Bill Sartori, Windsor Locks, CT (4.5). Some of the writing was quite illogical on this show. To start, Randy Orton gets suspended by Coach - not for punting the heads of two sixty plus year old men into orbit - but for handcuffing Cena to the ropes. Then Vince gives Hornswoggle a "present" in Melina, as opposed to last week when he tried to give him away. Cody Rhodes, a supposed up-and-coming wrestler is punked out by Hardcore Holly, who was last seen as an ECW mid-carder. Not a way to promote the talent. After wasting months with nothing to do, Robbie and (I'm) Rory reappear to start a feud with Kendrick and London. Oh joy, a feud as exciting as watching cement crack. Memo to Vince: It's not 1997 and Triple H isn't Austin. Everyone loved the Austin-gives-Vince-the-finger anti-authority act. It worked back in 1997, but not everyone is a Triple H fan, even in this role. Way to waste Carlito! The main event was well done. The Cena-Coach swerve made absolutely no sense until Hornswoggle appeared as "Mr. McMahon". I hope the writers pursue this angle, as will be interesting to watch a McMahon screw Vince week after week. To watch Vince and Coach run roughshod over the talent week in and week out is indefensible.
A.A. Norman of Tulsa, Okla. (9.0) Best match: Hardy & Candace vs. Benjamin & Phoenix. Worst match: All the recaps. Seriously, do they really need to keep showing Cena's dad getting kicked over and over? However, kudos to WWE for giving us a show that wasn't entirely predictable or stale. Definitely one that doesn't make wrestling fans cower in shame to call themselves fans. We have an excellent intro with McMahon and Coach announcing Cena will (finally!) lose his title and Hornswoggle McMahon getting a girl. (It doesn't matter that it's Melina; it was still fun to watch). Next, we have a cage match that doesn't end in Triple H winning. It's about time he doesn't win and it should happen when you least expect, such as this case. We also have an excellent tag team match that ends with previous crowd favs the Highlanders beating up fellow fan favs London/Kendrick. Huh? Then, a little more deceptiveness in pointing out that Milwaukee is Candace Michelle's hometown and she's teaming with Jeff Hardy. Cue hometown hero win. But wait! A match that makes everyone look good that doesn't involve the hometown girl winning? Finally, we have Coach getting screwed by "Mr. McMahon," which takes full advantage of the Hornswoggle angle. About time, WWE. I might even watch ECW as a reward for a good Raw show.
Terrie Neilson, Las Vegas, NV (4.0) Best: Hardy/Michelle vs. Benjamin/Phoenix. Worst: Where do I start? What was I watching tonight? Randy is apparently suspended indefinitely (while honeymooning in reality, from what I've been finding) for bringing the handcuffs to restrain Cena last week? Then in the pre-recorded promo (nicely read off cue cards as opposed to feeling genuine) he invites John Cena to bring his father next week, despite being sold as Randy taping this before serving his suspension. Vince can't make up his mind which side of the fence he is on; he acts like a face with Hornswoggle, but heel with everyone else. Talk about confusion. Melina seemed face with Jillian for the first few about Hornswoggle, then made her motives clear that the date is for the purpose of a title shot. That Hornswoggle steals her towel later does at least give an impression that while it's not known that he caught a view of the "private" conversation, he seemed to have seen through the ruse.
Glad to see that Holly is back, but the downside is that also returning with him is the heat vacuum he carries with him everywhere. I saw it a mile away that a heel turn was coming with the Highlanders, who do have a point of being buried in the tag division, which in turn explains why the turn back of Cade and Murdoch. Lance and Trevor played like Regal in the promo with Rory and Robbie--the cue to me that the turn was coming later. But good 'ole J.R. must not have been listening to the Scots as they explained themselves on the way out: they were tired of being screwed. And the cage match only further buried Carlito. There could have been a finish that would have satisfied Vince's desire to put an L in Triple H's column while not making Carlito look like a chump. While The Chairman and the Cerebral Assassin were dealing with each other on top of the cage, and Triple H had kicked Carlito off of grabbing him, Carlito could have just escaped out of the door. Vince could still claim his victory against Triple H, Carlito would get some heat back for the Unforgiven loss, and Triple H would still have a reason to go after Vince, as Vince inserted himself into the match at the last minute. My four points are split as one point for the mixed tag match (despite the multitude of botches) and three for the MVP of Raw: Hornswoggle, who was the star of every segment he was in and for saving the finish of the final segment that never seemed to want to end.
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