Raw Thoughts - July 27

· Blimey, that Shaq is a big lad isn’t he?
· Shaq shows more charisma and ability to cut a promo in his first sentence than ZZ Top did all last week.
· Would Shaq O’Neal really book a “beat the Clock challenge?” Really? It’s one thing having guest hosts and pretending they are booking, but it’s quite another booking the same old concepts and attributing them to NBA stars.
· Loved the face off with Big Show. Made sense to do it, and Jericho was priceless refusing to fight Shaq when he hadn’t been challenged.
· Good opening seg. Don’t like the beat the clock idea, but Shaq was very at home on the mic, did some decent babyface schtick.
· Part of me wonders if Henry might win this. The way things have gone lately, it would make sense to have him face Orton at Summerslam while Trips and Cena sort themselves out. I’m not saying I want to see that, but that’s the corner they’ve booked themselves into.
· Massive flaw in the Beat the Clock format. Shouldn’t you put 10 men in the game, rather than five. You are simply telling everybody that Henry, Triple H, Cena, MVP and Swagger will win. You could book the same matches, but just say whomever wins get to post the time.
· Love the Ludvig Borga sign. There should be more obscure 90s wrestler signs.
· That was as good a Mark Henry match as I’ve seen in a long time.
· I’ll give them this about the beat the clock concept. We might be getting a fair amount of wrestling. That went nearly seven minutes, which despite not being an Iron Man match was longer than most Raw matches. We could end up with significantly more wrestling than usual this week.
· Better than average women’s match, probably because they gave Mickie, Gail and Beth plenty of time in the ring. Subtle annoyance from Mickie that Gail tagged herself in. Seems Gail v Mickie for Summerslam?
· I spoke too soon. Perhaps it’s not to be all predictable as to who wins. MVP draws with the returning Chris Masters, whose modified music made me think it was Goldust at first.
· Poor old Kendrick. He could be used as a talented jobber getting ten minute matches out of people, but nope, simply a comedy act getting beaten in seconds.
· I loved the attack on Triple H. Not because it might have put the kibosh on his chances, but it was unexpected and a bit different. I might have actually gone a little further and had DiBiase run away and not talk to Trips, with the camera only getting a sleeting glimpse, so you weren’t sure if it was him or not.
· Really enjoyed that Triple H v Cody Rhodes match. Not catch-as-catch-can classic but it was full of psychology. They injured the leg, and Cody continued to use LOGIC and follow it through. Triple H was chasing the win and clock, and the heels got the job done. That is really, really solid booking. Not writing, BOOKING.
· “How did you get some many ‘z’s?” is one of the greatest lines I’ve heard in ages. Santino was BACK this week.
· Actually popped a little bit when Bourne won. Not that I dislike Swagger, but because that was a legit shock, legit surprise and a really nice feelgood moment. I take back everything I said about the ‘stupid’ system of Beat the Clock, as it is actually proving rather effective thus far. This is a high quality Raw.
· Great Miz promo before the match, having a go at the crowd but linking to the match itself. He just has a great manner that makes you want to see him get his backside handed to him. Vince even got a little shot in Obama, which I’m sure he was delighted about.
· Actually, what I am I saying, of course it doesn’t absolve the Beat the Clock system. Why doesn’t Evan Bourne now have the fastest time? What kind of loopy system gives the opportunity for a man to beat Miz or Carltio to get a title shot, but beating Swagger doesn’t do anything for Bourne.
· I can’t believe I was actually hoping for a comprehensive Mark Henry win, but it would have preferable, at least so that someone different got a run at Orton. It would have done so much good. Someone fresh(ish) at the top, a new babyface promoted, and Orton could have beaten him clean and looked strong again, rather than Triple H and Cena’s bitch, which is all he has become.
· A just there main event, really, with the excuse of putting Shaq into that face-to-face situation with Show, with the hope for WWE that it’ll be on Sportscenter. Bit different from the face off with Mayweather, eh Paul?
· Plot holes abound and a frustrating booking trick for Summerslam, but otherwise an enjoyable Raw. Shaq was a very good guest host.

