericho" and letting it hang while Mysterio hit a move. This came just after he said the word "Luchador" - can't imagine Vince liking that word, so maybe he was getting told off.

02.24am
I would have prefered to see Jericho win, but apart from that, I'll just drool over a superb wrestling match. I'm going to say it, despite Todd possibly getting ripped for saying Luchador. That was a proper, bona fide WRESTLING match, kids.

Beautifully paced, terrifically executed. A clinic.

02.26am
Hows this for an observation.......

In the old days, the start of the NWO period really, the WCW pay per views were strong, and although the main events full of old guys generally sucked (Hogan/Warrior, Hogan/Piper etc), the undercard was usually great.

How nice that after Punk/Umaga set a decent opening level, Christian and Swagger engaged in a nice to-and-fro and Morrison and Benjamin wowed the crowd, up stepped Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho to put in a superb effort at a crucial point. Thats Chris Jericho and Rey Misterio Jnr from the Atlanta movement, two men, along with likes of Malenko, Benoit, Guererro and others who regularly bolstered the WCW PPVs I mention.

02.30am
Randy Orton hits the ring (I hate it when the champ comes out first) alone. No Cody or Teddy yet.

By the way, Randy, no pressure in following a great match. I know you can do it.

Just not in Houston.

02.39am
Fancy another observation? Four matches ranging from ok through very good to excellent. None from Raw.

02.49am
I wasn't expecting that.

Here's the thing. This was a worse match than Triple H and Orton at Mania, but not a disappointment. I didn't expect this match to be much. Orton and Trips had a match at Mania significantly worse than any other one they have had. It was just south of average. This was poor, but I expected poor. Batista has two gears. Slow and slower.

I'll give him credit for hitting a move off the top rope, though. Something he presumably learned from Ric Flair!

I'll come to him in a second. The match story of Orton trying to get out of the match was going ok, but why if he ends it by slapping the ref, why not do that straight away?

Booking 101 into a no-dq match at Extreme Rules. Now you know why this didn't go on last.

So Naitch appears post match. Great, Randy and co get to look weak in front of another old/inactive/both (delete as applicable) guy.

I assume Flair is involved for two reasons. One to make sure he doesn't get too pally with Ring of Honor, but more importantly to facilitate a turn. Think about it. If Triple H or Batista turn on the other it is likely to split people. Not everyone will buy the turn, whomever does it.

If, however, the turnee obliterates Ric Flair rather than the other man, then they get more heat right away. I'd say that Batista blames Flair at some point for costing him something, and then Trips comes to defend Flair's (Not Ring of) honour.

02.57am
How about this one then.......Reid Flair for Legacy?

03.14am
OK, stay with me on this one.........

I found that dull and boring. I tidied some things up rather than simply sitting back and watching.

But I applaud them greatly for that match. The WWE audience spans a range of ages. There will be seven year old kids who don't realise that Jericho and Rey were awesome, and just wanted to see John Cena.

When he came on, he particpated in a match with a great story. Kids don't see fujiwara arm bars and inside cradles. They see good and evil, heroes and villains, in black and white terms. Cena is a hero, and like all good heroes, he vanquished the enemy who looked certain to win the day.

Like I say, not my cup of tea, but in context that was very well executed.

03.48am
Several points to make.

You know that spoiler I mentioned? It was that Jeff would be champion at Extreme Rules. So then, either he will win on a future Smackdown or it was nonsense.

Poor camerawork for the mid air spear. Great camerawork for the Matt Hardy interference (but why didn't Matt just run in and smash Jeff? He wouldn't win the belt, would he? We've seen that with Orton.)

God I hate that referee. Put simply, you can tell when he is going to pull up and not count to three, so all nearfalls become redundant. You can't have false finishes with him.

The call was terrible. I hesitate to blame Grisham, because I don't know what he is being told to say, and because his performances to now have been solid, but he ruined the main event for me. JR was calling the match (THE MATCH) to make it feel big, but Grish was repeating things and talking about dotcom polls. More work needed, I think.

A good closing match. The pace of the match did make you sway one way and another in who you'd think would win. When Jeff kicked out of Matt's interference it looked as though he might take it.

