CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
Pro Wrestling Torch
Pro Wrestling Torch Reaches The Most Wrestling Fans Every Week: #1 in iTunes • #1 on iPhone and iPad • #1 on Android • #1 on Kindle
GOT THE PWTORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Amazon Kindle
Windows Phone
PWTorch Phone App
Torch Feedback
WWE Raw Reax #1: "I completely lost interest with the Mayweather-Show angle."

Mar 4, 2008 - 12:50:28 AM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY


David Zgurski of Lethbridge, Alberta (2.0): Best match: Cena-Kennedy. Worst match: WWE vs. "MMA." I have no idea what to think of today's debacle involving Vince's idea of "MMA." Doesn't he have enough MMA fans on the roster (The Undertaker, Batista, etc.) to help him understand what MMA is and how it should be presented? Without a marquee special attraction, WrestleMania is just another monthly PPV, and not a very good one this year since most of the results seem set in stone (i.e. Hardy winning MITB, Triple H winning the WWE Title, Undertaker continuing the streak, Batista beating Umaga, and Ric Flair retiring.) This year should have been the anointing of Jeff Hardy as World Champion; it would have made WM 24 extra special. I have no interest in losing $55 bucks just to watch business as usual.

Shane McKinley of Danville, Calif. (7.5): Best Match: Cena vs. Kennedy. Worst Match: The Epic Fight of Carlito vs. A Pigeon. Brandon Hill was entertaining. His music was bumpin. Mayweather's promos: And people thought Bobby Lashley was bad on the mic. Yikes. Strong moment during HBK/Flair vs. Cade/Murdoch: "Great way to see how Cade and Murdoch progressed." The double submit was a great finish. Like the fact that Raw will usually have a big three hour show. Too often wrestling shows are just filler until PPVs. Regal announcing and talking about Undertaker vs. Batista made the Umaga squash work. The Jericho-Hardy bit was good as they showed that last week's match was an important (and good) match, and it gave Hardy an edge. Worst moment of the night was when Carlito beat up a piegon. Seriously, so far these "WrestleMania Post Cards" ads have been stupid. I'm sure PETA and animal rights activists were happy to see that. Playboy bit was great! Usually these bits are boring and contrived, but the use of Santino was great once again, although Maria looks like a demon. Look out for her right hand. Jeesh. Is it wrong that I watch wrestling but I don't watch NASCAR? I guess it is. Nice little match with Carlito vs. Rhodes. The Finlay bit... just disappointing. Fans don't know what to make of it. On one hand, you've got evil daddy Vince, but on the other, the story is being played out that Finlay made a secret deal with the other McMachons and used his son (who didn't know at the time) to gain money and power. They've got to make this thing clearer because the emotional involvement is just not there. Finlay staying in the ring made him look weak. Cena was good in putting opponents over while offering interesting comments. I can see why wrestling companies look down on wrestling fans; all we seem to do is complain and whine. Nothing seemingly is ever good enough.

Leonard Tripodi, Kenilworth, N.J. (5.5): Best: Maria, Maria. Worst: Mayweather-Show angle. This edition of Raw was a mixed bag for me again. Maria gets top honors for both the Mania commercial spot with Carlito and the Playboy cover segment with Santino. She was more charismatic and feisty than ever before. I also enjoyed watching her attempt to be a tough girl, ruined only because she couldn't keep a straight face. Otherwise, she was smoking hot and over with the live crowd. Speaking of which, Santino played the jealous boyfriend to perfection and had some funny lines before Lawler slugged him. Maria broke character and laughed because of his delivery at least once during the segment. Carlito struggled but pounded that seagull to look strong (lol) Loved that commercial spot. Hope they do a few more like it. I completely lost interest with the Mayweather-Show angle. It's one thing to pay him an insurmountable figure to be on a wrestling PPV, but Mayweather repeatedly referring to himself as money doesn't do him any justice or win any points with the fans, many of whom are going to shell out their hard earned money for Mania. Show came back for this? Jericho-Hardy is intriguing, even though they are just two of the six men in the MITB. The other guys are just in there for minor spoils. Cena-Kennedy was predictable, but did absolutely nothing for Kennedy. And why does Michaels always have to be the heel in these big PPV matches? Didn't he also turn heel and job for Hogan? WWE fails when they over-think stuff like this. A simple Flair-Michaels retirement match at Mania is a spectacle in and of itself. The weekly triple threat triangle debacle that is Cena-Orton-Triple H is becoming tedious, but they seem to have just enough tension between them to build this straight to Mania. I have to agree with Caldwell about how the new entrance music sucks. Most of it lacks originality or attitude. Why does WWE have to mess with a good thing? The old themes were instantly recognizable and the live crowd responded strongly for the wrestlers. I really don't care much about a JBL-Finlay grudge match at Mania, nor did I feel bad about Hornswoggle getting a so-called beating in a dark hospital room. The whole segment seemed forced and awkward. It made me recall a better time when Steve Austin beat the crap out of Vince in the hospital bed. With a special three hour timeslot next week, WWE better put on a really strong show.

We welcome your 1-10 score and comments on this show for a "Raw Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw, click here.


We suggest these recent related articles...
WWE PPV REAX #1: "I wanted the biggest event of the summer to end with an exclamation point; it ended with a semicolon and a question"
WWE PPV REAX #1: Battleground finish generates mixed reactions...
WWE PPV REAX #2: In-Person Battleground Report on overall show, reactions, more
prowrestling.net
CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE PW.NET HEADLINES


CLICK TO EMAIL THIS ARTICLE
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING

NEW! SIGN UP FOR FREE PWTORCH BREAKING NEWS EMAIL ALERTS
BECOME A PWTORCH VIP MEMBER
-FORMER MEMBERS LOGIN HERE TO RENEW
-NEW MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
SELECT BY ARTICLES CATEGORY
SEARCH PWTORCH.COM



CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING PRO WRESTLING EVENTS
MORE HEADLINES AT AFFILIATE SITES
MMATorch
LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR MORE MMATORCH HEADLINES


PWTORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!
RAW POLL 10/12: Vote on Monday's show
 
pollcode.com free polls


RAW POLL 10/12: What was the Best Match on Raw?
 
pollcode.com free polls
MCNEILL LIVECAST POLL: TNA will have a 32-person tournament to determine a new Hvt. champion - your thoughts?
 
pollcode.com free polls
CENA POLL: If John Cena takes a year-end break, who should win the U.S. Title from Cena?
 
pollcode.com free polls
VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS



LATEST HEADLINES - CLICK TO READ CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE INC HEADLINES

_
LATEST FREE AUDIO SHOWS - CLICK TO LISTEN VIEW MORE PWTORCH LIVECAST EPISODES
DOWNLOAD PWTORCH LIVECAST APP
SUBSCRIBE TO PWTORCH LIVECAST IN ITUNES


ABOUT US

THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.

He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.

He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)


REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTORCH STAFF

EDITORS:
Wade Keller, editor
(kellerwade@gmail.com)

James Caldwell, assistant editor
(pwtorch@gmail.com)

STAFF COLUMNISTS:
Bruce Mitchell (since 1990)
Pat McNeill (since 2001)
Greg Parks (since 2007)
Sean Radican (since 2003)

We also have a great team of
TV Reporters
and Specialists and Artists.

PWTORCH VIP MEMBERSHIP

PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.

Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.

The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...

-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars.


**SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**

CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCASTIPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPRSS
VIP SIGN-UP
VIP LOGIN
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY