RAW kicked off the week of WWE TV with a taped show from St.Louis. It was a mixed bag in my opinion, with some good, some bad, and some segments that simply were as bland as eating ice at the bottom of a snow cone that has no flavor left. With that, here are some thoughts from the show:
The Good:
* I have expressed this before, and I will say it again, Chris Jericho circa 2008 is by far my favorite reborn character the company has seen in sometime. I don’t know if it was Chris, but whoever has come up with the tweaks to the old Jericho gets a huge prop in my eyes. Here’s hoping for a Jericho-Punk program for the belt at some point down the road provided they allow Punk to keep it.
* The returns of hottie Candice Michelle and Rey Mysterio made the night. First, here’s hoping Michelle finally can stay healthy and get a serious program with Beth Phoenix. As for Rey, I think that was the best return of the few that we’ve seen out of him. He finally forgo the cartoon character that we usually see, and came out with a serious look and had a great go at it with Kane. I am looking forward to the Kane-Rey program that will take place after the PPV.
* Randy Orton coming out and making all the title holders mad was a great way to kick off the night. I love the fact instead of just sugar coating it and calling out Punk, he also called out DiBiase and Rhodes and Phoeix, which was great. I think Randy will be top notch with his character when he returns and will be right at the top of the mix of the title picture.
* It was nice to see the tag titles actually given a real program with Rhodes and DiBiase and Cryme Tyme. For too long they have wasted time on things that don’t matter, and let belts simply sit in the corner and rot when you can build good programs around them. I think this has the makings of a good match at the PPV, and a program that can have legs.
The Bad:
* I’d like to thank D-Lo Brown for a comeback that we’d all like to forget. You can bet that his short and ugly loss to Santino Marella will basically be the first of many, and that any hopes of a push are long gone for a guy who’s better days were in the late 90’s. Plus he can lose that 10-year old theme song anytime.
* The two battle royals were both rather lame in my opinion, and while I know what they were trying to get across, I thought they both were rather ho-hum. It made Henry and Kane both look rather impressive, and in the long run you know there two will not be in main event programs.
* I know that William Regal is still somewhat in the dog house for his past suspension, but losing to Jamie Noble in a stupid comedy act with him and Layla was pretty weak. I still think that Regal has a lot to give in and out of the ring, but since his return he’s been pushed to the back burner, and here’s hoping that he’ll be allowed to get on track at some point.
Final Grade for the Show: C+
Labels: beth phoenix, c.m. punk, candice michelle, chris jericho, kane, RAW, rey mysterio, Santino Marella
