Jim C of Essex of Vermont (5.0). Best Match: Hardy/Jericho. Worst: Woman's matchup. Well, WWE is doing it again. After a couple of excellent specials, including the recent 15th Anniversary, they are taking something that clicked and trying to overuse it. This was promoted as a WrestleMania Rewind special, but was a slightly extended Raw with some wrestlers from the other shows thrown in. The concept of a special will draw the viewers in, but WWE had better deliver if they want concept shows to keep working. And by the way, Jillian, I know my history, too. Windham & Rotundo did come out to "Born in the USA," but also came out to a different theme that the revisionists in the WWE would like to forget - "Real American." Every so often, I wonder where Hogan would be if he didn't have what is probably the best entrance theme of all time given to him.
Adam Riemer of New York City, N.Y. (3.5): Best Match: Jericho/Hardy Worst Match:Big Show/Mayweather Crap. Three hours of my life was wasted last night. Jericho and Hardy were awesome as usual, but now Hardy is suspended for 60 days, which one has to wonder if he is going to pull an RVD and Booker T and leave the company. It's a real shame when one of the top draws in the company does something like this. By the way, did anyone notice Hardy getting booed in his match? Y2J might have gotten the lucky break as there is a good chance he is slated to win the MITB match at Mania. The rest of the show? Crap! Triple H and Kane have quite a history, but that was thrown out completely. Randy Orton brings up the match (from one of the best Mania's ever) and then we get Kane, who is now a glorified jobber, just get destroyed by Hunter in a match that could have been better. Cena was boring as usual. HBK and Flair are good together, but this "I love you so fight me" story is kind of... just.. blah. Was I the only one that thought Shawn was going to superkick Ric after they shook hands? It certainly looked like it from how he was positioned. This story needs HBK to do what he did with Hogan, go temporary heel. Batista and Umaga is ridiculous. These two have no history and thus have no reason to fight each other. Usually the brand war at Mania has someone who is devoted to their brand. While Batista may be devoted to Smackdown!, how can Umaga be devoted to Raw? He is a "savage" who is suppose to be uncontrollable. It is stupid to have him show pride in anything really; it takes him out of character. Plus that match is going to be awful. How many of us ever thought there was going to be a day that Umaga would have to carry a match? Then we come to Big Show vs. Mayweather. I hate this angle. Show is supposed to be a heel, yet he is a mega face against Mayweather, who all of us hate. The only good thing here was that Shane McMahon came out. Shane needs to take over as the authority figure on WWE TV. He is fun, he has charisma, and he is young. Also he takes crazy bumps, like that STIFF shove. Big Show-Mayweather is the reason I will NOT be buying WrestleMania.
Adam J. Grammas of Westchester, Ill (3.0): Best Match: Jericho vs Hardy. Worst: "Legends" segment. You know it's bad when one of your own wrestlers, on your biggest show, calls two of your wrestlers "Edge guys" because they are such nameless, faceless guys. It's amazing how a big Mania match from last year can become just a little four minute segment this year. I'm talking about the casket match, of course. I know they were trying to get across Finley's displaced anger at JBL since he wasn't there, but Kennedy looked like a jobber in my opinion. A babyface jobber for that matter. And Finlay came across as a total heel. Maybe that's the direct they are going since he put his son in harm's way and made a deal with the McMahon's. No great shocker that Jericho-Hardy was the best match of the night, with Jericho putting in a cool highlight, throwing a leaping Hardy head-first into the announcer's table. I was wondering if they were going to attempt a Mania rematch from more than five years ago. I bet Sheik and Volkoff are glad they suited up for that! And Windham and Rotundo - well, they weren't really suited up, were they? Kind of silly to do all that build up and not do anything. It was sad to see the U.S. Express come out to zero reaction. They deserve better than that, especially Windham. But I guess if Lou Thesz or Buddy Roberts came out on a show back when I was a 14 year old lad in '86, I wouldn't give much of a reaction either. Jillian hasn't been on much lately, but she seems to show up in these "legends" segments. She's become the Rob Conway of the ladies division. She should get a bit more TV time. The "Chris Farley-obvious question of the night" award goes to The King who asked J.R. as Windham and Rotundo came to the ring, "Remember the U.S. Express?" Looks like Vince finally listened to everyone and made Merryweather the heel by having all WWE wrestlers-heels AND faces-come out as a show of strength against the "outsider." Hunter sounded like a dork the way he talked at the end of the show. I should have just watched the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame instead of DVRing it, but the politics are every bit as bad over there as well. Leonard Cohen?
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.
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LATEST PRO WRESTLING TORCH NEWSLETTER #1045 (20 PAGES)
This issue begins with a cover story by Wade Keller on Jake Roberts's indy show meltdown... Keller's BBL looks at WWE's decision to put all three World Champs in a Triple Threat on the MyNetwork debut of Smackdown... Page 2 Buzz with Jason Powell features tons of insider news items from WWE and TNA... Part three of the "Torch Talk" with Lanny Poffo... Pat McNeill's "At the Bar for Unforgiven" column... In-depth coverage of the TNA No Surrender PPV including the newsletter-exclusive Roundtable Reviews from Keller, Mitchell, and McNeill... Plus WWE Newswire, TNA Newswire, and ROH Newswire, Keller's reports on Raw, Smackdown, and Impact, the Top 5 Stories of the Week... PDF EXCLUSIVE features include the Greg Parks's review of the new Mr. Perfect DVD and Brian Hoops looks at pro wrestlers with Olympic backgrounds........
