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WWE Raw Reax #3: "Imagine watching your favorite sitcom and every time something meaningful is about to happen, it blacks out."
May 6, 2008 - 1:54:12 PM
S.B. of Hoboken, N.J. - Web Producer (2.5): Best Match: Everything with Regal. Worst Match: The now weekly squashes. Very weak showing this week with predictable "in between the PPV" type story advancement. I love William Regal as the top heel and the disrespect angle is basically a tweak to the be-smirching... but I still like it. Turning the lights out on any match worth seeing is getting tired, though. To have the same match for the Diva's every week is actually pain-staking to watch despite good showings from Mickie and Glam, I couldn't care less. And JBL in the now weekly squashings? Ugh, we get it already. The only bright spots on this show were Orton's development of his character, Kennedy being the main event, and Regal. Everything else was easily forgettable.
Paul Snyder of St. Catharines, Ont. (5.0): Best: Women's Championship; Cabana; Seeing Trish Stratus. Worst: J.R. removed; JBL vs Canadian BullDog. Is there still a brand extension, or did ECW get switched to Mondays? This is the first Raw event I haven't attended live in Toronto since Wrestlemania X8 and I'm glad I saved my money. Aside from Roddy Piper's designated driver comment, seeing Trish with Ron Simmons, a decent diva match, and the progression of the HBK-Y2J storyline, the rest was just a throwaway show. Had I paid to go see this live, I would've wanted a refund as I didn't want to go to the ECW taping today in London. Heck, I don't watch it so I don't even know half the roster or why I should care to see them. Vince and writters, seriously, I want to watch Rwa and Raw superstars, same with Smackdown, not some mix and mash of talent from the weakest roster in your company taking up more tv time.
Adam Riemer of New York, N.Y. (3.5): Best Match: Jericho calling HBK "Shakespeare." Worst: Are you serious? Can you pick just one? Okay, if you watched the show like I did, you realized you wasted two hours of your life. Why would Vince McMahon like the fact that William Regal is pulling plugs on his companies no. 1 show? It wouldn't make sense. It would make a lot more sense to have Vince mad that Regal is costing him money and potential viewers (all while saying it leads back to money) and Regal being the arrogant super heel saying he doesn't care - it's his show and his ring. Now, I know that is stretch, but come on, you cannot have three blackouts during the night and actually want to stay tuned. Imagine watching your favorite sitcom and every time something meaningful is about to happen, it blacks out. You would not keep watching. WWE is walking on THIN ice with this, and they are on the cusp of having major fan backlash in terms of TV viewership. There were two highlights on the show. One of them is Mr. Kennedy in the beginning. It is nice to see Kennedy getting into the main events; even if they are garbage main events, he is still in them. The guy is a lot like Austin right now. He is doing everything the same as when he was a heel, it is just against someone the fans don't like. Which is smart; Mr. Kennedy is going to be just like the (tweener) Rock and Austin, in that they really were not "good" guys, but they were what the fans wanted and they were entertaining and were anti-establishment. The other highlight is Chris Jericho. Y2J has always been at his best when he is arrogant (I still will never forget "Armbar") and over the top. His program with HBK while tied into Batista is entertaining and has every potential to be a great three-way feud. Now, the rest of the show was terrible. Mike Adamale is not going to get people over by making fun of the fact that he is bad. It just comes off campy and stupid. He is a bad commentator; by making him even worse on purpose is not going to make the the people who actually watch ECW want to tune in. Finally, what about the main event? (There was so much more to comment on with the bad, but that would take like three pages to write). What a great way to promote ECW! I mean, there is nothing like saying, "Hey watch ECW" than by having Triple H beat up 99 percent of the roster. What was with the brawl that erupted? One minute the wrestlers on the ECW roster are fighting one another, the next they are back to beating up on Hunter and Kennedy. The only person who didn't get the wrath of Hunter was Kane for obvious reasons. To be honest, TNA has every opportunity right now to attack and gain some serious ground in the wrestling world. It was Triple H who said "Pride comes before the fall," WWE is sure seemingly heading that way.
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