Okay, do we have it out of our system? Good. I’m starting to think all this USA talk has nothing to do with the country. Maybe… maybe it has to do with something else involving WWE? Heck, I don’t know. I’m just an average fan who only watches the TV, and I have no idea if WWE is going anywhere. Maybe, just maybe, they were talking about going to that USA Network. Maybe not. I’m not sure at all.
SpikeTV did a great job, though, didn’t they? I don’t care what you say. The match of the night was not Snitsky vs Big Show in a Street Fight. It surely wasn’t Trish vs. Victoria, with lots of skin (but not enough for the King). I don’t think it was the main-event Tables match either. The match of the night was Vince, Jim Ross, The Coach and Jerry Lawler vs. The SpikeTV Censors. What a battle! SpikeTV got some early kicks and punches against Vince, after Vince extended his hand to soon-to-be opposition and was denied a handshake, and then SpikeTV tried to lay the Smackdown on the Three Stooges behind the announce table, but by God BY GOD!! It was Vince and the Announcers who prevailed, with a stunning win over the censors. If “USA Network” wasn’t said about fifty times in the last thirty seconds, I’d be shocked.
So, with the departing from one network comes the return to another network next week, for the WWE Homecoming. Monday Night Raw returns home to the USA Network, with some big names appearing, including Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Roddy Piper, Mick Foley, Jimmy Snuka, Greg Valentine, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Jimmy Hart (just to name a few). Triple H returns to the show for the first time in over three months, while John Cena goes head to head with The Ninja, Eric Bischoff. Matt Hardy will not die, but he might make a move to Smackdown soon, unless he can beat Edge in a “Loser Leaves Raw” match. So, Raw looks like it’s going to be huge, if only just for one huge three-hour event. I feel like I’m a walking advertisement for WWE Homecoming (on the USA Network, October 3rd), but this has a purpose. It’s time to talk about Raw. It’s time to dig down deep, and take a look at one of the two leading sports entertainment shows from the WWE.
Monday nights are home to some of the greatest talent in wrestling. If it’s big and bad, then look no further than the biggest man in sports today, The Big Show. If you want someone who WILL NOT DIE, look no further than the supposedly true immortal one, Matt Hardy. If a white man acting black tickles your fancy (sounds a lot worse than I intended it to), then John Cena is the man. The talent pool is huge, and you can’t help but get a little excited when you hear that Raw theme every week, and the pyros going off live in your own home. Raw is definitely the most exciting two hours of television each and every week, rivalled only by Fox’s “24”. But, is this talent used properly each week? And more importantly, are the right superstars getting the pushes they deserve? Are there some guys getting pushed way too soon in their career? And are there a few guys who are lingering at the top for too long? It’s my job for the next few paragraphs to go in-depth for Raw, and take a look at what’s going right, and what needs a little fixing.
The Masterpiece
I’ve been racking my brains out like crazy over the past few weeks, trying to transfer my thoughts to words, and devote a column entirely to Chris Masters. He is getting a huge push in the WWE, and the audience reaction is VERY mixed. Wherever I go, looking for opinions on the self-proclaimed Masterpiece, I normally get a negative response. And I was in that same camp not too long ago. I was sick of staring at Masters every week, doing movements along to his theme music, coupled with a long stream of fireworks, while he prepared himself to make some other local fall victim to his aptly named Masterlock.
But recently, upon his push against Shawn Michaels, I have grown to like the modern-day Lex Luger (The Narcissist version from WWE in around 1993-1994). His mic skills have improved greatly, and the cockiness he has is something many guys are going for, and very few can pull off so… wait for it… masterfully, like Chris Masters (I apologize for that). Carrying on the Masterlock challenge for so long was a mistake, but now that he has a more prominent role on Monday Night Raw, I think he is taking to his role quite well.
His in-ring work is not perfect. We can see that. But, he is improving week-after-week, and I believe he held his own against the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels at WWE Unforgiven. He has been holding his own for a while now, and I think it’s time to push him in a new direction. It’s possible that an Intercontinental Championship reign is in store for Masters, and I know he deserves it. I don’t think my opinion of Masters is a popular one, but in a time where heels seem to be prevailing greatly, he’s not falling back into the mix. He is stepping up, proving his worth, and showing us what he’s made of. And if he’s the future of Raw, I don’t mind at all. If he continues to improve his overall package inside the ring, he could be in the main-event picture somewhere down the line.
The See-Saw Divas Division
I’m not going to focus too much on the women, because my last column focused primarily on the recovering division, but I will say that the current storyline between Trish, Ashley, Candice, Torrie and Victoria is probably the best I’ve seen from the divas division in a while. Where can it possibly go afterwards, with only six divas (Lita being the sixth) on the Monday Night Raw side? Not far. They need some new talent, to mix it up, which is why I wished they would have had all the divas on one show, and all the cruiserweights on the other show, but for now, the five women are doing a fine job with what they have. I especially like the heel partnership between Candice and Torrie. It’s not everyday that you see good heel divas, and they’re doing a fine job with veteran Victoria.
The Best Announcement Team in Sports. Period.
Come on, the trio team of JR, King and the Coach has got to be the greatest announcers going today. Sure, I don’t watch much hockey, football or baseball, so I cannot judge that completely, but these three have built a chemistry that is rivalled by no one. The addition of the Coach was a risky move, but it has worked out perfectly. Coach was being wasted as Bischoff’s lackey, but now he is really adding something new to the announce team, alongside Good Ol’ JR and the King, Jerry Lawler.
