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TV Reports
WWE RAW ROUNDTABLE REVIEWS 10/2: Gall, McKinley, Parks rate and review Oct 6, 2009 - 9:25:35 PM
The promise of Cena leaving Raw was the best thing Monday’s show produced, as it may as well have been called “My Three Sons” this year. I can’t remember the last time Raw’s main event didn’t have Cena, Orton or Triple H in some combination, and of course, this show was no exception. I haven’t been a fan of the weekly guest host program, but Roethlisberger did a decent enough job. Remember when Santino used to be funny? What happened? I get that the #1 target audience is families with young children, but compelling, intelligent television and child-friendly wrestling are not mutually exclusive goals. The repetitive programming that Raw has become can be so much better if the decision was made to aim a little higher in regards to mixing things up in the main event and creating new rivalries.
The wrestling itself, within the usual time constraints of Monday nights, was fine. The mid-card, from Swagger to MVP, were all given time to remind us they’re on the roster, but their screen time was limited to filling out the allotted quarter hour segment and then back to hyping either Cena, Orton or DX. It’s time to re-write the Raw formula. Miz and Kofi gave a good match, and on a less-predictable show, I’d be more entertained by it. I don’t know what to say about the Hornswoggle segments. I hate it every time he’s on, but I just know they don’t have to be so moronic to be appealing to children.
Shane McKinley, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)
Like the majority, I'm plenty bored of Monday Night Ugh content. But who cares? The Raw ratings held up very well against Farve vs. The Packers, and for that reason, WWE should consider this Raw a victory. Now down to the nitty-gritty.
The question that arises in any Iron Man match is this: "Can they do it?" With Cena vs. Orton, they sure as hell can. 20 minutes of the same Orton vs. Cena we've seen on nearly every PPV for the past two years. 5 minutes of Legacy, Darth Vader and Freddy Kruger running in to beat up Cena. 5 minutes of Cena getting saved by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 10 minutes of padding with Randy Orton acting with his face. And then 20 minutes of Orton and Cena brawling through the crowd and hitting each other with whiffle bats. Gee, guys. Your Iron Man Match is a No DQ match? Isn't that a bit of...cheating the concept of a Iron Man match?
I'm pretty sure the Divas are just wound-up toys. Name five of them and we'll give you a prize. Miz gets the U.S. gold while Jack Swagger i.e. "The Dumbest Man In Professional Wrestling" says that he won't lose the rest of the year. 13 weeks of this nonsense? Hopefully not. WWE gets their ESPN moment with Big Ben, his offensive line and DX mixing it up with JeriShow. Hornswoggle crotch chopping his leprechaun junk was weird.
Main problem is that no one sold the effects of the Hell in the Cell match. Everybody looked as right as rain. I guess it's a good idea to quickly destroy the allure of the HITC match in the span of two nights. Maybe next week we'll get my dream of Hornswoggle humping Nancy O'Dell played out.
Greg Parks, PWTorch.com Contributor (5.5)
Roethlisberger was one of the better guest hosts to date, but the rest of the show was just kinda there. The Divas Bowl was a way to get the crowd warmed to up to Big Ben. The inherent problem with the Raw guest host stuff is that the heels are often made to look week to get the guest host and his cronies (this week: DX) over. The thought of Cena vs. Orton, after all their matches, in an Iron Man Match sounds like a joke at first. But it could turn out OK.
Good to see Swagger getting an angle, but the "I'll never lose" stuff usually results in the heel losing often. Kofi vs. Miz was a solid match and I liked them putting the title on Miz. The main event was your usual TV main event tag, which is to say, it wasn't bad. Just nothing new.
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