Could Christian be done with Swagger and fulfil my dream of Jeff/Christian v Matt/Edge? It's still possible.

That has to be considered a strong PPV, but once again, I'm afraid, Randy Orton's title match is one of, if not THE weak spot. The show was bowling along until that point, and he and Batista never really got going, for me. I've explained that I didn't care for the Cena match but was happy with the reasons behind it. I wouldn't have minded that going higher up the card, perhaps before Rey and Jericho.

WWE continue their trend of late. Overall strong PPV, but one title match lacking in substance.

Judgment Day Preview

Two scenarios:

- The WWE take a look at their last five years off PPV, as well as TNA’s offerings, and decide to see how it would go if they strip down a PPV and simply book a series of matches pitting one man against another with the bare minimum of stipulations.

- The WWE busk it after Wrestlemania, don’t really think very ahead past Backlash at the latest and simply pick fourteen blokes and put them against one another.

To be honest, I think the Judgment Day PPV build up may fall somewhere between the two above scenarios. You may well have your own opinion as to how things came about.

What is remarkable is that the card for tonight does, as pointed out, feature, at this moment, seven singles contests.

With my wrestling viewer’s head on, I like it. I’m very excited, genuinely, by two of the matches, and am also very curious about two more.(I’ll explain more as we go)

However, with my Marketing head on (I worked in Marketing for three years) I’d suggest to you that all things which people buy need to have a USP – a Unique Selling Point. I don’t see what the USP is to most people.

Purists will have you believe that all this storyline stuff is nonsense and what you need to do is simply book wrestling. A balance is needed, though, and an audience which is programmed to understand the traditional WWE booking, I think, is unlikely to invest heavily in a PPV product which has no major reason to buy it.

Look at it this way – is there a unique match to build to? Is there a major match format – Hell in a Cell, for example – involved? Is there a theme (Survivor Series, Royal Rumble)? Must you see a resolution to a feud?

I don’t think you answer any of those questions in the affirmative. I don’t think Randy Orton v Batista is gripping enough to persuade people to shell out loads of money.

I’d like to clarify that I will be buying the PPV tonight and I think that it will be a great show. From a business perspective I’m not sure it’ll work. I hope I’m wrong.

John Morrison v Shelton Benjamin
Hmm. Interesting one. What do we do with Shelton, he’s been around for ages? What shall we do with John Morrison, now that he is on his own? May as well throw them together.

Fine by me. I get the feeling these two could really have some fun and bring the best of each other. I will enjoy sitting back and watching the match, and hope that each man will try to top the other. My concern, as illustrated before, is that really will anyone care? No titles are on the line and there isn’t really a heated rivalry.

I would think the logical thing is for Morrison to win. He is the up-and-comer really, and especially after a face turn should be the one getting a leg up from this win.

Prediction: John Morrison


CM Punk v Umaga
I’ve liked the build to this. Punk waiting to use the briefcase, looking strong against Edge, is really good for his push and character, but here comes Umaga to ruin it for him. Simple – evil heel screws gallant babyface.

One problem – this has to harm one man. The right booking is that Punk slays Umaga and carries on going after the champ. This puts Umaga’s status as unstoppable madman on hold. If Umaga wins he can look strong and imperious, but it dents Punk’s status as deserving of a world title and isn’t the right end to a story.

Prediction – Despite me not liking it, I think they’ll book a Punk wins by DQ finish. This keeps Umaga over as a beats without jobbing out Punk


Jack Swagger v Christian
These two......I was going to say surprised everybody with their great match last time, but that’s not fair. I was surprised with how good it was, but then I was one of the few people on earth to not like Swagger’s match with Cena, which I viewed as dull but most (and many better positioned to comment than I) found it exciting.

Now, the bar is raised. They have already had one good match in Christian prevailed – where do they go now? To me logical booking is that Christian wins, once again winning due to his brain. The explanation, if commentators are on the ball, is then that Swagger and Christian are really evenly matched, it’s just that Captain Charisma has the edge in terms of experience. When booked and explained in this way, Swagger does not look weak, because it is not his fault that he lost – he can’t help being inexperienced.

To me, Swagger can look at four examples of people coming into a company and getting majorly pushed from the off. Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar got fed up. Goldberg fizzled out. Randy Orton is World Champion who has had some ups and downs.