Don’t even consider comparing these guys to any of the “B-shows”, like Velocity or Heat. Guys like Todd Grisham and Josh Matthews do their job, but they need to step it up to much higher levels if they want to be compared to Raw’s trio of announcers. On Smackdown, you have Michael Cole and Tazz, who act as an alternative to JR and the King. These guys aren’t JR and the King, and they never will be. They hold their own well, I will admit that. But… there’s just times where I want to slap Michael Cole! I honestly do. He flips out on the headset, and tries to mimick all of JR’s announcing, but he can’t imitate him, and he sure as hell should not imitate JR. Why? Because he isn’t JR! Only JR can scream “He was just, BY GOD, BROKEN IN HALF!!!” And, I’m also not partial to Cole’s “Oh my!” every six seconds, but I’m not here to critique Smackdown… yet.
Rob Conway
Rob Conway is another guy getting a lot of negative responses from the audience. Not for his in-ring work, but for his new persona. You see, I didn’t watch WCW when the show was on. I rarely watched, simply because the names and faces were unfamiliar to me. And the faces I did recognize were not amongst my favorites at the time. So, when people compare him to Buff Bagwell, I don’t have a lot to go on, other than the look. This allows me to try my best to look at him as Conway, and not Bagwell. If it’s an idea WWE is ripping off, then shame on them, “Down With WWE!” and all that other crap that I’ll pretend to say.
The persona aside, Conway has the look of a champion. I don’t know if it’s WWE Champion or just IC champion, but Conway has the look. His in-ring work is solid, and I see him more as Rob Conway, and less like Robert Conway of La Resistance. I say he’s doing something right if he can make me forget his tag team days, waving the french flag.
The biggest obstacle Conway faces is a LONG line of heels on Raw. It seems EVERYONE is suddenly undefeated now in WWE. Kennedy is supposedly undefeated, Conway is undefeated under his new gimmick, Masters suffered his first loss at Unforgiven, Tyson Tomko is rackin’ up the wins with that “deadly” boot. Wow, that’s original. Anyway, Conway probably will end up coming up short when it comes to main-events, so he’ll have to settle for the mid-card, IC title picture for a while. But, that would be a major step up for some, so he should enjoy that spot when he eventually gets it.
The WWE and IC Titles
Oh, how different these titles are. The IC Championship Title doesn’t seem as prominent as it once was, many years ago, but it’s fairly solidified as a title. A heck of a lot more solidified than the US Title at the moment (Benoit is doing his best). Shelton Benjamin held on to that title for about eight months, and where has it gotten him? A feud with Kerwin White (the artist formerly known as Chavo). Not much of a platform, was it? Carlito seems to have made a bit more out of his reign, though, and is hovering around the main-event picture, with Angle and Masters. Angle has a chokehold on the main-event picture at the moment, but Carlito and Masters are definitely ranking up there to. But, expect that to change once The Game returns. And, with Ric Flair holding the title, merely as one more accomplishment in the Nature Boy’s career, I don’t think the title means as much overall as it should. But, it’s doing okay.
The WWE Title, however, is thriving on the shoulders of John Cena. My feelings towards Cena are mixed, and I know I’m not the only one tired of the same old song-and-dance (mock someone the crowd hates, mention the crowd’s hometown for a “cheap pop”, pretend you’re not filthy rich and expect everyone to believe you’re a street guy and “one of us”). But, he’s doing a good job getting the crowd behind him (or the majority of the crowd, seeing as how I’m not the only Cena hater). The only problem I have is I don’t see him as the champion. I hate the novelty title he brings to the ring. I wasn’t keen on Austin changing the title around, and I don’t like that Cena did the same damn thing. It makes it look like just an accessory on Cena, and not the real thing. The title that Bischoff held last week was the real deal. The sooner that Cena’s title is gone, the better. Even if I have to put up with Triple H as champion for the next ten months.
The Raw Feuds
Because I could go on for a few more pages about the feuds on Raw, I’ll introduce the “X-Factor Rapid Fire”, where I’ll give short and sweet opinions on a few feuds that have been on-going for the last while on Raw. Here we go…
Matt Hardy vs. Edge: Half a year with Guerrero and Mysterio, and they’re pulling the plug on Hardy and Edge after two months? Damn.
Shelton Benjamin vs. Kerwin White: Chavo’s denouncing his Latino heritage? What a coincidence, I’m denouncing his new gimmick!
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle: Didn’t we see this before? Street kid getting hassled by the rich, reputable guy. Cena did it with Jericho… and with JBL! Isn’t there ANY other type of opponent for Cena besides someone who wants to add dignity to the WWE title, something Cena apparently cannot do with his street persona. Next!
Trish/Ashley vs. Candice/Torrie/Victoria: For someone like me, it’s nice to see a fresh new feud occuring. For the male fans, it’s additional chances that someone will pop out of their top.
Big Show vs. Snitsky: Two monsters fighting, and no one cares. Ouch.
Vince and the Announcers vs. SpikeTV Censors: Next week on the USA Network, the WWE will return to the USA Network for the first time since the last time they were on the USA Network, which was five years ago on the USA Network.
Overall, Raw is solid, and I stand by my claim that you won’t find more excitement out of any other TV show. Even “The Sopranos”! I think John Cena would have a tough time fighting back against Tony Soprano and the mafia. Next week, I’ll be taking an in-depth look at the state of Smackdown, the move to Friday nights, and hopes for the future of the brand. See you all then!
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