| I thought Raw was a solid show this week. WWE always turns it up a notch for MSG, and they did it up well this week.
- The main event was the best match that Kane has had in a long time. It told a good story, had a lot of drama and close calls, and the outcome could have easily gone either way. I'm really interested to see where Kane's character goes from here, but his gimmick has grown so stale that he needs something to revitalize him, and this should do it.
- Goldberg/Rodney Mack. Well, it was 26 seconds well spent. It got the crowd hot for the main event, if nothing else.
- HBK & Nash vs. Flair & Orton was actually a pretty good match. I'm a huge mark for HBK & Flair and think Randy Orton will be one of WWE's top guys five years from now, so three out of four can't be bad - and since those three are really the only ones who did much in the match, it was a winner. How great is Ric Flair, though? 50+ years old and he's still a fantastic worker with good timing, bumping ability, and easily the most comedic and entertaining in-ring performer around. Good match.
- Man, does WWE have a clue what they're doing with the tag division? Sgt. Slaughter? What?! Nostalgia is one thing, making a mockery of a once-great division is another. The pseudo-Frenchies shouldn't have the belts at this point in their run with WWE, but with no other tag teams, who else could hold them? MAKE MORE TAG TEAMS.
- Even though it's kind of degrading, I find the whole "boring" thing with Lance Storm funny. Especially when SCSA says it...great comedy. The only problem is that this gimmick is something that won't escape Lance since he [i:post_uid0]is[/i:post_uid0] boring. It's not like he's going to finally cut loose and be entertaining. His personality is as interesting as watching paint dry. Regardless, the Dudleys vs. Storm/Jericho was a pretty good match.
- Maven/Nownski MCMXCVIII - how many times are these guys going to wrestle? They should at least build some kind of storyline around them instead of just saying "they were on TE together and Chris is jealous that Maven won instead of him." Compelling TV....yawn...
- Test sucks. Steiner sucks. That leaves Christian & Booker T to carry this match, and that's what happened. Just think where Test could be if he hadn't let Stephanie go when she "married" HHH a few years back. He could be main eventing. Instead, people stopped caring about him and quite obviously aren't going to start any time soon. Can him. I do like Christian and Booker feuding, but they need to up the ante on the whole thing. Some kind of not-too-over-the-top storyline to make it that much more interesting.
Highlight of the Night: Foley's ceremony. He is a prime example of what a WWE wrestler should be with regard to entertaining the fans and heart. No one can hold a candle to that guy. It was cool seeing the old Hardcore belt given to him, too. Truly a legend. |