RAW Homecoming Thoughts

Blitzkrieg

Post 'em here. I'll start.

HBK/Angle - This was a pretty good match. It started off fast as hell, lots of good spots, probably the best match of the night. I was hoping for a clean winer at the end but I understand why they did it.

Austin/McMahon - This was a fun segment but I think it lasted a little long. It was nice to see all the McMahons out there again though. Austin was over big time as always.

Hardy/Edge - Not a bad match but it was a little short. I knew Edge would win but I still think this feud might continue on in a month or so. Some nice spots in this match.

Legends/Conway - It was nice to see all those old guys again. Conway's gimmick still sucks and I didn't like him on the mic.

Hogan - Well.. he basically said it will be Hogan/Austin @ WM22. It'll be interesting, but a brutal match from a technical standpoint. I hope Austin goes over.

Bra & Panties -Hot women getting half naked, I can't complain. I just wish Trish would have shown off her awesome body a little more.

Triple H - Nice to see him back, he was in good form.. I knew the turn was coming, the feud will be interesting. Doesn't look lik he'll team with Masters & Carlito though.

Piper's Pit -I liked this. It was well done with Randy getting revenge on Piper for making Cowboy look like a bitch all those years. Of course Foley was cool, and it worked because of the rivalry with Orton from last year.

SD! Match - It didn't happen.. not sure why.

Bischoff/Cena - Complete waste of time. Cena needs something interesting to do FAST. The brawl was nice, but it prolly means nothing. I hope it leads to the end of the brand extention but that'd be wishful thinking.

Overall it was a decent show, had it's moments but I wouldn't say anything too memorable occured. I will be looking forward to see what they do next week though.

Mr. Kennedy

Pipers Pit: It was OK, Orton got to add another name to is list of legends he's killed and it sounded like they teased Foley returning to the ring.

Angel/Michaels: Great back and forth match, it was kinda dissapointing that Angle didn't want to do sudden death over time since that meant the match resolved nothing.

Austin/McMahon: I agree that the segement went on a little too long, it was nice seeing those classic Raw moments though. Seeing all 4 member of the McMahon family was nice and I was a little suprised that Linda took a stunner(even if it was botched)

Edge/Hardy: It was a little on the short side but still enjoyable, maybe now Edge can concentrate on the WWE Title again and Hardy can do something diffrent on SD.

Carlito&Masters/Flair&HHH: An ok match, nice to see Triple H return. We knew the turn was coming but I was hoping he would be a face for a while since the crowd was huge for him

Bra & Panties Match: It was better than I thought it would be, we almost saw more of Candice then they planned and seeing Victoria hold her breasts so they wouldn't jiggle or come loose while she ran was a little funny.

Legends & Conway: I was suprised to see Rob Conway come out but it was great seeing the legends kick his ass, including seeing Snuka hit that splash.

6 Man Tag: This was a match I was really looking foward to so I was upset they cancelled it, maybe WWE had to scrap it because they were running late

Hogan:I'm glad they kept it short, basically he came out set up his match against Austin for WM 22.

Bischoff/Cena: Kept short and for a good reason although Cena IS pretty boring

I thought it was funny with DiBiase trying to pay Mae Young to put her shirt back on, and it was great to see all those legends in attendance. It wasn't great but it was still good and maybe it was nostaglia but it did feel like an old Raw from a few years ago.

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ICEMAN

I was flipping back and forth between this and UFC (Koscheck lost!) but did catch most of RAW, and here are my thoughts:

Piper's Pit: Good opening segment and the Orton appearance was a nice surprise. I thought Piper would turn on Foley, but oh well, we got 2 RKO's in one segment, so I'm happy with that.

Ironman Match: I plan on watching this tomorrow, but from what I've read the match sounds like it was good, but not on their WM 21 level.

McMahons-Austin: Good to see Shane 'O Mac, Stephanie and Linda (looks like she's lost weight) again. Austin was great on the mic as always and there was some good comedy. It did drag a bit, but still fun even though everyone knew what was coming.

Hardy-Edge: Good match, but I was expecting them to go longer. But they did just beat each other up pretty good in the cage match, so I guess they can't do that every match. Ending was good, I thought. I was nervous Hardy was going to miss the ropes and go flying out onto the floor, that would've hurt. And damn, Lita was smokin' tonight. She's looking hotter each week. I agree with Blitz that this feud isn't over yet.

Legends-Conway: Good way to get all of the legends on the screen and hey, I can't complain when one of the all-time great talkers, Dusty Rhodes, gets on the stick. Seeing the claw from Kevin VonErich brought back some great memories from the '80's when Dallas was a big territory in wrestling. Superfly can still fly! That was sweet, although would've been cool to see Steamboat get in some offense, too.

