On RAW tonight, the WWE is hotshotting Jeff Hardy vs. Rob Van Dam, Rock will return to RAW as the new champion, and Triple H will begin to hog lots of RAW television time with some lame skits with HBK that were funny 5 years ago. I have a feeling that they MAY just rush Rock vs. Brock Lesnar early, whether it's tonight or next week, because let's face it: Brock vs. Rock isn't going to sell Pay Per Views. Brock versus anybody isn't going to sell a Pay Per View in the main event.
It's just how it is. Brock still has more time to establish himself as a wrestler, and giving him crap wins and protected losses hurt his overall appeal as a main event wrestler. If Brock is going to be a dominant heel, then you should be giving him cheap DQ losses on RAW or at Pay Per Views. It just disgusted me to see the ending to the RVD vs. Brock match. Simply pathetic.
And we could go further with the build up of wrestlers. Look at John Cena... on the 3rd try against Chris Jericho, he finally picks up a fluke win. But guess what? Nobody cares now! The WWE already blew it with the crap DQ win Cena got in his 2nd match with Jericho, or hell, they blew it in the first match, where he should have won via fluke victory after that hot match against Kurt Angle to start his career in the WWE. He's screwed.
Just like Orton fighting the Undertaker. Just like Leviathan getting a gimmick to be D'Von's bodyguard. Just like Rico becoming a homosexual stylist for a tag team that nobody likes at all.
This is just funny. Now if this were 1997 and the WWE had all of this fresh talent to push against tough Nitro competition, then maybe Brock would be a fierce heel, maybe Cena would be a huge face, same with Orton, Leviathan would be getting the "Goldberg" chants, and Rico would show everyone why Jim Cornette and everyone in OVW was praising the guy.
Oh well. Let the WWE learn the hard way. As they lose money from producing a horrible product with protective booking for certain wrestlers, while refusing to put over new talent, the WWE will have to cut costs, as they did with the HWA wrestlers already (Mike Sanders and EZ Money may come back to haunt the WWE some day). I'm sure that many upstart feds, such as the NWA-TNA, would love to sink their teeth into a John Cena, a Randy Orton, a Deacon Bautista, a Brock Lesnar, or a Rico Constantino. It's just like WCW releasing the likes of Triple H, Steve Austin, Chris Jericho, Mark Calloway (the Undertaker), and many others, only for the WWE to eventually make them into huge stars and help their business become stronger.
But hey, it's just millions of dollars at stake. No big deal.
On to the PDC.
Opening match was Dudley Boyz (Spike and Bubba) vs. Chris Benoit/Eddie Guerrero. Not my choice for the opening match, but oh well. Crowd was dead for this one, as Eddie and Benoit have been depushed after Austin left and the Dudleys aren't too strong of faces, other than the "GET THE TABLES" part. Brutal tag team beatdown on Bubba, as he was the face in peril there for a while. Eddie and Benoit have great chemistry as a team, but the tag titles are on another television show or another brand. D'oh! I disliked having the Dudleys beating Benoit and Guerrero, again, as it further depushes two of the most talented wrestlers in the WWE and two very potential lethal heels. Here's a great case for the "glass ceiling" theory. COME BACK STEVE AUSTIN!!!!!!!!!! Good until the lame ending.
Next match was Jamie Noble vs. Billy Kidman. Excuse me for the misspelling of Noble's name, for I swore WCW spelled it as "JAIME Knoble" while he was there. Oh well, my bad. Decent Cruiserweight match, although the WWE is totally going in the wrong direction with it. They are trying to have wrestlers use psychology of hurting a certain body part, such as Chavo attacking Hurricane's knee and Noble attacking Kidman's shoulder. Sure, that was huge in the 1980's and would probably work with heavyweights, but when the fans see two smaller and athletic wrestlers going at it, they want some spots, especially the WWE's current fanbase. Noble won cleanly... WOW!!! A clean win!!!
Time for some unannounced matches. William Regal took on Jeff Hardy in a rematch over the European title. This match reeked of RAW or Smackdown. Did nothing for me, honestly. Jeff won, and so what? That bitter feud with the Undertaker has done wonders for his career, eh?
