I couldn't take it. Watching the WWE making the same mistake with having Triple H talk about his lame feud with Shawn Michaels just irritated me to all hell. So I turned it off for the evening and went to sleep. When I watched it later during last night, I was pleased to see that RAW was a good one after that boring opening interview.
I don't think it's HBK, it's Triple H. We've witnessed all that we could with Triple H's character. We've seen the cool-face with the DX gimmick, we watched the bad attempt at being top face recently, and we've viewed every single intense thing that a heel could do. He's done it all, from attacking people with sledgehammers to getting dropped in a car several meters off the ground. What more can you do with Triple H? And the worst part of it all is that he lost the wrestling magic he once had in 2000 and 2001, where he could damn near make anybody look good, even the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 17. He can't do that now to back up his characters. And it all gets worse with his protected position because he's screwing the boss's daughter.
It's not about the Game anymore, so let's move on.
On to the late-late RAW review.
Opening promo was Triple H talking in near monotone, talking about how he used HBK to get to the top. Gee, Triple H "got to the top" in the Summer of 1999 when they pushed him towards the World Title after he re-signed with the WWE, not jumping ship to WCW. The one that really got him on top, because he got on top of her, was Stephanie and that position is impossible to break, despite actually hurting the shows. Triple H has won more titles than HBK... Yeah, but at least HBK didn't lose to Vince McMahon, now did he? Triple H was very true that he was a better "business man" than HBK, although not by much. This interview went nowhere, and then it got worse when the Rock interrupted and tried to cut a promo on Brock Lesnar. This angered Triple H, and will eventually set up next week's Triple H vs. Rock match. Brock Lesnar would run down and help Triple H attack Rocky, only to be escorted out of the building afterward.
Our first match was Trish Stratus/Spike Dudley versus Molly Holly/Chris Nowinski. What, this makes 3 or 4 weeks in a row for mixed or intergender matches involving Trish or Molly Holly? Can the writers possibly write anything new for these ladies? This was probably the best one out of the bunch, though, as Nowinski's weaknesses were protected, Spike was bumping like a champ, and the ladies did well. Still, I ask to give us something new next Monday.
I like the slow build for Kane's return. I wonder what they'll do about the mask, seeing that X-Pac is having some problems coming back to the WWE (whatever they may specifically be).
The big payoff of the secret document from Smackdown was that Rob Van Dam is GUARANTEED a rematch with Chris Benoit at Summerslam. And Stephanie was going to get rid of that document? Who is the face GM here, Stephanie or Bischoff? Who cares? We've got RVD and Benoit on Pay Per View, and they should deliver an awesome match with more time given to them.
Next, it was Lance Storm vs. Booker T. Glad to see they've booked Booker T/Goldust vs. the Unamericans. Booker T/Goldust are going to be HUGE as champions. Good midcard match between these former WCW stars. I don't recall these two fighting on Nitro, but I watched a lot of WCW back then, so I'm assuming these two fought at least once back in the day. Looking it up, I see they wrestled on the August 7th, 2000 edition of Nitro. Run ins galore to finish the match, but acceptable to hype their tag match. Test would run in, and then the Undertaker would run in for the save. All setting up tonight's Main Event...
Oh my God, the Island Boys just murdered Mini-Dust. He took two very hard power moves, and probably struggled walking around the next day. I guess that ends using Mini-Dust from the Austin Powers popularity.
Next match was Chris Jericho/Big Show vs. Ric Flair/Bubba Ray Dudley. Good bout here, especially when everyone not named Big Show was in the ring. Jericho and the Big Show would get the win after Bubba Ray Dudley tapped out to the Walls of Jericho. By the way, Jericho's band "Fozzy" is playing at the next show. Quite generous of the WWE to do that, at the expense of live television.
Steven Richards vs. Tommy Dreamer was next in a Hardcore match. Man, Richards and Dreamer put on the BEST Hardcore WWE matches lately. They really go at each other, and they are allowed to crack each other hard with those cane shots. Good stuff here, with some shades of ECW lurking around. Dreamer was the man for selling the leg injury throughout the whole match and afterward. Richards has been really good lately, and it looks like he'll get some kind of push, given how Jim Ross was hyping that he was in excellent shape right now.
Nice Shawn Michaels video promo. I wonder what wrestling history would be like if he didn't blow out his back in 1998 at the Royal Rumble in that fateful Casket Match against the Undertaker?
Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy was next. Hardy looked RIDICULOUS in the body paint. What is seriously wrong with that guy? I believe in freedom of expression, yes, but when it makes you look like a goofball... Hardy and RVD worked together well, again, but the match seemed like it was cut short. Still nice. During the match, an angry Matt Hardy attacked his brother to help RVD win the match. See you on Smackdown, Matt, as this could be your chance at finally making it as a Singles star while your brother jobs to everyone on RAW.
Holy Kevin Dunn appearance on RAW!
GREAT Main Event to end the show with Booker T/Goldust/Rock/Undertaker versus Triple H/Christian/Lance Storm/Test. The entrances took forever for this match, and that's considering that the Unamericans came out together. Jesus, someone do something about that. I do mark for Storm's ring music. Lots of good in and out action throughout the match, and the Undertaker wasn't too bad here either. The ending, though, was a shocker with Test beating the Undertaker with the big boot while the 'Taker was trying the Last Ride on someone. Devastating! Poor Test will probably get his ass handed to him at Summerslam. How about this? Have Test beating Undertaker at Summerslam, to the shock of everyone?
LAST WORD: Finally, a RAW to rave about. Not a bad match on the show and a strong main event to finish up the show. Summerslam is looking extremely nice now, and there was less talk, more action for this show. The beginning segment with Triple H trying to talk wasted time for this show, with the Rock coming down, was very lame and knocks this show's grade down from an A+ to an
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@That is all for today. I don't know if I'll be around much for the remainder of this week. On Thursday, I'll be travelling to a backyard event (a combined event from the two feds I sponsor here in the column) and secondly, I'll be out of town Friday handling some things for college. Until the next PDC, whenever that is, just chill...
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.