That’s one out of four. And even then Randy has had a rocky time. He is only now TRULY looking the part. Swagger does not need to be (real) World Champion just yet. In fact he does not even need to be Intercontinental champion yet. Don’t push him to loads of titles. Let him wrestle Christian and learn. Let him face Regal and Finlay and others who can put him over and help him progress.

Prediction – I do think they’ll let Christian retain. Part of me thinks that Swagger might get one back, leading to a rubber match down the line, so don’t discount that. I’m sticking with the former Mr Cage, though.



John Cena v Big Show
Sometimes, in the job I do, you have to sit back and accept that something is being booked for a reason. I have no real interest in Big Show (whom I’ve always thought comes across as a good guy, a great entertainer, but a poor wrestler) wrestling Cena (very similar description, but rate him higher as a worker) I’m afraid.

I liked the spot that led to this match, but I’ve not been crazy about the story of Cena being basically a zombie for several weeks. I think Show might actually win this, with the explanation being that Cena is not 100%, and then they can do a rematch when Cena turns the tables.

I’d factor in Miz too. I probably wouldn’t have him cost Cena the match, but do a sneaky little attack before the match, or preferably some sort of attack afterwards.

Prediction – I’m going with Show, although chances are that’s me jumping the gun and they’ll simply have Cena win. I’m not crazy about seeing a major Big Show push, but I don’t like the idea that he was put clean over Undertaker (again) for no reason.


Rey Mysterio v Chris Jericho (IC Title)
I am really looking forward to this. This was one of the two matches I told you that I am really excited about (the other is Edge and Hardy) and I should think should be the highlight of the night.

The main source of intrigue for me is how realistic they can make it. I enjoy watching Rey Mysterio to a point, but the main thing that stops me being crazy about him is that so much of his stuff needs such a massive leap of faith to believe.

Jericho, meanwhile, is the opposite. He talks such sense, is such a believable character, and constructs such a fantastic aura around everything he does. I hope he can weave his magic, and do what I believe only two men – Edge and Kurt Angle, since you ask - have done before and have a stand up classic match with Rey Mysterio.

Shit, I have to pick a winner don’t I?

Prediction – I’m struggling, but I’m going to cop out and go with a BS DQ finish, with Jericho getting fed up of Rey kicking out and hitting him with a belt or something. Jericho can later talk his way out of it by saying the IC title is beneath him and that he really cares about the World belt.

Edge v Jeff Hardy – World Title
So, do you milk Jeff Hardy for all he worth before his (allegedly) inevitable exit? Do you give him the title and hope it persuades him to stay? Or do you use him to put a few people over and send him on his way?

I suppose a few of these don’t necessarily become mutually exclusive, but I figure that they won’t go mad with him if he is leaving – and this is IF he is leaving.

I’d take Edge to win. I think this needs to be a sedentary PPV as far as titles go. There have been a few too many changes of late, although I do believe that belts must change hands with a reasonable regularity these days. I’m more intrigued about how things will go now that Edge and Vickie are on separate shows despite not having a real break up on screen.

Prediction – A cracker if they are allowed to click, but an Edge victory ultimately.


Randy Orton v Batista (WWE title)
So who is turning? All signs point to another slow build with Batista and Triple H, with the presumed reason being Triple H being pissed off at Batista costing him the title. But wouldn’t that mean Trips goes heel? That would be logical.

Nah, I don’t see it. I don’t want to see Batista v Triple H with the Game as heel again. Make it fresh, and make Batista the nasty heel with the chip on his shoulder.

If, and it seems likely, Triple H and Batista pair off, then it makes no sense to have this for a title if the rivalry is so strong. Therefore, Orton needs to retain. You could even let MVP have a one-time shot at the next PPV before thrusting Cena forward again.

Prediction – It has to be Orton to retain. Whether with help by his cohorts or Batista losing his rag, the master of the RKO needs to keep the belt.

Enjoy the PPV – live Blog with me during the show will be up as per usual.

