We are just over the halfway point in the draft, and as usual I find myself trying to second-guess what will happen next. I don’t know why I keep doing that. Anyway, let’s look at what has transpired thus far. The first Raw of the month saw John Cena making the walk over to the ‘mother’ show. He certainly adds a lot of brilliance to Monday night, but how many stars can Raw have? Frankly, I feel that what is most important is who ends up on SmackDown! – that is what can make or break that show. Not that I think SD will fold or anything, but the majority of the fans feel that Raw is by far the better of the two programs and it would be beneficial to them to entice the viewers over to Thursdays.
It was also on this night that Chris Masters finally had a real match. I had been waiting for that, but when all was said and done I wished he had only done his Masterlock Challenge. If nothing else that is a catchy name – the wrestling, that’s another story. And even though this was three weeks ago, let me also say that I loved this show. It came before the ECW pay-per-view and with so many of those wrestlers making appearances on Raw it made for an exciting show.
Last week Kurt Angle moved over to Raw. Whether Booker T (or Sharmell, I guess) will follow remains to be seen, but I hope not. This is a good way for that story line to end, at least for the most part. On this night we saw the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin, much to the delight of the crowd. He was there to ‘hold court’ for Muhammad Hassan and Daivari, and this was a very entertaining exchange. Austin is so loved that he brings the house down just by saluting with those middle fingers. We also saw the return of Lilian Garcia. After being carried away by Viscera against her will, she seems to quite enjoy him now. A silly but funny little angle.
Raw pick number three surprised me last night. Carlito was chosen to make the move, and that was not someone I would have expected. (Maybe Charlie Haas will get a push now – please?) Not only did he arrive, he took the Intercontinental Title from Shelton Benjamin to be the new IC champ. This is where I started doing my guesswork. We have Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel and now Carlito’s Cabana. Will both of they stay there, or will one of them drop that gimmick? I see Y2J moving. And what about Benjamin? Did he lose the title to take a walk?
A final thought on last night’s Raw. The ‘wedding’ between Edge and Lita was absolutely HORRIBLE!! This reeked from start to finish. Edge looked ridiculous and Lita looked worse (OK, we get the idea that some time ago you bought new boobs!). I usually feel a bit bad when I hear the loud “Boring” chants, because generally the athletes are working hard whether the fans like them or not. Last night I was doing the same thing, wondering how much longer it would go on. Then we had the dreadful Gene Snitsky poem. God, how awful! Could things get worse? Oh, hell yeah! The ultimate display of bad taste was the Matt Hardy entrance music. I was thinking “No way!”, but wishing it were true. How cool that would have been. But no, it was just a ‘joke’ thought up by Edge. (Well, the WWE powers-that-be, but who cares?) This was the lowest of low blows, in my opinion. I did like when Kane popped up from under the ring, but he didn’t even get to beat anybody up. I know that this was to show us that the Big Red Monster was “baaaaaack”, and that’s OK. But it left me really flat. I was so happy once this whole segment was over.
And what about SmackDown!? Trade number one was Chris Benoit. While he is not the fan favorite as some of the others, I really like him and feel that he could be a good shot in the arm for the Thursday night show. And while once again this is old news, there were some matches on this program those two weeks back that I really enjoyed, particularly the Angle / Booker match. How super Kurt is as a crazy heel, and I’m sure that will continue now that he is on Raw. Benoit and Bradshaw also showed off their skills and gave us a really strong match.
Last week gave us the return of The Undertaker to television. Hooray! He was in the process of winning his match against JBL when the second SmackDown! draft pick ran down to change the course of things – Randy Orton! He RKO’d ‘Taker and then told him to get used to it, ‘cause he was now on this show. I think this is a super thing for SD. While I don’t want to see a feud between those two go on endlessly, I don’t like that for any two athletes, I’m sure this might go on for awhile and that could be good watching.
Just a quick observation before I go on to Vengeance. I had once likened Orlando Jordan to Sidney Poitier, and meant it at the time. He is a handsome guy. Now however, he bears a closer resemblance to Don King – that’s not a good thing. Oh well.
The Vengeance card looks strong and it might entice me to order it. Six matches as of now, and I think it’s set, with three Title matches and the other three grudge matches. The first of these has Victoria going against Christy Hemme. I really like Victoria and think she is a good wrestler. Christy has worked hard, but I still think that Victoria will have to carry her through most of the match. Unfortunately, I think that Victoria will also be the loser here, as wrestling skills take a back seat to hopping around the ring with the T and A influence.
Kane battles Edge, who will have his new wife at his side. I hope that Kane wipes the floor with Edge, but I know Lita will play a major role in the outcome of the match, most probably causing a Kane loss. I would love it if Matt Hardy actually did make an appearance, knock Edge senseless, run out for the last time, and Kane would get the one, two, three. Dream on, I guess.
Angle gets to face Shawn Michaels one more time and this will probably be one of the best matches on the card. Both men are fiercely dedicated to their profession and go over the top to give the fans the best show they can, whether wrestling injured or healthy. I give the nod to Kurt here, even though I would love HBK to have his hand raised.
The newly crowned Intercontinental Champion Carlito will have to defend against the man he grabbed the belt from, Shelton Benjamin. Just which man does the WWE want to push the hardest? We will see I guess, but I think the belt will go back to Benjamin.
The WWE Champion John Cena will try to fend off two challengers in Christian and Y2J. I would love for Jericho to hold another title and there is no time like the present. That way, he could be drafted over to SmackDown! and bring the WWE belt back with him. Sounds good, anyway.
Finally, the most brutal match around for the World Heavyweight Championship has the champ Batista facing off against Triple H in Hell in a Cell. There is a lot of ego on the line here. HHH has much experience in Cell matches, while Batista has none. Who is hungrier? 3H keeps talking the talk, but I’m not sure that big man Batista might not walk the walk a bit better. I hope that The Cerebral Assassin continues to put Batista over – nobody can make his opponent look better than Triple H can and he himself looks good while doing so. But as to whom will win? I’m afraid that I’d have to say Triple H.
Monday I get to go to the WWE Supershow at the Arrowhead Pond, and I’m really looking forward to it. Not only is it right after Vengeance and those shows that come after pay-per-views are usually pretty good, but it is the last week of the draft, so that should be make it good, too.
Enjoy Vengeance, and let me know your thoughts on things.
Be safe and God Bless,
Barb.
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