To continue the unannounced theme, Chris Jericho took on John Cena. What's even funnier is how they did the fluke win for Cena in an unannounced match. This was OK, but their Smackdown matches were better, in my opinion. Now watch, the blame will go on Cena once his push fails, although the bookers were careless with his first two matches against Jericho.
Next, it was Brock Lesnar vs. Rob Van Dam. I've liked their series of matches, although many haven't. I see RVD as a wrestler giving a great effort whenever he fights Lesnar, while other wrestlers can't do the same. The crowd was into this one, thus making it better. However, chalk up another bad finish, as we had a completely lame DQ finish that saw Heyman ruining yet another match by getting himself involved. Afterward, Brock tried to save his heat by attacking RVD. What a push! He's such a big superstar now for that.
Booker T took on the Big Show in a no DQ, no countout match. It was the usual "try to fight the tall fatass" match, althought it had a rightful ending. We saw the return of the Harlem Hangover (now renamed Houston Hangover). I'm surprised that with the added bulk and knee injuries over the years, he can still hit it. Booker T has avoided using the move due to it injuring some wrestlers, namely Rick Martel one time, if I'm correct. After the match, Booker T was still mad at Shawn Michaels, making me cream for the possibility of a legit feud between Triple H and Booker T. Oh wait, Triple H will try to be the top face of RAW now. My bad.
HORRIBLE, and I mean HORRIBLE segment with Triple H, Eric Bischoff, Stephanie, and Shawn Michaels. The crowd was quite dead for Triple H trying to decide what show he was going to be on. It would have been nice for someone to explain why Triple H was able to be a free agent or why Vince McMahon was able to force Triple H on his Smackdown franchise. And now, it looks as though HBK and Triple H are now trying to rekindle their DX days. Yay. Oh, and I just laugh at this Stephanie trying to be a face storyline they are pushing. Do you honestly think that fans are willing to cheer her to keep her as a face? Maybe she could get some cheers from her looks (you know, gigantic knockers), but after a while, the crowds will want to cheer "slut" all over again. She does have a mean slap, though...
Odd to see ex-wife and ex-husband starring in a segment together with Booker T, as Terri interviewed her former husband Goldust and Booker T. I swear, I laugh my ass off whenever Goldust is on television now.
Next match was Lance Storm/Christian vs. Hogan/Edge. Not quite as fun to watch as the matches against Chuck and Billy, but watchable at least. With Hogan, the live crowd always pays attention to the matches. It was so predictable with the announcement of Edge versus Chris Jericho on Smackdown for next week, as Jericho was the man who helped Storm and Christian win the titles. A couple of things to note here... I laughed at the many predictions about Edge turning heel on Hogan to join the new Team Canada. HA! Secondly, can anybody wait for the Team Canada versus Rikishi and "idiot partner for the time" for the World Tag titles? Maybe the WWE could push Albert onto the Smackdown shows and smell the ratings with Rikishi/Albert vs. Storm/Christian. Oh no, I shouldn't say that because the WWE will actually do it, thinking it's a great idea! AHHH!
I really like the early goings of the Eric Bischoff character in the WWE. I'm intrigued to see him on RAW tonight.
Our final match was Kurt Angle vs. Rock vs. Undertaker. I didn't expect a blowaway match here, but something watchable. It was fun to watch, as many, and I mean MANY, finishers were hit throughout the match. Works for me. Everyone and their mother knew that the Rock would probably win, especially anybody who surfs the net. I have no problem with the Rock winning the title RIGHT NOW. He's there until September, so use him on both television shows to spike the ratings. My problem is with who he pinned. I dislike the fact that the belt was won by pinning someone NOT named the Undertaker. I hate how we must protect certain guys at all costs, even if it's the credibility of 2 historical World Titles that are compined to make an Undisputed title.
LAST WORD: I thought, in general, that the WRESTLING and action of the show was good to watch. However, who is booking the endings of these matches? DQ finish in the Lesnar match? No pin on the Undertaker? Dudleys winning? Plus, the WWE gave us 2 unannounced matches, in which they assume they don't have to hype to be huge. Uh huh. I'll give this show a
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