Out With The Old…And Other Thoughts From Last Night’s RAW

 

To paraphrase The Rock: “Finally…some sense of new life…HAS COME BACK…to RAW!”

Stephanie McMahon’s announcement that many current feuds will be ending was just about the best thing that could have happened to RAW. (While we’re on the subject, it is my opinion that Triple H is indeed a lucky man to be married to such a hot woman.) I have railed many times in this column about how stale the WWE has gotten over the past year. It appears that the fact was ultimately realized by Vince McMahon and he has decided to shake things up a bit.

No one shakes things up like Vincent K. McMahon.

Just from last night’s program, it seems like we’ll be seeing some Shawn Michaels-JBL matches in the near future. Ditto for Batitsta vs Randy Orton. The return of John Cena will also throw some new possibilities into the mix.

Change is a basic tenet of survival. The WWE has always been able to adapt to the current climate of entertainment and this time will be no different. I have a feeling this change will definitely be for the better.

Other thoughts from last night’s show:

- Um…yeah. Who didn’t think that William Regal would win the Intercontinental belt in his home country? It’s a shame, though, that we will never see the “Honk-a-meter” again.

- I initially lauded the John Cena promos, citing the respect his fellow wrestlers have for him. At this point, though, they have grown tiresome in their repetition. We all know he’s coming back at Survivor Series. I’ve grown weary of seeing him portrayed as a cross between Ric Flair and Jesus Christ.

- Question: Can you name one person who was “eagerly anticipating” (according to Michael Cole) the debut of Mike Knox on RAW? I sure can’t. This limited brawler with his backwoods beard and plodding style is hardly a novelty.

- Who knew Randy Orton was so popular in England? The “RKO” chants during his chat with Batista were surprising in their volume.

- On the subject of Orton, I’m wondering if his actions will induce some sort of “face turn” for Cody Rhodes and Manu. Can you imagine the two of them facing off against Miz/Morrison? Golden opportunity here, WWE writers.

- It would have been more appropriate to have staged a “Hell in the Cell” or regular steel cage match to cap off the HBK- Jericho feud. The Last Man Standing aspect just fell flat, especially with the interference of JBL. This excellent program deserved better.

- Speaking of falling flat, what was wrong with Beth Phoenix last night? She and Mickie James usually put on a much more skilled display than that. It’s sad that the most entertaining part of that matchup was Santino’s Trombone Victory Celebration.

- Finally, the Rey Mysterio-Kane situation mercifully came to an end. I like Rey as much as the next guy, but for some reason, there was never much believability that his brand of offense would be effective against The Big Red Machine. Time for both to move on to greener pastures

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