Everyone bailed on me for Survivor Series. My standbys, those I thought would always want to watch, threw in the towel last Sunday. Apparently they are bored with what has been going on in the WWE and didn’t want to bother spending the money or wasting their time. While I must agree with them, I am a stubborn soul, so I got home from work and ordered up the pay-per-view. I must say that I’m not sorry I did. I really enjoyed the show. I thought that starting off with the four-way Cruiserweight Title match was a good idea to get the program off to a hot start, and while Spike kept his belt he at least did it on his own. This was a nice, fast paced match that allowed everyone to show off a little bit, as did the Intercontinental Championship between Shelton Benjamin and challenger Christian. Another good performance here, which ended with Benjamin holding on to his belt also.
I’ve always wondered how some of the athletes, when they are nose to nose, don’t just crack up. I know that’s the actor in them, but Heidenreich and Gene Snitsky took it to a different level with their short promo. Between their breathing, grunting, and mutual compliments as they were in head to head combat as it were, they did a great job of pulling it off.
The first elimination match of the evening gave us Kurt Angle, Carlito Cool, Mark Jindrak and Luther Reigns against Eddie Guerrero, Big Show, Rob Van Dam and John Cena. Pride was on the line here, as the egos of Angle and Guerrero got to clash. Add to that a couple of other personal issues and you had a match with a purpose. Following the stabbing angle, Cena was on the hunt for Carlito, who ended up fleeing the scene and never wrestling. This made sense, since he is injured legit and might need surgery. That made the match immediately four on three, but they played it perfectly, delivering the strong match that I had hoped for. Guerrero and company walked out the winners, but I’m sure the feud is not over.
My man Undertaker dominated Survivor Series once again, as he won a hard-fought battle against Heidenreich. I’m still not sure about the talent of the Big H, but this was not a bad match, in my opinion. I’m sure that Heidenreich will come gunning for ‘Taker again, and as long as they do not become the pair of year with no other opponents, that’s OK.
John Bradshaw Layfield successfully defended his WWE Championship by defeating Booker T. Man, did these guys work hard! As many of you know, I’m not a big fan of JBL, but he did all he could here and more, and really contributed to a great match. Booker held up his end of the bargain, and this was good watching.
Trish Stratus kept her Women’s Championship when Lita finally lost her cool and went ballistic on her, resulting in a disqualification. I liked Lita like this. I would much rather see her act out her aggressions than listen to her say what she is going to do, and this tweak in her personality could be just what the doctor ordered for her character. Trish walked out with a bloody nose, and even though she appeared on Raw the next night with a mask on, I’m not sure if that is a legit injury or an extension of the story line. Either way, it works.
The final match of the night was the Elimination Match to see who would control Raw, and what a super match this was. The team of Triple H, Snitsky, Batista, and Edge looked in control of the action for most of the time, as they faced Chris Benoit, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho and Maven. This was especially true when it was two on one, with Orton alone to defend things against HHH and Edge. Ultimately thought, it was 3H and Randy one on one, just as most fans had expected. But arrogance got the best of Triple H, and Orton reversed the Pedigree to get the three count on Trips for the win. We saw great expressions of joy from Orton and disbelief and anger from Triple H, and I just loved everything about this match. Would the WWE capitalize on this good PPV and give the viewers a strong Raw? And who would be the first of the four to run Monday night’s show?
I am thrilled to be able to say YES!! What a great Raw we got to see! This was one of the best shows I have seen in a long time, from start to finish. And to answer question number two, Maven took control of week one, and I can’t remember if he got a lot of mic time before – I don’t think so – but I found him to be very strong in his talking segments this time. He booked a three-way match for the Tag Team Championship between reigning champs La Resistance, Rhyno and Tajiri, and William Regal and Eugene. How fun it was to see the NEW Tag Team Champions, Regal and Eugene, and to watch William have fun and show some personality. Great start for the night.
Putting the feuding ex-tag partners and champs Edge and Christian together against Benoit and Benjamin was really good also. Of course they lost and the two of them began fighting, but that was to be expected, and I was happy to see it. This animosity can continue for a while and this is the right way to go as far as I’m concerned. I must also mention Edge’s five-second countdown pose that happened just before the match. If you hadn’t guessed where it was heading, the camera stayed with it just long enough to get the idea, as he counted down from five to one. I thought that was really funny.
Before I mention the final match of the evening I must give huge kudos to those involved in some of the speaking segments of the show. Triple H was even better than he normally is in his speech to Maven, as he attempted to sweet-talk him into Evolution. He had a good exchange with Batista as well. I might have to steal his line about smelling smoke when Batista said he’d been thinking, I liked that one. Y2J and Benoit had good little comments for Maven also, trying to tell him why Evolution is not a good thing for him. But the center of the show was Maven, and he did a super job. This young Tough Enough winner (not the best thing nowadays) proved that he is worthy, both by his actions and his words. He was good when he was telling Triple H that he’d rather have the title than join his forces – he’ll take the match and the title would be on the line.
The match went on and on, with everyone having their moment in the sun as Ric Flair, Batista, Y2J, Benoit, Edge, Orton, and Snitsky all get into the mix at some point. Everyone is also cheating (No! Cheating?), and ultimately Maven goes home empty-handed, but it was one hell of a showing. I am thrilled that Raw looks to be running with some strong story lines right now, and I hope they continue. I wonder what SmackDown! will do tonight? I sure hope they take the same track that their sister show has done, for this could eventually lead to an upswing for the WWE.
Be safe and God Bless,
Barb.
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