PWTORCH.COM
VIP SIGN-UP JUMP TO VIP
CONTACT US VISIT MMA TORCH




Select Next Article by Category





TAKE PWTORCH
WITH YOU!

PWTORCH IPHONE APP
Get our iPhone App (FREE!): Click Here
Or enter "PWTorch.com" on your Blackberry or other Smart Phone browser for mobile-version of PWTorch.


Torch Feedback
WWE Raw Reax #4: "I'm not sure how WWE could have made it any clearer that MVP isn't in Triple H's league"
Jun 30, 2009 - 4:33:09 PM


-- 6/29 WWE Raw Reax

Benjamin Tucker of Lexington, Ky. (6.0): Best: Raw gets new talent. Worst: Cena vs. Miz. Raw is so desperate now, that I think they just make up storylines as they go. I mean, why not, as long as they end with Hunter vs. Randy? Raw has become so strange lately with so many different things to stimulate ratings that I don't really even know what's happening on the shows anymore. One week Trump buys Raw. Next week Vince buys back Raw. This week there's a secret draft which is done to save Raw at ECW's expense. Even so, I'm sure that we'll still be seeing Randy-Cena-Trips matches until hell freezes over, no matter how many solid wrestlers there are on Raw. How about this. Mondays on Raw we'll see guys like Kofi, Swagger, and the Miz make names for themselves. Then we'll create a Wednesday show where Hunter beats the snot out of Randy for two hours, until Legacy comes out and Orton scores the win. In speaking of shows, did Vince forget about ECW, or did he purposely gut the show, leaving us only with Ryder, Shelton, Dreamer, and Christian, who will probably be drafted to Smackdown next year. Oh, well. I'm sure ECW will still be better than Raw, but we'll have to wait and see. The show itself was okay. They gave the divas some time to have a decent match, once again making Rosa Mendes look pathetic, and the tag match was fine. MVP jobbing to Trips made me cringe, as well as remembering how great The Miz was three days ago. Not anymore. The Kofi match was a waste of time and seeing Randy get pummeled by everyone in the ECW locker room wasn't the best, but at least it introduced some new people. Mark Henry as a face, though? Do we really need another Khali or smiling Kozlov? Vince thinks so, apparently. Anyway, the show was okay, but if Raw stays the way it is, I can't really see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Alex Roberts in the U.K. (3.0) Best Match: Miz vs. Cena. Worst Match: Divas Match. Another week and another terrible edition of Raw, but once again there are small specks of light at the end of this very long and very dark tunnel. The opening segment was one of the worst Raw openings I've ever seen. McMahon's announcements were lifeless and Batista delivered a promo that was beyond wooden. In fact Batista looked lost throughout the night. On the subject of McMahon's announcements, how sad is it that the WWE needs to shake up the brands with a 15-man mega trade this soon after a draft? The opening was followed up with Triple H once again hammering home his all-around, all-conquering levels of awesomeness. Despite being practically crippled by Randy Orton last night, he still managed to beat MVP in less than five minutes. I'm not sure how WWE could have made it any clearer that MVP isn't in Triple H's league. The Unified Tag Titles match was the standard WWE formula tag match and as a result fairly dull. It is however nice to see that Edge has found a new person to get him heat since he's completely incapable of doing it himself - has there ever been a more useless top tier heel than Edge? The Tag Titles match also brought us the start of the traditional, "you just lost the titles now you have to split" angle with The Colons. What a waste. I am however strangely looking forward to Maryse vs. Mickie. And now the tiny specks of light at the end of the tunnel. Cena-Miz was a massive improvement on their match at The Bash. Despite the poor finish, Miz came out of this match looking fairly strong and Cole and Lawler did a good job of putting him over. Of course the key will be how the WWE follows up with The Miz next week. The Million Dollar Man is next weeks guest host - that's fantastic even if it does mean Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Orton next week is inevitable. I'll likely be in the minority here but I also weirdly enjoyed the Show-Kofi match. I'm looking forward to see what spots he can put together with Show. Plus putting him in the ring with Show gives WWE the chance to showcase how impressive Kofi's vertical leap actually is. The Gauntlet main event also provided some potentially great shake-up for the Raw brand even if it was at the expense of the ECW brand, which will no doubt depress me when I watch ECW this week. Credit must also be given to Randy Orton, who continues to be the most selfless main event guy in pro-wrestling right now. He willingly gave all three of Bourne, Swagger, and Henry a lot last night and it's hard to imagine the vast majority of the main event scene doing the same. As far as the trades themselves go, Bourne on Raw will either be great or horrible depending on whether the WWE actually uses him. If they let him be the human highlight reel every week then Raw just got a lot more exciting and a potential brilliant Kofi-Bourne match or even partnership is now waiting in the wings. Meanwhile Jack Swagger on Raw is also potentially brilliant if the WWE can avoid the temptation to throw him right into the main event mix and gives him time to keep developing and improving. Swagger as the central figure of a rebuilt Raw mid card could be fantastic, unfortunately I'm not holding my breath on that. However the opening of a potential alliance between Swagger and Orton last night was great and despite it not really making much sense, Swagger as the fourth member of Legacy would actually work for me. And then we have Mark Henry. I have mixed feelings about this. I think it's great that Raw ended with somebody different as the central focus, but I just can't get past the fact that it was Mark Henry and an apparently newly turned face Mark Henry at that. To his credit, has come into his own on ECW but I'm still not sure I can get behind a serious main event push for him on Raw especially not as a face. Of course at this stage, beggers can't be choosers and we have to take new main events wherever we can get them.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE Raw Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw, click here.


Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET


For UFC & MMA NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO


MORE "Torch Feedback" ARTICLES
ECW TV Reax #1: "C.M. Punk scoring the pin in the main event made Smackdown seem more important than ECW"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "While WWE delivered an above-quality show, they still haven't given viewers a reason to order Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "This was NOT one of the best Raws of 2009, but one of the worst..."
WWE Raw Reax #1: "This was the best Raw in years and had a ton of great, emotional moments"
TNA Turning Point Reax #2: "I'm a college student who works hard for every dollar and it came down to Turning Point vs. Survivor Series..."
TNA Turning Point Reax #1: "It has been many years since I've seen someone actually wrestle on par with Kurt Angle"
WWE on Food Network and DGUSA PPV Reax: Evaluation of Santino & Miz, Davey Richards & Bryan Danielson on PPV
ECW TV Reax #1: "Where does Christian go from here? With Regal as champ, ECW would have received a good shake-up"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "Only a few short weeks after having Rev. Al on Raw as guest host, WWE is back to racially-insensitive storylines"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "DX playing buddy-buddy until the final Raw before Survivor Series is not going to entice viewers to buy the PPV"
WWE PPV Price Increase Reax #2: "I spent more money on Vince every year than anything else and he does not even care about me or the people like me!"
WWE PPV Price Increase Reax #1: Outrage expressed over WWE's latest PPV price raise - could the backlash cause WWE to second-guess decision?
TNA Impact Reax #3: "The build for the PPV matches somehow featured Hulk Hogan despite him yet to show up on TV"
TNA Impact Reax #2: "I'm tired of non-stop talking. This isn't a Broadway play; it's professional wrestling and the best stories are told in the ring"
Thursday Night TV Reax #1: "I feel anything TNA does right is inevitably drowned out by what they fail at"
ECW TV Reax #1: "William Regal has stepped up big time since coming to ECW and he deserves a World Title run"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "The major flaw of this show was the real lack of hype for Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #1: "The main event commentary was hilarious with Triple H and HBK making fun of Vince, but DX has run its course..."
WWE Smackdown Reax #1: "Batista plays the perfect bully and Rey plays the perfect hero; this is a chance to make Batista the lead heel on Smackdown"
TNA Impact Reax #2: "Hogan, as great as he was, is 15 years beyond his prime and he signed with a company touting their so-called youth movement"

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.