Raw Thoughts - July 6

· Ah, it’s good to see the Million Dollar Man again. Its presumably his choice, but you wonder why he didn’t stick on for longer. Wrestling misses managers like him.
· They need to do the slow burn with DiBiase jnr – they need to be careful pushing his babyface side TOO much.
· Interesting booking for tag titles at next PPV. Heel v Heel, Legacy v Edge/Jericho. Of course, that won’t happen, because of Edge’s injury, but strange they’d book that kind of contest
· Bah – this is why I don’t like taped Raws. This bloody piped in cheers for people. IF THEY ARE NOT OVER, YOU ARE PUSHING THEM WRONG, OR WE DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM. DON’T PRETEND THEY ARE BEING CHEERED.
· Now that is what you call a sudden and vicious heel turn. Loved it. Believable anger from Carlito and I like Primo trying cover up rather than fight his brother. I’d expect this break-up to take a while longer yet.
· I love that Ted Snr plays up disliking Dusty. Nice little callback to the polka dots too.
· That match (Orton v DiBiase jnr) was the match John Cena and The Miz should have had. Maybe not with so many babyface-like spots for Miz, but certainly the extra nearfalls and moments when there was a prospect of the underdog getting the W.
· Nice little segment – the VIP Lounge. Those talk show segs are supposed to help people’s characters get over. That was one of the better babyface reactions for MVP in a while, and it was a chance to allow a new audience to see Jack Swagger, especially after his odd debut last week.
· Enjoyed that Bourne v Kofi match, but two problems with it. One was that Kofi doesn’t really need to be getting beat. Two was that it was too short. The amount of reruns, recaps and other needless bits that take ages, you could let them have three more minutes and have some fun with the match.
· I think Big Show is getting ‘X-Pac heat’ now. To me, crowds are booing him because he is boring not because he is an effective heel. He has always been slow, but he used to be menacing. Now, he is a slower version of the same giant we saw ten years ago.
· Is there no Miz at all this week? Nor Santino?
· I tell you what, say what you like about Hunter and Cena (and I have done) but they had a reasonable match there, and you’ll do well to find too many other wrestler sin the company who could have a match on Raw and get the crowd cheering and booing mere punches.
· That ending would be understandable and perfectly sensible booking.......if it didn’t happen EVERY BLOODY WEEK. I am so sick of them protecting guys in ridiculous ways. Just book the triple threat. Don’t come up with daft ways of doing it with crappy finishes. Just book the triple threat. I tell you what, have Batista book Hunter v Orton for the PPV. Then have Million Dollar Man get pissed off by Hunter, so he puts Cena in there too. Next week’s guest host could then get Hunter and Cena to pick each other’s opponent, or better yet get Randy to pick their opponents and if either man loses their match they lose their place in the match against Orton. If both lose, Orton gets the night off.
· The trouble is, if you keep booking matches like Hunter v Cena, and just spoil the ending (don’t forget this is frequently happening at PPVs too) then people will just get fed up.
· “Hey man, did you hear about the main event on Raw this week? Sounds good, doesn’t it? Are you going to tune in?”“Nah, don’t think I’ll bother. Those matches always end in DQs and shit. I’ll read the reports on TheSun.co.uk/wrestling instead.” (cheap pop)

Raw Thoughts - June 29

· Did Vince just say 15 person trade between the brands? And that’s it? No speculation, no explanation?
· And we are keeping the guest host thing? Hmm, ok.
· Here is the thing, though, if Trump instituted these things and Vince doesn’t like them, why can’t he just overturn them?
· Not sure I like the idea of ‘guest hosts’ having GM powers. Why would Batista book a tournament? What investment would he have in that? Why would Vince hand over power like that? It’s a terrible idea.
· Nice match, that, between MVP and Triple H. I thought MVP did a good job of hanging with the Game and looked like a potent force when on top. Understandably Triple H won, but it made sense and was a better match than I expected.
· The usual quality from Jericho, using his promo to immediately address the fact that he said he wouldn’t be back on Raw. No-one does continuity better than Chris Jericho.
· Haha, King said “Edge and Christian” by mistake.
· Speaking of Captain Charisma, you’d like to think he’d be a great fit for the small trade, and I’d take him out of ECW and place him in the IC title picture on Smackdown.
· Crowd, really REALLY into the Colons chasing the belts.
· I don’t like them throwing Cena v Miz out again. It just sends the message to those who pay their PPV money that they are idiots, because you’ll soon see the same show for free.
· Great call by King, comparing Miz to an early John Cena, being brash and talking smack to others.
· I would have liked to have seen a couple of attempts at a Miz nearfall to try to tease the audience, but generally that was a far better match than the evening previously. They gave Miz time to attack, to get some offence in and to not show the weakness which has held him back. Cena, for his part, sold well, and it seemed to me like this went a little longer than at The Bash?
· So it’s Triple H v Cena next week – but didn’t King say earlier that Triple H had to wrestle again that night? Either they changed it on the fly or (more likely) the lines of communication from writer to commentator was not clear.
· Why, again, would Batista book a tournament where the pay off is next week, outside his jurisdiction?
· A kind of ‘just there’ divas match, with the logical conclusion of Mickie winning. At least there is a reasonable angle between Maryse and Mickie, and Mickie has gained plenty of momentum of late.
· Not really sure what the purpose of the double count-out between Kofi and Show was. Looking forward to the gauntlet match. I love “who is it” angles.
· Evan Bourne on Raw? Cool. I’d have preferred him on Smackdown, but at least he is off ECW.
· Swagger to Raw. That’s really interesting. They are really high on this kid, so I’d expect him to come in to a good spot. Maybe with MVP? Or maybe taking on Kofi for the US Title.
· I love that. Swagger gets counted out, serious heat drawn there. A little tease of an alliance with Orton. I like it when strange things happen like that. Remember when Mike Knox, when asked why he attacked Rey Mysterio, simply said “I don’t know”. The guy that doesn’t know or doesn’t say why he does things is a far more scary dude than one who screams “I hate you”
· Haha, now Henry did it as well, but then came back in? Is that a Henry babyface turn?
· I like that booking. I’m not a Henry fan, and I don’t want to see him pushed to the moon, but it doesn’t hurt Orton to get beat. Flair used to lose all the time when he was champion in his prime, and it simply built up his challenger. I thought Henry played his role very well, and has successfully turned and got over within the space of five minutes. It doesn’t hurt Orton because he was already hurt and had had a match.