Triple H's return: Good face pop. The turn was expected, but I think it was still well done and I'm looking forward to their upcoming matches. Looks like no new Evolution, at least, not just yet.

Hogan: Always good to see the Hulkster (sorry Blitz). Planted the first seed for Hogan-Austin at WM 22, which is one of the final dream matches in WWE. Vince thought he had problems trying to book the finish of HBK-Hogan, wait till this match is a week away...he's going to wish he never signed it b/c I can't see either guy doing the J.O.B.

Bra-and-Panties: Blah. Same old match we've seen before. Still think it's silly that the girls act embarassed about being stripped down to their undies when most have posed nude or posed wearing swimsuits.

SD! 6-man tag: Thanks for burying your talent, Vince. Was that necessary?

Cena-Bischoff: About what I expected. Even with the long show, Cena got a strong pop, which is a good sign. Brawl was good at the end.

BTW, where was 'Taker? You would've thought he'd be on the show in some form since he and HBK have been with WWE the longest.


Overall I'd say this was a good edition of RAW, as we got to see a bunch of legends return and a couple of good matches, but it wasn't great. Let's see how WWE moves forward from here...should be interesting.

bigdaddy86

Pros:::: Pipers Pit: Orton looked good and was made to look strong.

Iron Man Match: Great match for free t.v. Angle and Hbk put on a clinic. I am satisfied with the ending it only made sense for a draw.

McMahon/Austin: back to the good old days of wwe tv. Austin and Vince still gell better than cena/bischoff.

Ladder Match MITB match: I loved this match from start to finish. Edge and Hardy did a very good job in this match. Lita also added to the match in a good way.

HHH's return. A good moment to see him return even though he looked a little chubby. You could have seen the turn coming a mile away and was too calculated.

Hogan: Always good to have him on Raw. Well you could have seen the seeds planted for Hogan v Austin @ WM22 from the minute he got out there.

Bra & Panties match. I liked this match as well it was not slow paced and even though it was total chaos it came across well.

Smackdown Match: Great for those guys to get introduced on Raw and to stand in the ring for all of less than 1 minute.

Cena v Bischoff. Well at least it was for the WWE title if nothing else.

Shane McMahon/Linda/Stephanie its rare when we see all the McMahons on one show. Stephanie looked hott. as far as Linda McMahon even though the stunner from Austin was botched, it was good to see her again.

Cons:::: Rob Conway: didn't make any sense for him to be there. He just looked very stupid being out there with the legends. His gimmick sucks, and there was probably some truth to what Dusty Rhodes meant by respecting what has come before you.

Edge v Hardy, I was disappointed by the time limit given to the match it should have been longer.

WWE for killing Smackdown all night long. SD was made to look like a joke and that it didn't even matter. Instead of promoting the ppv on Sunday on wwe's part instead SD was taken as a second class show. It was a low point the way they treated Smackdown. Teddy Long needed to step up more for his show.

HHH/Flair post match. They did too much overkill on this. After a while it goes back to the same thing we have seen over and over again. Flair bleeding was like he was in the middle of the desert looking for water.

Missing In Action: Undertaker/Rock/Kane??? More so than anyone else; Rock where in heck are you? I still had hope that he would make a surprise appearance, but nothing happened.

A good show for the most part they have planted the seeds for further storylines further ppv's. ie: Wrestlemania. They have a lot to build on in the future. its in their hands not to go back and have hott show then turn around and have a let down show.

AudioSavior

I can't believe you said that. I had taped it and am going to watch it tonight! grrrrrrrrrr!

Lynch

Pipers Pit: Not withstanding Rods habit of screwing up words, this was really enjoyable, as you have 2 of the best promo guys ever in a interview segment. The Orton interference was great and it actually makes sense since Cowboy Bob was Pipers bodyguard way back when, it also continues his heat with Foley. Good Stuff

IronMan: If you didn't like this, you're not a wrestling fan. The non finish kinda sucked, but it makes sense, showcase the feud for the fans just tuning in, then make em pay for the finish.

Ausin vs the collective McMahons: Nice to see what brought them to the dance relived. Little long, little cliched, but fun nonetheless. Steph looked decent as a blonde, but hell, with that bank account, I'd do Shane.

Ladder Match: Good for a match we all knew the ending too. Matt may actually excel on Smackdown, which I hope cuz he is a great talent.

Hogan: Well I was hoping he'd have a stroke and HBK would come out and just start laughing at him, but alas, no we get Austin vs Hogan at WM 22. Thats cool on the marquee, pretty blah in the ring. I hate Hogan and could care less about him, and his little zing at HBK was a little late, but I respect what he did for wrestling and understand why Vince uses him and blah blah blah....I feel dirty now.

Bra and panties: I'm male, need I say more.

Smackdown match: Stupid and made them look stupid. If you're gonna highlight your six top guys, making them look like incompetent idiots is not the way to go about it, no wonder Taker wasn't on this show, he's not stupid.

