Hints at New GM: The opening segment wasn’t good enough to get a Hit. The verbal sparring between John Cena and Batista just wasn’t that good, but it wasn’t bad either. I did like how the segment ended with Shane McMahon announcing that a new General Manager had been named, and would be revealed later in the show. That was a nice hook as the fans wanted to know the identity of the GM. The theme was continued during the night, with the announcers speculating on who it could be, various wrestlers addressing the new GM (Jamie Noble), and others trying to find out the name from Shane (John Bradshaw Layfield). The reveal was very disappointing, but WWE did a good job of building anticipation throughout the show.
Santino and Beth: I love these two. I loved their prerecorded scene from before their match. Both were very good in their parts, trying to convince the other, and themselves that this is just a professional relationship. Santino Marella’s line about not being a piece of meat was priceless. Santino was great in his over the top celebration after pinning Kelly Kelly. I don’t think it was wise to have D-Lo Brown lose his second match back (even if it was Kelly getting pinned), but it isn’t a huge deal. It gave Santino and Beth Phoenix a chance for some more great awkward moments in the ring afterwards. The whole thing leading up to the kiss was very fun to watch, as both gave great performances. I continue to look forward to seeing this develop.
Punk vs. Regal: I correctly predicted that William Regal would be the world class free agent taking on CM Punk. The match was too short (more later) as it was only 4 minutes. But, I thoroughly enjoyed those 4 minutes. They were very hard hitting and intense. Regal showed why he was deserving of more in ring time before his suspension. I would have loved to see this match go longer. The blood added to the intensity of the moment. It was good to see Punk get a clean win, although Regal is hardly established as a credible opponent at this point in his career.
Highlight Reel: It is sad that this was the final Highlight reel, but it makes sense in the storyline. It was truly the Highlight of the night, with another great performance from Chris Jericho who gave another great promo. He is showing that a heel doesn’t have to yell to get over. His whispering at Shawn Michaels at the end was more powerful than any screaming promo that we’ve seen from guys like Samoa Joe in TNA. I also enjoyed his video package of some classic Y2J moments. I had forgotten about his great feud with Stephanie McMahon, so it was a nice reminder of some fun times. It also shows Jericho’s versatility as a performer when juxtaposed to the work he is doing now. I was glad to hear Jericho inserting himself into the title picture. There has been a lot of Elimination Chamber speculation and Jericho seemed at the time to be a good sixth man. However, with the announcement at the end, that doesn’t seem likely any more.
Katie Lea: After a short but solid match, Mickie James vs. Jillian Hall, Katie Lea Burchill showed up for a nice appearance. Her development as a contender for James’ Women’s Championship has been well done so far. The attack worked well, making Katie Lea look strong. Her post-attack promo was good as well. It also played into the mystery of the new GM. I also liked how she brought her brother into the conversation as the next Intercontinental Champion. I liked seeing Kofi Kingston get a strong win earlier in the night, but was confused why Paul Burchill who got a pin over Kingston last week was nowhere to be found. This wasn’t a great way to follow up, but at least it acknowledged that Burchill is in the IC Title hunt.
Main Event: Batista & Cena vs. Kane & JBL was a solid tag team Main Event. It was the only match of the night that went a good length at 12 minutes. It had some good action and nice moments. The story surrounding the match, of both teams not trusting each other was good. They played into that at various points during the match, like the stare down between Batista and Cena before the commercial. It was nice to see a bit of a shake up in the normal tag team formula, as both Batista then Cena got hot tags. None of these guys are great workers. There were some slow moments and not a lot of great athleticism. However, they all know how to work a match and the crowd. It had a strong ending, with the break down at the end setting up more tension between Kane and JBL. It wasn’t a great match, but it was a good t.v. Main Event.
RAW MISSES
Batista’s Jersey: Batista didn’t look right in that Washington Bullet’s throw back jersey. His sense of fashion is often questionable, but he sometimes dresses the part very well. He has done a better job as of late, but this jersey wasn’t the way to go. I assume he was trying to kiss up to the local fans, but he is from Washington DC, so he doesn’t need to kiss up. He needs some help in the wardrobe department. That isn’t how a top wrestling star should dress.
Short Matches: Once again, Raw is giving away very short matches. Other than the Main Event, the matches were all too short. The inter-gender tag match was 2 minutes. It only served the purpose of furthering the Beth and Santino relationship. The Tag Team Title match was 4 minutes, and hardly a match. It was definitely more about storylines than about wrestling. Kingston vs. Noble was 2 minutes. Punk vs. Regal was 4 minutes. James vs. Hall was 2 minutes and was just to set up Katie Lea’s attack. This is too much like TNA where the matches only serve the purpose of advancing storylines. There was very little value to the actual wrestling action. Putting the matches in context is good. Having the matches advance storylines is good. But, that doesn’t mean the matches can’t be longer and have better quality wrestling. Noble vs. Kingston could be a very good match. Punk vs. Regal was good, but too short. Matches can both entertain and advance storylines, yet the Raw writers don’t seem to get that at this point.
New General Manager: Mike Ademle has heat on him, because he sucks at his job. That heat should not translate into a bigger role. William Regal had huge heat as the Raw GM before being suspended, because he is great at his job. Vickie Guerrero has gotten huge heat on herself as Smackdown GM, because she is very good at her’s. People didn’t boo Regal, because they didn’t like him. They booed him, because he was great at getting people to boo him. People boo Ademle, because he sucks. Asking Ademle to have an on screen job is a huge mistake. Has he learned the names of any of the wrestlers yet? I’m not convinced. Has he learned the names of any basic moves? I don’t think so. His announcement at the end of Batista vs. Cena at SummerSlam was poor on a number of fronts. For one, it seems to eliminate any chance of an Elimination Chamber (which isn’t such a big deal, as WWE did two in February). A bigger deal is that Batista vs. Cena should be saved for WrestleMania as Cena pointed out. SummerSlam is a big event, so I would be fine with this match if it had more time to build. I know they still have a few weeks, but now it seems thrown out there, and it should be a huge deal for the first ever one on one match between these two top stars. The biggest deal is that Ademle’s actual announcing the match was so poor. He isn’t a good performer. I am also very worried that he is going to name himself the new announcer on Raw which would be terrible. This is a bad idea for so many reasons. Raw now has by far the worst GM of any brand since the brand split five years ago.
Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.
For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.
LATEST PRO WRESTLING TORCH NEWSLETTER #1039 (17 PAGES)
This issue begins with a cover story by Wade Keller who attended Brock Lesnar's first UFC victory on Saturday night in the semi-main event in front of a record-setting crowd in his hometown. Keller's BBL looks at Lesnar's place in MMA and in what ways he seems more comfortable than ever... Bruce Mitchell's Memo examines the dilemma of Chris Benoit and the Hall of Fame... Sean Radican reviews the two latest TNA DVD releases... In-depth coverage of the TNA Hard Justice PPV including Keller's match report with star ratings and the newsletter-exclusive Roundtable Reviews... Jason Powell's "Page 2 Buzz" with scoops and insider analysis... WWE Newswire, TNA Newswire, and ROH Newswire with insider news, big story analysis, and notebook tidbits... Plus Keller's reports on Raw, Smackdown, and Impact, the Top 5 Stories of the Week, and more....
