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CALDWELL: Summary of 6/8 WWE Raw - The Miz delivers, Vickie gets The Lita, Triple H returns and conquers, Ric Flair math, HIGH/LOW Points Jun 9, 2009 - 2:47:25 AM
-- If you watched the show, send your Raw Reax and 0-10 score to pwtorch@gmail.com.
-- High Point: The Miz. Miz continues to be the star of the show. His pre-match promo before his scheduled match against John Cena was more greatness from Miz, who continues to carry himself like a main eventer. That consistency from Miz has finally led to Cena acknowledging Miz verbally, as Cena was more focused on Miz than Big Show in his promo following Show's interruption. Miz vs. Cena on PPV could give the Raw brand a necessary boost. Wade Keller and I both pointed out in our reports that his anti-Cena t-shirt would be instant hot sellers to help boost merchandise sales as well.
-- Low Point: Vickie Departure segment. WWE writing Vickie Guerrero off TV was mean-spirited, demeaning, pathetic, sad, and WWE at its worst when it comes to female talent. In other words, she was given The Lita. When Lita (Amy Dumas) left WWE in November 2006, WWE gave her a send-off by having Cryme Tyme auction off "personal items" from Lita's WWE career to embarrass and humiliate her. Vickie being verbally torn apart by Edge was scripted in the same way to demean and humiliate Vickie for not looking the part of a platinum-blonde diva. Utterly pathetic moment on WWE TV that will surely be topped down the line.
-- Memorable Moment: Triple H returns. It was inevitable that Triple H would return to WWE TV to save the day, the ratings, and beat the crap out of Randy Orton once again. However, WWE didn't even bother to tease what would happen when Hunter would finally get his hands on Orton again. Instead, they gave away the entire "babyface returning for revenge" element by having Hunter just beat the crap out of Orton. Now, there's no reason to order a PPV to see a potential re-match. Well, unless WWE expects fans to pay money to see Hunter pick up the cherry on top by winning back the WWE Title. Of course, that would mean making the title seem important, but WWE didn't even bother to explain whether Batista was still champion by the end of the show.
-- Context: This was the night after the Extreme Rules PPV with WWE faced with two issues to solve. First issue was that Batista won the WWE Title at the PPV, but he's injured and they needed to set up a storyline to potentially get the title off him if he will require extensive time off. Second issue was that the Raw brand is generally-viewed to be a weaker brand than Smackdown right now. It was obvious at the PPV when the top two matches on the PPV were from Smackdown. Raw's slipping ratings combined with punchless TV storylines meant the return of Triple H.
-- Vickie Guerrero storyline quit her position as Raw General Manager. She also wrapped up her storyline with Edge for no apparent reason other than to put closure on a storyline most everyone already forgot about before Vickie leaves WWE TV.
-- Simple math problem: Raw GM position is vacant + next week's Raw is in Charlotte, N.C. + Ric Flair left ROH to return full-time to WWE TV = Ric Flair most-likely announced as new GM.
-- WWE announced that next week's show will be a three-hour broadcast featuring the WWE Title, World Hvt. Title, and ECW Titles with wrestlers from all three brands.
-- MATCH RESULTS: Legacy injured WWE champion Batista ... (1) U.S. champion Kofi Kingston beat William Regal in a non-title match. ... (2) Divas champion Maryse beat Kelly Kelly to retain the Divas Title. ... (3) Goldust & Festus & Santino (w/Hornswoggle) beat Jamie Noble & The Brian Kendrick & Chavo Guerrero. ... (4) MVP beat Matt Hardy. ... (5) Ted DiBiase, Jr. & Cody Rhodes beat Unified tag champions Carlito & Primo Colon in a non-title match. ... (6) WWE champion Batista vs. Randy Orton apparently ended without a finish. ... Triple H returned in Batista's place to beat the crap out of Randy Orton.
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