I guess my job is harder than I thought. Nobody, not one of you chose to take my bet. Either I truly am the best damn WWE blogger on the planet or you think the Bella Twins will be released. The Raw 7 was falling apart last week. This week, I thought would be a different story. I was wrong. Before Raw, I want to talk a little about why I think the WWE is having problems getting people excited each week for wrestling. Are you ready for some hot wrestling opinions?
One word: predictable. I don't like to reminisce about the Attitude era but I think we need to here. The characters in that era were crazy, exciting and unpredictable. Steve Austin, obviously, was the craziest son of a b*tch the WWE ever will have and nobody can match the intensity, passion or "what the hell will happen next" moments. The Rock was the best talker so who knew what he was going to say and the deadman was crucifying people on a giant cross. Who in this era even compares to any of those three? Cena is the most predictable character. Sheamus is Raw but not much character development... yet. Swagger reminds me of the old school 80's wrestler, who is in your face one minute and running for the hills the next. The Miz is getting there with his mic skills, not in the ballpark of the Rock but he's solid. Aside from Nexus who is there? One man and one man only has the characteristics to be wild, crazy and unpredictable. I'm sure by now you know I'm talking about the Viper, Randy Orton. He's becoming the straight up ass kicker and will back up his words with the RKO coming from anywhere. The WWE has to build characters and not just wrestlers. I was surprised last year when Kofi destroyed Orton's car and showed a different darker side and he did it again on Smackdown beating up Ziggler. I want to see more of that. I love in ring pure wrestling. However, you can develop wrestlers characters in the ring with matches, as I just mentioned with Kofi. WWE needs to show off that more and not waste time with worthless backstage skits that have no meaning at all.
Edge starting Raw was a pleasant surprise. I don't think he's been used correctly on Raw. He was a main eventer on Smack and he's a mid carder on Raw. The CPU GM hurt the flow of the show. Truth and Edge were having good banter and then the sound effect goes off and the crowd groans. Never hurts to give a guy like Truth and Edge the first segment of the night. Hell, it's a good way to show them in front of the audience and a change of pace to Cena giving a lame speech or the WWE champion coming out.
Finally, Nexus in a one on one match and their leader even. Wade Barrett hadn't been in a one on one contest on Raw since taking on Cena back when NXT Season 1 was going on. Edge played more of the face than the heel during the match and that's a good thing. He's so damn talented to be able to switch his role quickly and get the fans behind him during a match and then quit a segment later. The Nexus coming out is exactly what needed to happen. They are like wolves and the pack has to stick together. It made Barrett look a little weak but very little when you remember Nexus was 7-0 last week in the elimination match.
The Women's match was decent for what it was this week. Natalya and Tamina should have a real feud with real matches and not bit parts. I bet they would have good matches and be a better feud than Eve and Fox. I'd like to see Natalya put in the title hunt and thought I might get a chance after she lost to Fox cleanly tonight. Kim showed she is the best seller with that nasty looking toss into the ring post. In the end, Melina comes back and if she takes the belt from Fox, I'm all for it.
Goldust sure looked strong against Sheamus. They show the highlights from the same match a year ago and Goldust fought hard. As Sheamus said, what a difference a year makes. I don't think Goldust even got a move in. Total squash and future endeavors are Goldust future. The only good part was the high cross came back. Sheamus promo wasn't bad either and I think from now on I will try to get a 'me self' in the blog each week.
I know Cena and Jericho is something we have seen before numerous times. The match was well done and solid in ring work by both men. This is what I was talking about last week comparing Smack and Raw. Raw needs guys like this to bring up the level of intensity and put on a quality two segment match every week. If Smackdown can do it with 2 matches, Raw should be able to get one. I'm not sure if you saw it, the Lionsault spot looked awkward. After a match of that caliber, it'd be a shame for Jericho to walk out of the company now. If he does, the WWE will need to find a suitable replace because Y2J has helped many of the young talent. The only problem I had with the match was how fast Chris tapped out. Even though he quit the team and Edge and him are teaming up next week. Somehow I think all 7 will be back together for the match at SS.
Even with Nexus, I'm glad Dibiase isn't buried, although getting beat by The Not So Great Kahli is about like being buried. Zach Ryder should be in a crappy feud like this and not Teddy. Teddy has a future with the company and will be a world champion some day. The Nexus showing they like Kahli just pisses me off more. Nobody should like Kahli unless he's in a silent movie and not wrestling.
Main event exceeded my expectations, much like Dinner for Schmucks. Miz and Orton put on a quality contest and it's a tune up to see if Miz can hang with the big boys. I think Miz showed he can put on a good match with a guy like Orton running the show. I'm starting to see the potential in Miz. I still don't think he is ready to take over as the face of Raw by himself. Orton could certainly help the process and lighten the load. A triple threat with these two and Sheamus after Summerslam will prove once and for all if Miz is ready to be a main eventer and handle the pressure of being "on" every night. The RKO out of nowhere for the win was a great way to end the show. This is the biggest and best push Orton has ever had even topping the Legacy days. Raw finishes with the WWE title story which always makes me happy.
Overall, I thought Raw was a great show. We finally saw Nexus have a one on one contest even if it didn't have a clean finish. We witnessed two excellent in ring contests, something Raw rarely ever puts on. I'm intrigued with the Raw 7 story and how that will wrap up with Summeslam right around the corner. The WWE title is shaping up nicely and I think Orton and Sheamus will put on a better match than the one they had earlier this year on ppv. Only real gripe, no tag champs again. Be listening to ShowStoppers because I'm sure they hated everything I liked on Raw. Wasp will be back with another fine TNA blog on Friday to get you pumped for the weekend. If that's not enough wrestling talk to get your wrestling pants excited, another MPX show will be coming up soon. I will return next week with another Raw blog and it might be time to start talking some football.
J Call
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