Raw Thoughts - August 31

· You heard what Cody said. It’s “thrictly bithneth”
· Hard hitting opening to the show. You get this when you have a wrestling GM, rather than a celeb. We got a quick announcement of two matches later on, followed by a match booked to create intrigue in this show and also to help sell the PPV. That’s a strong start, and it is genuinely interesting to see where they go in this main event.
· Did you notice the camera work during the long Kim v Hall portion of the battle royal? The camera was in a close focus all the time so that you didn’t see Beth lying on the apron, heightening the sense of surprise.
· Sound-as-a-pound, give and take match between Jericho and MVP. Did the job, had the right outcome and built for the tag match nicely. Did you notice the really subtle Jericho touch as he went to put his foot on the ropes for momentum, but didn’t quite do it.
· DX and Dusty plug the rise and fall of WCW DVD. Do you think Dusty had more to do with the rise or the fall? Or the fall before the rise?
· Did you notice Cade and Murdoch’s music playing while Hornswoggle was walking backstage?
· We want Mantaur! (clap-clap-clap-clap) We want Mantaur! (clap-clap-clap-clap) Poor Chavo.
· I’m a DX fan, but their inclusion is a little laboured this evening.
· Really fun fatal fourway. It’s a good way of using the fact that they have loads of titles, to have regular showcase matches with titles on the line. If they can re-establish the US/IC titles as ‘workers titles’ then it will greatly help the product.
· Kofi’s stock is rising all the time. I don’t really see that he has the total package to be a world champion, but he’ll be a huge asset to the company where he is.
· Wow, there was no atmosphere during that Divas title match whatsoever. And it was a decent match, too.
· I enjoyed that Shockmaster bit, but they have to be careful doing stuff like that. What percentage of the audience know anything about Dusty, let alone know that his tenure in WCW creative.
· SA-WERVE, Baybeh! I bought that. The Dusty finish takes new meaning.
· That was a fun Raw. Plenty of action, twists and turns.

Raw thoughts – August 25th.

· Very little annoys me more in wrestling than having my intelligence insulted by them throwing out a title match in a PPV then showing the match itself on Raw 8 days later. I know Punk v JBL was not a title match, but still.........
· Is Cole not capable of saying head? He said that CM Punk had “an injured skull”. I didn’t watch Smackdown as often as I watched Raw, and I’m far from a huge lover of Jim Ross, but Cole is dreadful.
· I quite like the idea that Beth helps Santino but he hinders her.
· People will say that the “Charlito” thing was lame........but I liked it!
· Haha, the best line of the night, unwittingly – “You don’t know the meaning of the word ‘Unforgiven’” Shawn Michaels to Chris Jericho. I don’t think it’s a word, that’s why. My spell check doesn’t think it is.
· Another great Jericho and Michaels segment, although I hope that the frequent mentions of ‘Unsanctioned’ and “I don’t want to pin your shoulders to the mat” don’t mean that this is just a mad fight with no real consequence or a stupid JBL/Cena ending. These two could still carry off the extra emotion while still having a wrestling match. That being said, I do like the realism of them fighting rather than the idea of “I hate you and want to kill you – here’s an armbar.”
· By the way, I think that the (paraphrased) “Sit your wife and kids down and tell them that you will never be Shawn Michaels” is one of the best lines I have ever heard in wrestling. Michaels using his injury, the storyline and his Christian beliefs to throw in the bible reference “eye for an eye” is not far behind.
· Not going to complain too much about the match between Duggan/Lawler and Rhodes/DiBiase, but wouldn’t it have been better for the youngsters to dominate, rather than just survive. It wouldn’t have hurt Duggan and Lawler, would it? But King could then get on the headset and put over just how good they are. “You don’t realise until you get in the ring just how quick they are. They are jackasses but they can go.” Does them the world of good. I don’t see why Duggan and Lawler need protecting.
· I cannot help laughing at Santino, and it seemed the announcers were struggling to hold it together this week. After a front suplex he just shouted “I win” and I broke up. Just so funny.
· Really lame ending to the match though. Beth could’ve low-blowed Kofi for Santino to use a small package. Falling onto Santino’s knee (The Marella Patella) was a bit weak.
· Great post-match action though. “You’re not mad?”
· I didn’t like Mike Adamle coming out with no clipboard. If he is going to be stilted and need assistance he could use the clipboard to look at notes. But if he has it all the time they can make fun of him for it, make it a character quirk, like Santino’s unibrow.
· Adding Rey makes sense. If Cena is really injured, which is a real shame, and they are firm on Orton being miles away, then Rey is the only real choice.
· I liked seeing the leg worked in the main event, offering some logic behind Kane. Sort of a twisted genius, I suppose. The match went a little long though, considering we got a DQ finish. I don’t mind the finish, but it was a long investment for that kind of outcome.