2/2 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Orton's Explanation, JBL - HBK, Stephanie & Kane, Cena vs. Jericho
Feb 3, 2009 - 2:07:18 PM
By Jon Mezzera, Torch Specialist
RAW HITS
Attempt to Fix the Problem: This is a marginal Hit. After the debacle of an angle last week when Shane McMahon took Legacy by himself, it was good that WWE attempted to fix the problem. I am calling it a marginal Hit, as the explanation wasn't great, and I'm not quite buying it. But, I am pleased that they had Randy Orton claim that he told Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase not to fight back. It was a reasonable explanation as he did not want to get the rest of the Raw roster involved. I doubt that this was the plan going into last week. It seemed like a mop up job. But, at least they tried to give Legacy some credibility back.
Mysterio & Kingston vs. Kane & Knox: This was a good 12 minute tag match. They did a nice job playing up the size difference of the two teams to make Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston the under dogs. The match was well booked to make the crowd hot for the hot tag to Mysterio, as Kane and Mike Knox kept Kingston in the ring for a long time. But, the two on one never got boring. They kept things interesting with Kingston's attempts at comebacks. I am enjoying the build of Knox into a potential upper carder. I loved how he swatted a leaping Kingston into a rib breaker. I was surprised Kane got the win, and not Knox. Also, the quick commercial break early in the match was annoying. I would rather see the ring intros, then a commercial, then a shorter match shown in its entirety to how this was produced.
Legacy Ambushes the McMahons: Legacy got their heat back when they ambushed Shane and Stephanie in the hall way. It was a good beat down. I liked how they beat off the security. I don't want to over sell it. They obviously looked strong in ambushing two non wrestlers, one of whom is a woman. But, having them fight off the security was a nice touch. What really worked was the attempted punt of Stephanie McMahon. It was great how Orton started to go after Shane, then stopped. I was intrigued as to why he pulled up short, then I got the answer that he saw Stephanie. Shane blocking the attempted punt was well executed. I'm not thrilled with the IED thing, but at least this week's story advancement was better than last week.
JBL - HBK: I have not been a fan of this storyline, although there have been some Hits mixed in here and there. I did like this interchange between John Bradshaw Layfield and Shawn Michaels. JBL was very good on the mic in evaluating Michaels' job performance. I was glad that he said that Michaels was signed to a one year contract. The specifics of their deal should have been clearer from the start. The challenge was interesting. It gives Michaels a reason to fight, to get all of his money now without having to keep working for JBL, and JBL had a good financial reason for the challenge as well, to own Michaels' career and name for ever. I am also happy that this match is going to take place at No Way Out, saving Michaels for something better at WrestleMania, although they won't have a lot of time to build to it after the PPV.
Cena vs. Jericho: It was not surprising to see John Cena and Chris Jericho put on a good match. They have worked well together over the years going back to the first time Jericho was fired. The match went 12 minutes and had plenty of good wrestling action. This was the second week in a row when Cena's You Can't See Me routine before the Five Knuckle Shuffle got interrupted. Hopefully this will lead to Cena realizing he takes too much time on the ridiculous move and will cut it from his repertoire. The match built very nicely to the ending, with Jericho ultimately tapping out to the STF after Cena reversed the Walls of Jericho. My only problem with this match was that there was no real reason why these two were fighting. Why was the match booked in the first place? They added a personal issue with their verbal exchange earlier in the show, but that wasn't the reason for the match.
Hyping Next Week's Raw: WWE did a good job of hyping next week's Raw. Last week, we knew nothing about what was going to happen this week. This week, we know that CM Punk will face William Regal in a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship. We also know that Ric Flair will be there live to address Chris Jericho's comments about him. And, we know that the main event will be Undertaker vs. Orton. That should get plenty of people excited to tune in next week.
RAW MISSES
Priceless Disqualified: Was Priceless disqualified in their match against Cryme Tyme? I don't think an official announcement was ever made. I believe that was the case, but I'm not sure why. When the DQ occurred, Shad was beating up Rhodes in the corner. Rhodes was the illegal man, so I think he was disqualified for being in the ring too long. But, he was getting beat up by at the time. The double team on Shad didn't start until after the DQ. That was awkward booking or a mistake in the execution. It should be clear why a ref would stop a match.
Jericho - Cena: This verbal exchange didn't work well. Jericho's promo before Cena interrupted wasn't one of his better promos. It was dull. It is mildly intriguing to see where they are going with him and Mickey Rourke (if Rourke is involved) and Ric Flair. But, the speech about the former legends hanging on to the business fell flat. It actually was a sad reminder of the dark side of this business, which I don't want to be reminded of during 2 hours of entertainment. Cena's interruption was too childish. It wasn't bad, but made me think of two kids arguing, when Cena's big statement against Jericho is that he is an idiot. Big words. This set up more of a personal issue between the two for the main event, but the match still felt like it happened for no reason. Also, I wasn't into Cena's role as the defender of the WWE legends.
Kane's Deal with Stephanie: I am confused. I know that Stephanie McMahon has been billed as the Raw General Manager. And, I know that it is a genetic trait in all McMahons to ignore the other brands. But, don't the McMahon's own WWE? By extension, aren't they the bosses of every WWE wrestler, regardless of what brand they appear on? So, why would Stephanie have to make a deal with Kane to have him convince the Undertaker to come and wrestle on Raw? That made no sense whatsoever.
Use of WrestleMania Videos: I enjoy watching these WrestleMania videos. It is fun to watch the highlights of the past big events. However, by the time Smackdown rolls around and I have seen the same two videos on Raw and ECW, I end up giving them Misses. So, this Miss isn't for the very well produced videos. I am using this Miss as a way to point out what would have been a better way of using them. There have been 24 WrestleManias. There are three WWE shows a week. That means they could start at WrestleMania, and play a different video on each show for eight weeks (I believe that would have to start next week). They would then only play one video on Raw, ECW and Smackdown every week, and it would be different on each show. Fans probably won't tune into ECW just to see a different WrestleMania video than what aired on Raw, but who knows? It would be nice for fans who watch all three to not have to sit through the same two three times each week. It would be a count down of the great events (and the bad ones too; I'm looking at you WrestleMania 9) leading up to this year's show.
Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.
For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.
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