Current Top Ten Staff Picks
Staff Picks
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: In-depth look at why Vince McMahon is marketing the WWE product as PG family-friendly
WWE News: TOP STORY - "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson working with WWE on a TV project beyond guest-hosting Raw
WWE News: Linda McMahon reveals the McMahon Family's vast wealth in Senate campaign filing
WWE News: Raw TV ratings are in - Did Raw rebound from the 2009 year-low?
WWE News: WWE announces guest hosts for the next four weeks of Raw, including two new names
Hogan News: Watch VIDEO of the Hulkamania Press Conference breaking down into a staged fight (w/VIDEO)
TNA News: SPOILERS - first two matches announced for TNA's December PPV
MOJO MITCHELL'S WWE RAW 11/16: Stream of Piper In The Back, Hornswoggle Stabbed in the Back, An MSG Look Back, Mr. McMahon Backs Out, Kofi Kingston Backs Randy Orton Up
CALDWELL'S WWE RAW REPORT 11/16: Complete coverage of Roddy Piper hosting, DX vs. Cena & Taker vs. Jericho & Show
TNA News: Kurt Angle suffers back injury at Sunday's Turning Point PPV


TORCH QUICK-CLICK REFERENCE LIST
-CLICK TO FOLLOW PWTORCH ON TWITTER!
-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PWTORCH IPHONE APP

-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PODCAST (#1 in iTunes!)
-CLICK TO GET INFO ON BECOMING A VIP MEMBER
-CLICK TO VISIT MMATORCH.COM
-CLICK TO VISIT PROWRESTLING.NET

-CLICK TO EMAIL PWTORCH EDITORS




PWTORCH READER POLL

SMACKDOWN POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/20 Smackdown if you saw the show?
The Undertaker
Kane
Chris Jericho
Big Show
Batista
Rey Mysterio
Matt Hardy
Tyson Kidd
John Morrison
Dolph Ziggler
C.M. Punk
R-Truth
Drew McIntyre
Finlay
Mickie James
Layla
Eric Escobar
Vince McMahon
Teddy Long
Vickie Guerrero
  

VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS

ARE YOU VIP? SIGN UP NOW FOR $7.50 A MONTH FOR INSTANT ACCESS TO AD-FREE, BENEFIT-PACKED VIP VERSION OF PWTORCH.COM (see screen capture)
PWTORCH VIP HOME PAGE

INFO ON SUBSCRIPTION TO AD-FREE VIP SITE

INCREDIBLE BENEFITS!
Over 50 full-length audio updates per month (iPod compatible)... New weekly award-winning Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (text and printable pdf versions) with latest exclusive insider news, new Torch Talks, great columns, Keller's cover story, much more... Hundreds of full-length back issues of PWTorch Newsletter from late-'80s to today... Ad-free access to PWTorch.com's Main Listing... VIP Forum with interaction with other subscribers and Torch staff... Torch Talk Library with text and audio of hundreds of interview installments from last 20 years... Great layout... Deepest archives on pro wrestling history anywhere... Keller's PWTorch Today PDF Bulletins with email alerts... VIP Email reports on major PPVs and TV shows... Staff Roundtable Reviews (text and audio) followiing major events... The best staff of writers and world class reporting since 1987... We'd love for you to join us and experience the most entertaining, authoritative, experienced staff of professional reporters and commentators in the business...

SIGN ME UP NOW!

Compare the value of four or five months of PWTorch VIP content to the price of just one PPV. Can you cut 25 cents a day from your budget to make room for PWTorch VIP?

AND NEW FOR 2009!
Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?

SIGN ME UP NOW!