Admittedly Late raw Thoughts, May 11

· I know I moan about it a lot, but why must they insist on continually saying “Skull” and not head. I’ve criticised Michael Cole for saying it, but it’s probably not his fault. DiBiase said it to Batista and it sounded ridiculous.
· Sound booking, teasing Batista with joining Legacy. Batista’s hesitation hints at a possible heel turn soon, and then you have the ‘with us or against us’ thing of Legacy hating him more.
· I like this Batista thing of getting DQ-ed. I think it’s a plausible angle, but the commentators need to talk it up. Maybe even to do a Mike Tenay-style ‘points to watch’ before the match and highlight Batista’s weakness in this area.
· Not a bad divas match, but punctuated by a horrible looking spot by Kelly Kelly who opened the ropes allowing Jillian to simply run through. Interesting little story between MIckie and Maryse, but I really wish they’d give the girls more character development and interesting stories.
· Wow, did I see that correctly? Orton pushing away a camera. I really like that, and we need to continue that string of common sense and acknowledgment of cameras.
· I think they’ve gone a little early with Miz and Cena. They could have made the match a lot shorter, although I liked Miz attacking Cena after Vickie’s intervention and therefore claiming a victory. Really clever booking of Miz who has very genuine heat.
· I’m fed up of the Santina stuff. The man is very funny, but there it too much stupid stuff involved now.
· What do you know? Logic to end the show. One on one with Batista and Orton – Dave doesn’t need a wrestling match, so he beats the shit out of Randy. Makes sense.
· I think the build to Judgment Day has been average at best (difficult with only a three week gap again) but I can see the PPV being really good. There are some exciting matches setup (Punk/Umaga, Jeff/Edge, Jericho/Rey) and with WWE’s recent record, over the last two years or so, of making PPVs very good, then I’m hopeful of a decent one.

Raw Thoughts - May 6

· Usually a good sign when the advertised main event goes on first. Generally means that something bigger is planned for the end of the show.
· My God how long was that Orton entrance. It seemed to go on for ever.
· Great start to the match. That’s what Orton and Hunter should have done at Mania
· MVP saves before Batista? Interesting. I didn’t care for Cole saying that ‘the numbers game’ bested MVP marginally before it really did.
· I like the ‘win and you’re in’ stip. I always think things work better when matches have a purpose. Obviously the premise should be that the winner wins more money, but we all know that is forgotten, so having matches which actually you can have an emotional investment in are alright by me.
· Good news for MVP, by the way. He is new on Raw, and is being used as a top guy right away
· Oh dear – did King read from the script and not listen to Matt Hardy? That’s twice within the opening minutes that the commentary duo have jumped the gun. Why can’t they just react to the action? Very poor, either on their part or those who are controlling them – or both.
· I’m glad to see Kofi win again, I’m a big fan – and the finisher looked awesome – but I’m not sure Matt needed to be beaten. Nice recover of heat, though.
· Do you think William Regal might make a decent commentator? Do you think that was why he was out there, as a bit of practise?
· Why, when they are backstage watching a monitor, do wrestlers always watch at a 45 degree angle?
· I’ve just worked out who Jillian sounds like – not her singing, but when she talks – she’s the gingerbread man out of Shrek.
· Right, I hated that Festus segment. I truly think that Jillian is a terrific character, and does a great job, but that presumably was supposed to be a comedy segment and was just cringe worthy. I liked Miz’s intervention though. His character is also excellent, he draws real heat. If he can improve his wrestling just a little bit, he’ll be a very good hand. I see a US title in his near future.
· I spy a new catchphrase – MIZ: “Really?”
· So Cena won’t be ready until Judgment Day, then Show beats the shit out of him. So that would suggest to me that we add another couple of weeks to that comeback date
· Man that was a boring segment. I don’t care how many people say what a talented big guy Show is, or how many people (and there have been many) tell me what a nice guy Paul Wight is. He is torture to watch.
· Oh terrific, so Batista loses – and it’s 3-on-1. SuperShane again?
· Wrestling fans explained – “JOHN CENA’S NUMBER ONE FAN” sign held up. Upside down.
· Ugh – more SuperShane stuff and it’s just so ridiculous. It would be bad enough if Cena or Triple H was looking like a hero against three guys (including the WWE Champion)but when it’s Shane it just devalues Legacy.