17 minutes.
RAW is a two hour program and, last night, there was only 17 minutes of actual wrestling match action. That encompasses a grand total of 5 contests. Disgraceful.
I’m just thankful I DVR’ed the show and was able to utilize the FF button. I can’t help but feel extreme sympathy for anyone who actually attended this monstrosity. There was more useless talking done last night than in a handful of presidential debates. The J.R Farewell speech segment took 22 minutes alone.
Note to Vince McMahon: Meaningless blather is NOT the way to appeal to new viewers. All it does is punish those who have been loyal to your company.
Other thoughts from last night’s show:
- Cody Rhodes’ heel turn has to be one of the least interesting transformations in the history of the business. If he even possessed 1/80th of his father’s charisma, he may have held my attention. Also, the fact that the bookers decided to showcase the new duo of Rhodes and Lil’ Dibiase in a squash match proves they don’t have much confidence in them to carry the Tag Team Championship ball.
- While I’ve already lambasted the excessive talking, I will admit I did laugh when Edge screamed at J.R “Put that in your blog, Barbeque Boy!” Inspired stuff from the “Rated R Superstar”
- I also got a kick out Santino Marella’s new porn star ’stache. His “shut-upa you face” prompted an unplanned giggle from Rey Mysterio.
- After I watched the Y2J-Kofi Kingston match, I heard the Rock in my head: “Finally….wrestling has come back…to RAW”. These two had a well-executed match and I cant wait to see more from the innovative, ultra-athletic Kingston in weeks to come.
- Shane McMahon was so uncharacteristically under-stated in his announcement about his father’s health, I very nearly believed it…if it wasn’t so damn obvious that his “accident” was the escape route for the failed “Million Dollar Mania” program.
- The sign in the crowd said it all: “RAW is JR”. Michael Cole is a poor, poor substitute in my opinion.
- Memo to Jamie Noble: 2002 called and wants it’s tired, unfunny “Redneck Schtick” back.
- Finally, while there weren’t a lot of nice things to be said about last night’s endeavor, I am really happy to see CM Punk finally get the push he deserves. I even enjoyed watching JBL in that match. The WWE finally recognized the stale elements of their roster and invigorated them with new challenges. I hold out hope for the future.
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2 Responses to “All Talk, Little Action…And Other Thoughts From Last Night’s RAW”
Posted: 07/01/08 at 12:00 pm
To be honest I thought it was a decent show for all the talking that occurred. It’s the beginning of the build towards the GAB, hopefully next week will have some more matches.
Posted: 07/01/08 at 2:45 pm
i actually agree wiliam i thought it was a cool show. Although i was upset to see fellow torononian edge lose the belt to loser punk, it was still kinda cool. Regarding the Vince angle, the talk of the net can be summed up below, which isn’t much sum at all im ny opinions.
Vince McMahon is strategically planning his return. Last night on RAW, Shane McMahon’s announcement did not further the storyline. This was done so that the plug could be pulled on the storyline if fans show no interest in the following weeks.
Vince could return to TV and say he was lucky to avoid serious injury. Another option for WWE is to have Vince remain absence and then show up on RAW unexpectedly. Former WWE writer Brian Gewrirtz pitched an idea in the past of Vince growing a scruffy beard and playing a Howard Hughes-like character.