Raw ThoughtsThe first match was the supposed main event between Triple H/Jeff Hardy and Umaga/Snitsky. The match was good and Jeff looked good in the ring again even though the focus was clearly on him being the underdog. Hopefully this was exaggerated slightly tonight to allow Jeff to play the underdog role heading into his match with Triple H at Armageddon. Umaga and Snitsky gelled well together and if this is the role that Vince is going to keep them in then I am actually OK with it and don’t mind the idea of a dominant tag team running riot over the division for a while. Though it will undoubtedly end up with a match between the two of them when they cannot co-exist together any longer.
I am not a fan of moving the main event matches to open the show. It may be a good way to grab the viewer and try to hold them for the rest of the show, but, in the case of the WWE, it usually means that the show is going to end with some sort of rubbish promo in the ring that may, or may not, result in a run-in. However, it didn’t bother me too much tonight as I was almost certain that this move came about because Ric Flair was going to be wrestling his return match, in his home town. Either that or Jericho would be wrestling and Orton would appear to attack him; both main event worthy possibilities – and probably better than the tag team match that opened the show.
Speaking of Flair, it wasn’t long before he arrived and both his role tonight and his return/retirement storyline was made clear. Flair was great with his promo and really left everyone guessing as to what it was, and Orton even looked believable (rather than his usual robotic self) as a human being when he came out.
Flair now officially cannot lose a match or he will be forced to retire. Seeing as Vince made this stipulation, it looks like the basis of the feud could be Ric vs. Vince. I am a huge fan of the angle itself as Flair will be able to go out on top and every single one of his matches will be meaningful. However, if Vince is the protagonist, I may not be so happy. Whilst Vince and Flair would be dynamite with their promos, I do not want to see them in the ring together again – let alone in Flair’s final match; probably at WrestleMania next year. If Vince is the protagonist but takes a backseat, then I can cope with it. For example, if Vince makes it his mission to get rid of Flair and puts him in matches on all three brands against all sorts of opposition then I will be happy. Especially if the end result is Vince paying people to help him get rid of Flair, with someone else (please be Kennedy) finally getting the victory over the Nature Boy.
What was the point of the 8-man tag team match? No one get any real ring time, no one looked good, and the Rhodes/Holly storyline was built up in any way. I do prefer matches being used to waste time on the show rather than pointless McMahon/Hornswoggle matches, but this should not have been on the show. It should have been a random match with no storyline at all, or another minute or two should have been used to show some interaction between the new team.
Jeff and Triple H interact backstage. I have really enjoyed this two of late and Triple H shone backstage here with his attitude towards Jeff and hints of his heel persona. However, I am really not a plan of this programme in general, even if it is just going to be one match at Armageddon. I think it speaks wonders for Triple H’s pull and the state of the WWE when they decide to put Triple H against Jeff Hardy just for the sake of putting him against the most on-form star in the company, just to make H look good, even when Jeff has a perfectly plausible and well heated storyline with MVP.
Jericho mocks Orton again and comes off as hilarious again. I really did laugh out loud at his pictures and it reminded me of one of his favourite promos from way back when he was feuding with Chris Benoit over the Intercontinental title and he did something similar.
I liked the idea of Y2J(v2) duelling with Santino as they are probably the best two talkers either side of the face/heel divide at the minute. However, I would certainly not have put him in a match against the rookie. This segment made Jericho look bad in two ways. Firstly, he just stood by and did nothing whilst Santino beat up Lawler. Why would he do that? Secondly, Lawler has beaten Santino twice in very quick matches but it took Jericho a decent five minutes to beat the young Italian. I know this was his return match so it could be argued that he would be expected to be rusty, but couldn’t you say something similar about Lawler – A semi-retired commentator?
Besides the above, Jericho looked very smooth in the ring and that was the first Santino match in a while that I did skip to go to the bathroom. I have to say though that Jericho’s finisher is nowhere near as impressive as he thinks it is. I definitely prefer the Walls/Tamer as a general finishing move.
Kennedy got two quick chances to impress on Raw and he did well in both. He got a very quick victory over Brian Kendrick which was basically a nothing match but Kennedy came out looking very strong. His mic work also continued to impress as he both ripped on Shawn Michaels and pushed his new DVD. Kennedy really seems to be getting passed his recent blip and I hope that it isn’t just simply to do with being put up against the Heart Break Kid, or, if it is, that he will be able to motivate himself beyond this,
presumably short, feud.
Hornswoggle draws a hole in the wall and escapes through it. This crap should not be on my television. I thought WWE was taking a step in the right direction with this character when they got Finley involved again, but I have to say that this cartoon crap needs to go straight away. It is totally unbelievable (they obviously aren’t even trying to make it so) and it isn’t even funny. This may be them catering to all the 7 year old fans, but it does absolutely nothing for me. I would much rather have seen him trip up Carlito and simply run away.
Mickie James beat Melina for a title shot against Beth Phoenix. The match itself wasn’t anything special and with Mickie beating Beth’s team at Survivor Series it would have been easily explained if WWE had just decided to book this match for Armageddon without a proper number one contenders match. It is a good sign for division that this match took place then, as it shows that some proper thought was put into this programme to enable Mickie to actually earn her title shot, rather than just randomly giving it to here.
The main event saw Ric Flair defeat the WWE champion after Jericho interfered, allowing Flair to hit the low blow and pin Orton with the roll-up. I enjoyed the match and Flair looked like his usual self. Obviously he is no spring chicken at his current age, but he performed tonight like he did when he returned to full-time wrestling a few years ago. I will certainly be able to enjoy his last run and I hope that future matches will be just as entertaining as this – a definite possibility seeing as Orton isn’t exactly the highest calibre opponent for Flair in the WWE. Hopefully they wont all end via interfere and low blows though; otherwise we will probably see the career of Ric Flair end when he finally gets caught hitting his opponent with a low blow and gets himself disqualified – though thinking about it, this would probably be the truly fitting end to the career of the dirtiest player ever to grace the game.
Raw continued its mish-mash of quality this week. In-ring, the product was severely on and off. The matches themselves were always of decent to good quality, but were often there for no reason. Outside of the ring though, just about everything (with the exception of the McMahon/Hornswoggle stuff) came off great and most segments either created a new match for Armageddon or solidified the build up for one.