Raw Thoughts: 27th October

Raw Thoughts 28th

· I love this Orton character. It’s been a long time since someone came across as a bullish, arrogant.......prick, basically. He is being cheered by some and booed by some, but is being held in regard by all, I would think.
· Cody and Kofi v Priceless – there’s a surprise. Didn’t I say that in my live notes from Cyber Sunday?
· Wow – a title switch. A decent match too, with all members of the match working hard. I find Punk and Kofi fun to watch. You know what, just for the hell of it, maybe they could let them defend against Rey Mysterio and Evan Bourne. That would be a lot of fun.
· STOP SAYING 25TH ANNIVERSARY!!!!! IT ISN’T – MORONS.
· You know what, seriously, Kelly Kelly is starting to look very impressive. Johnny Ace deserves apologies from some people.
· It’s your most attractive match on Raw in weeks (Bourne v Rey) why shove a huge commercial break in the middle of it, then show clips of good stuff during the break. Just nonsense.
· Haha, I say that then Rey makes a huge mistake. My bad.
· John Cena and his brothers wrestling in the basement at home. They slammed each other on cement floors. They videoed each other putting figure fours on each other. Great times, what a great guy.
· Oh, by the way – Don’t Try this at Home.
· You know what, you don’t have to like Morrison and Miz, but you have to admit this. They are different. They are a slick act who stand out from the crowd.
· I don’t really care for these kind of handicap main events because they make the two look like idiots for not beating the one quicker. However, if they beat him quickly the one looks a chump. No-one can win really.
· Although I fear even Shawn won’t get a good match out of JBL, the way they have started their little programme makes good sense. There is a reason for JBL to be mad at Shawn, and it follows logically. I like that
· Not the most spectacular and gripping Raw I have ever seen, but I will admit that it set up very well for next week’s 3-hour show. I’d suggest that there will be high expectations of a good number for that show.

Raw Thoughts - September 15th

· My first thought on seeing the cage descend towards the ring t open Raw was that it devalues the title by having it on first on Raw.
· My second thought, soon after, was that if this isn’t the main event, they may have saved something special for later on.
· A world heavyweight title match, unless completely unavoidable, should not have an advert break in it. However, that may be out of WWE’s hands, so I’ll reserve criticism.
· You know what, I love Jericho and think Punk is terrific, but I wasn’t crazy about that cage match. I liked the ending, but I didn’t think the match generally lived up to my expectations.
· Interesting backstage seg – Adamle called Kelly Kelly “K2” (isn’t that a mountain? Mind you, Kelly has a couple of those) then a guy came by and introduced himself. But it sounded like Dull Segue, which seemed like a stage direction. Then it was Jericho’s turn, and once again he showed his phenomenal ability to display the right emotions.
· Jillian is a riot. Her expressions are just so over the top they are funny. She is a brilliant character.
· Her match with Candice....not so brilliant. From every source I know, Candice is a truly lovely human being. But she is not a good wrestler.
· Tommy Dreamer? How does he get on Raw? Earlier on, Matt Sydal....dah, I mean Evan Bourne (I keep going to call him Matt Borne, who played Doink) had a word with Kane. How can ECW have a talent agreement with Raw if they have one with Smackdown too? Must make Tommy feel good. “Hey Tommy, we’re promoting you to Raw this week.” “Cool, the big leagues! Are you giving me a push?” “No, we want someone to be destroyed by JBL. You are expendable.” “Oh, ok. I’ll go drink some toilet water.”
· Batista has a go at Orton, Santino, Beth and JBL whining. He says they are like politicians. Yeah, that’s right Dave. Those no-good, whining, lying, cheating politicians. No good, the bunch of them. Oh, and Smackdown Your Vote kids.
· By the way, Batista was very, very good in this promo.
· Seriously, like I said last week, I’m getting a real kick out of Charlie Haas. Good Ole JH, as he was this week. This is what Raw is supposed to be like, you know. A bit of fun here and there.
· Short win for Noble over Burchill. Don’t hold out much hope for Burchill going forward, but Layla was good here, Noble is a quite a decent hand as the sympathetic babyface, and of course Regal is terrific as the smug heel. By the way, four brits in one segment there, although I am surprised they haven’t referenced thus far that Layla is from London. Regal must be given more airtime.
· Kane v Mysterio was pretty good for what it was. It was never going to be a classic, but told a good story, and I’ll even allow the reasonably weak finish.
· Bourne and Mysterio makes for a very exciting duo. What could be even more exciting is if they get into it down the line and fight each other. That could be extra-special.
· Good build to having HBK announced as the number one contender. Get this – a logical piece of booking, since Michaels effectively beat Jericho in the match at the last PPV. The ladder match stip is also an exciting one. The biggest shame is that they have quite a short build time to the Smackdown main event, because it strikes me that Triple H v Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels v Chris Jericho is a good double main.
· Two small complaints. If Batista v JBL is to determine who the number one contender is, what happens if Shawn wins? Doesn’t Jericho then get a rematch because of the alleged clauses in the contracts?
· And finally, wasn’t Adamle terrible in that explanation. It went very flat thanks to his boring speech.
· Overall I enjoyed this Raw and I think the progression of storyline and character worked very well this week.