Cena vs Bischoff: Heres where I would have thrown in a big swerve, no not give Easy E the belt, but with the no dq in effect I would have had a bunch of heels interfere, and Cena fend them all off long enuff for him to beat Uncle Eric, but then have Edge come out, spear the exhausted Cena, sign the MITB contract, and pin him. Cena still looks good because he was overwhelmed, Edge looks good cuz he just won a big match and we were recapped of his MITB contract, and you add that 'anything can happen' aura to an already huge Raw.

HHH/Flair: Predictable but good. Flair vs HHH at the SS or something, with Flair as a face, good stuff.

Legends: I still think Conway's gimmick is horrendous, but if you wanted to get him some heat, this was the way to do it. Nice ovation for Kevin "the living one" Von Erich.

"What the hell is an aluminum falcon??!!"

Slimdust

I enjoyed it. I really feel like wrestling will get much better being back on USA. I liked the new set up. Wish they had new music though...

I enjoyed all the matches. Thought the womens match was pretty horrible, but guess you cant really complain when beautiful women are almost naked...

After seeing Cena live, I now understand why he is Champion. The man is huge and he is over big time. Reminds me of back in the day with Austin or The Rock.

Everyone just assumes Hardy will go to Smackdown! now. Im not so sure. I can see that happening, but I dont think that this fued is over yet. Guess we all just have to keep watching to find out.

I popped when Shane came out. I was hoping for more though. He just came in and got the stunner. I miss him. WWE needs the family in the Story lines. And how hot was Steph looking? wow

On a side note.. I think im the only one who is starting to enjoy Rob Conway... :cool12:

ICEMAN

My bad. You'll still enjoy the fight, trust me.

Steveo

couple points:

1. The show felt huge until I saw the actual show. It was not the best RAW ever by any means. Some of the episodes from the summer of '98 blew this one away.

2. Piper's Pit was okay, a bit short. Foley and Piper are my two favs so I wanted more of them. I think they should have done a bit between Cowboy Bob and Piper before Randy laid them out.

3. Austin and the Mcmahons was dumb. It was like watching a mid season clip show from a sit-com. They killed that thing dead by overdoing it in 1999 with the Corporate Ministry. Its fun for nastolgia but its all comedy now. The original Austin/McMahon fued had a serious tone to it.

4. I like Conway and its funny becuase me and my friends before the show thought it would be funny if Conway got in a fight with Dusty or one of the legends, and BAM!!!, there it is. Entertaining segment and my wife thinks its funny how worked up I got for the bionic elbow, the claw, and the superfly.

5. Angle/Micheals- I had a big problem with this match. It was many notches below what they have already done this year. I believe Wrestlemania was longer than a 1/2 hour. Commercial breaks kill matches like this. The ending was awful. Standard rule through the years on Iron Man is that in event of a tie sudden death overtime goes into effect. Apparently not last night. Angle walking out makes him look completely stupid. Its out of his character to walk away. And now if he gets the next title shot I'm gonna have to ask why. He doesn't deserve it now.

6. Hardy/Edge- Good match, too short. Hardy gets beat by a woman AHAHAH!!!

7. Smackdown- Apparently they are the number two show and WWE does not want us to forget that. They came off stupid. And apparently Bischoff has the power to shut off arena lights and Teddy Long does not have the power to turn them back on.

8. Hogan= stupid. I want Austin becuase...... well just because!!!! I love matches built on no feud or issue.

9. Cena/Bischoff- What can I say? It was bad. Why not put a real title match in the main even spot? Supposedly the biggest RAW ever with a waste of a main event. Give this feud up please.

10. HHH/Flair- I have one question. Did anyone not see this coming? I believe HHH has done this turn 8,000 times. I was okay with it, he doesn't work as well as a face. But why, oh, why when HHH had Flair's battered head in front of his friends Dusty Rhodes and Harley Race and with his best friend Arn Anderson in the same building did they just sit there? I am so sonfused on this. They were literally less than a foot away form helping him and they just watched. Only in wrestling.

So finally, The show was not blow me out of my seat good, I was very dissapointed with absolutely zero suprises on supposedly such a huge show. The matches were good except the women and the main event. All in all it was nice, but let's hope they can keep some momentum going.

Get yourself an old wrestling tape. Watch Flair in his prime, Terry Funk, The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, The Andersons, Pat Patterson, The Briscoes, and I dare you,... I dare you to try to tell me that WWE is even a remotely good product. Wrestling happened before 1998 and just because you didn't see it does not mean it did not exist. Broaden your horizons people!!!

HellKat

Piper's Pit w/Mickles
Michaels v. HBK
Austin stuns the McMahons
SD! getting the lights out (just b/c I got to see Christian on RAW again

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