UPCOMING EVENTS LISTING

Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
WWE RAW 11/16: Place Your Bets on tonight's Raw - Week 12 featuring Roddy Piper
WWE RAW 11/2: "Place your Bets" Scoreboard after Week 11 - Review the previous scores before tonight's Raw PYB contest
TORCH MONTHLY AWARDS: List of the 2009 Torch Monthly Award winners through October
WWE News
WWE News: What's on Smackdown tonight - Taker & Kane vs. Big Show & Jericho
WWE News: Jim Ross comments on possible WrestleMania 26 return, current WWE contract status
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: In-depth look at why Vince McMahon is marketing the WWE product as PG family-friendly
TNA News
TNA News: TNA Impact ratings break down - Inside the numbers on TNA's recent ratings trends
TNA News: Impact rating is in - how did post Turning Point episode fare?
TNA News: Details on Chris Sabin re-injuring his neck at this week's Impact tapings
ROH News
ROH News: ROH Title match signed for Final Battle; Air dates for McGuinness and Danielson's Farewell speeches
ROH News: Ring of Honor announces details on Austin Aries's next ROH Title defense
ROH News: Tonight is Bryan Danielson's final ROH match - details on tonight's special ROH TV episode (w/VIDEO)
Other News
PWG News: First round matches for tonight's Battle of Los Angeles tournament - Aries vs. Kendrick; Cabana, Shelley, Strong in action
Hogan News: Hulkamania Tour secures TV deal in Australia, Notes on Hogan & Flair arriving at the airport to begin the tour
Austin News: Steve Austin to appear in new season of NBC's "Chuck" show
PPV Reports
CALDWELL'S TNA TURNING POINT PPV REPORT 11/15: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels
RADICAN'S DGUSA "Untouchable" PPV review - Doi vs. Danielson, Shingo vs. Richards
10/25 WWE Bragging Rights Results: KELLER'S detailed match-by-match PPV report - Cena vs. Orton Iron Man match
TV Reports
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 11/20: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Jericho & Show vs. Undertaker & Kane
CALDWELL'S WWE SUPERSTARS TV REPORT 11/19: Complete coverage of Henry vs. Rhodes on WGN
PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 11/19: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the post-Turning Point show
Arena Reports
11/14 TNA in Scranton, Pa.: Second Report - Styles vs. Joe vs. Daniels, Chris Sabin vs. Suicide, Amazing Red vs. Homicide
11/14 WWE in Dublin: The Undertaker very limited in the ring vs. C.M. Punk, Rey vs. Dolph, Very interesting John Morrison vs. Matt Hardy match, No Jericho
11/14 TNA in Scranton, Pa.: Home of "The Office" delivers Styles vs. Joe vs. Daniels and Amazing Red vs. Homicide PPV warm-up matches
MMA / UFC Coverage
MMA News: Update on Brock Lesnar's health - how long Lesnar had been dealing with health problems, expected return to UFC
MMA News: Brock Lesnar health update - UFC president much more optimistic than this weekend
MMA News: Brock Lesnar released from the hospital tonight; Lesnar's UFC future in doubt
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER BLOG: WrestleMania goes up to $55, all other PPVs $45 - let the pirate feed frenzy begin
KELLER BLOG: Dixie Carter asks wrestlers to step it up, but what does that mean? Shouldn't their goal to be winning matches and nothing else?
KELLER FLASHBACK: Review of Hulk Hogan's first autobiography - Hogan's political maneuvers evident in who he protects and buries
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL FLASHBACK (Dec. 1994): C.M. Punk's character is the latest Vince McMahon creation responding to criticism of his WWE product
MOJO MITCHELL'S WWE RAW 11/16: Stream of Piper In The Back, Hornswoggle Stabbed in the Back, An MSG Look Back, Mr. McMahon Backs Out, Kofi Kingston Backs Randy Orton Up
MOJO MITCHELL'S RAW 11/2: Stream of My Fourth Grade Hero and The Mid-Card Kicks Main Event Ass
MCNEILL'S TAKE
The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down: McNEILL previews TNA Turning Point 2009!
McNEILL BLOG: The Big Questions About Hulk Hogan in TNA
Fight For Your Right to Bragging: McNEILL Previews WWE Bragging Rights!
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL'S PPV/DVD REVIEW: Dragon Gate USA's "Open the Historic Gate" debut event - Review of whether following DGUSA is worth your time and money
CALDWELL'S TUESDAY CHAT w/GREG PARKS: Raw, Smackdown, TNA PPV discussion - MSG crowd, Survivor Series hype, Kofi breaks out, CSI:Miami vs. 30 Rock