Raw Thoughts - September 8th

Raw Thoughts
· Jericho’s promo wasn’t up to his latest standard, but was still pretty good.
· Punk v Jericho next week is a decent and sensible main event if they are not going to go with the two men in a proper programme anytime soon. They have already wrestled on TV in the last couple of months, so it’s been done, but the addition of the title will spice it up. I don’t see that it makes sense having it in a cage though. The cage is supposed to be used as a tool later in a feud when it is hotting.
· I’m also not overly happy at this point with Jericho having to wrestle the day after his exertions with Michaels and the Scramble.
· Beth v Mickie was ok, and sets up a logical Beth v Candice encounter. Candice was wearing a red corset which frankly made her look a funny shape. I can’t understand why these gorgeous women feel the need to try to make themselves stand out even more.
· Speaking of gorgeous women, the beautiful (and English!)Layla has a humourous little skit backstage with Jamie Noble, with Jillian involved. She seems sympathetic and warming to Jamie slightly. She’ll turn on him within the month. Maybe within the evening.
· Ok, ordinary match, and then we have two things I want to clear up. Firstly, Regal has been involved with Jamie for a few weeks now, and it’s only just crossed my mind that Regal could have had some fun with referring to Noble as common or poor, and that as a King, he is the true Nobleman. Secondly, the thing I wrote about 10 minutes ago about Layla turning on Noble sort of happened, but Layla sold leaving with Regal as being sort of forced into it. She almost looked hypnotised.
· JBL destroys Haas – or CHL. I’ll be honest, I get a real kick out of Charlie Haas doing these spoofs. It’s not a brand new concept, but it’s making me laugh.
· Rey talks to Grisham and explains that he had to take time off to let his body recover. And what better way to do that than to get a huge, freaking tattoo!! Cool promo at Kane, though.
· Notice how Lillian isn’t used to announcing the ECW guys? “Making THEIR way to the ring.....(realises Morrison and Miz are not together, and she doesn’t know their weight and hometown)” and just announces them singularly.
· “Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?” Err, get beaten up in a parking lot?
· Rey has lost the big Mohawk ‘do already. Maybe Miz got jealous and shaved it off?
· Evan Bourne – next X Division champion.
· Shouldn’t Bourne’s finisher be called Air Bourne?
· I like where they are going with Orton and the Second Generation-ers. (They need a name. Let’s call Gentoo – as in Generation Two, not the penguins) It gives Orton something to do, along with the inevitable Punk showdown in time. Good use of a valuable superstar.
· Nice for Manu, his first ever move on Raw was missed. Welcome, young Samoan.
· Cody, Ted and Manu best friend beat Cryme Tyme and Kofi. Manu is basically like every Samoan ever. Do they not have Samoan cruiserweights?
· Typical awesomeness from Santino (he could just show up and say Honky Donkey Man every week and I’d be happy) but I wasn’t crazy about the match. Feels tacked on.
· ‘Meh’ kind of main event with an excuse to make JBL and Batista look a little bit bad ass and to further ‘sneaky Jericho’. Funny how it’s plucky Punk and sneaky Jericho for doing much the same thing.
· Don’t JBL and Jericho hate each other? Didn’t they feud for quite some time? Didn’t they have violent matches on PPV? Didn’t they have a confrontation a few weeks ago?
· OK show, but set up for a big one next week. Should be fun.