CALDWELL'S BLOG: Hitting the hot topics - Raw tonight, Turning Point vs. Survivor Series, Jesse Ventura, Brock Lesnar, Shane McMahon
RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: A list of things wresters and TNA fans can support for Dixie Carter
RADICAN'S SHIMMER Vol. 23 Review - Busic-Melissa, Kong-Martinez, MsChif-Deeb
RADICAN: Daddy's little girl V 2.0 debuts on Impact
The Specialists
11/19 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Rosa Mendes, Eric Escobar, Lackluster Show
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 11/19: Forgotten history between A.J. and Angle, TNA's new cameras, Pope gets referee assist, Numbers - The Rock a horrible tag champ
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 11/12: Review of last week's show before tonight's Impact - Wolfe-Angle build-up, Lethal loses to Niedhart
Guest Editorials
GUEST EDITORIAL: Disgruntled TNA fan says he's done with the promotion after today's Impact taping (Contains SPOILERS)
GUEST EDITORIAL: The ultimate irony - Hulk Hogan appears on TNA Impact and pre-taped TV sitcom promoting WWE on the same night
GUEST BOOK REVIEW: Hulk Hogan provides strong defense of his public image in new autobiography
Torch Feedback
ECW TV Reax #1: "C.M. Punk scoring the pin in the main event made Smackdown seem more important than ECW"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "While WWE delivered an above-quality show, they still haven't given viewers a reason to order Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "This was NOT one of the best Raws of 2009, but one of the worst..."
Ask the Editor
Ask the Editor: Wouldn't incorporating MMA-style holds into pro wrestling matches just be trying to be something it's not?
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
DVDs - VGames - Books
CALDWELL'S PPV/DVD REVIEW: Dragon Gate USA's "Open the Historic Gate" debut event - Review of whether following DGUSA is worth your time and money
RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: Death Before Dishonor VII: N2 - Storm-Hero, Ryan-Cabana
RADICAN'S SHIMMER Vol. 23 Review - Busic-Melissa, Kong-Martinez, MsChif-Deeb
Torch Flashbacks
PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 1 YR. AGO (11-21-08): Final Survivor Series build-up to Undertaker vs. Big Show casket match, Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H, Morrison & Miz
KELLER'S WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 10 YRS. AGO (11-14-99): Big Show vs. Triple H vs. The Rock, Edge & Christian & Hardys team, Chris Jericho vs. Chyna
KELLER'S WWF SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 15 YRS. AGO (11-23-94): Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund, Undertaker vs. Yokozuna, Team Hall & Waltman vs. Team Michaels & Nash
VIP Exclusive Features
11/20 Wade Keller Hotline - Guest Bruce Mitchell: Survivor Series Match by Match Preview & Predictions (20 min.)
11/20 Bruce Mitchell Audio Show: Listener Questions - How Vince McMahon was perceived before he took over, Outlaw Promotions stories, Sting Flips off Bruce, Albano Craziness (45 min.)
PWTorch Newsletter #1117/1118 (31 pages!): Raw at MSG, TNA Victory Road PPV Roundtable, Mitchell on Russo-Hogan, Keller on Dixie Speech, more
Torch Trivia
TORCH TRIVIA 2/28: Which wrestler backed out of a WWA PPV in February 2002?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/27: Who said this quote about Hulk Hogan's athleticism 11 years ago?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/25: What said this quote about WWE's mid-1990s drug testing policy?
Torch Instant Polls
SMACKDOWN POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/20 Smackdown if you saw the show?
TNA IMPACT POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/19 Impact if you saw the show?
ECW MVP POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/17 ECW TV if you saw the show?
PWTorch Free Podcast
11/4 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Format change to the show, new guest host, upcoming shows
FREE FOR ALL: 10/27 Bruce Mitchell Audio Special: Hogan-Bischoff-TNA story from all angles including Monday Night War II possibilities (32 min.)
6/23 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Former WCW rapmaster PN News joins Brian Hoops to preview upcoming Midwest shows (10 min.)
Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart