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WWE Raw Reax #3: "The King and J.R.'s comment about Hulk Hogan's divorce was comedic, but kind of uncalled for." Jun 10, 2008 - 11:01:21 AM
Brian Harmon of St. Paul, Minn. (3.0): "Vince McMahon's Million Dollar Mania" is a mildly updated version of something I remember as "Dialing for Dollars." When I was a kid, local TV stations would run old movies in late afternoon, where the commercial breaks were punctuated with a host calling people who had sent in contest entry postcards. If someone answered the phone and knew the name of the movie that they were running, they'd win a cash prize. Anyone younger than 40 isn't likely to have any idea what I'm talking about. There's a good reason for that - "Dialing for Dollars" wasn't especially compelling television then, and it's no better now... If they have to do this cash giveaway business, the least they can do is make it marginally interesting to those of us with no stake in the outcome. Assign each contestant a wrestler. Tell the contestant that they have a choice of three different opponents for that wrestler. The tougher the opponent, the higher the prize they can win. If their wrestler wins the match, the contestant wins the prize money associated with that opponent. If the wrestler loses the match, a set amount is added on to whatever amount is offered for the next match. So if the wrestler is Mr. Kennedy, you offer the contestant $10,000 if he can beat Val Venis, $20,000 if he can beat Lance Cade and $100,000 if he can beat Umaga - and let the contestant pick the opponent. Of course, the bigger the "mismatch, the greater the possible prize - for Charlie Haas, you offer $200,000 if he can beat John Cena, $300,000 for the Big Show, and $400,000 for Triple H. And if you pick Triple H, we'll make it a title match to boot. This could add some drama to some of the undercard guys, start some interesting new rivalries and make the segments as much about wrestling as they are about money. Anything to mix it up just a little! Finally, I fell asleep before the Triple H-Jeff Hardy match because I made the mistake of not changing the channel during Triple H's ring entrance. I can usually catch a half-inning of a baseball game in the time it takes him to get to the ring. I don't what I was thinking...
Adam Riemer, NY, NY (1.0). Best: Chris Jericho. Worst: Let's go with the Cryme Time match, to be fair, the rest was just as bad though. Nothing makes die hard fans want to walk away more than putting on this abomination of a media stunt. So Vince wants ratings! Well how about this, you give away the password at the start of the show, then people can turn off Raw (watch something a lot better... like re-runs of Cheers) and just wait for their phone to ring. I have been a fan for almost 15 years, and tonight was just sickening. Paul Burchill gets a push, a good one at that. Mr. Kennedy stays in the limelight of the Regal story, and for all logical purposes, us fans are lead to believe that this program is long term and will last until Regal comes back. But once again the WWE squashes any meaningful mid-card feud in the span of a week. I remember when the mid-card wrestlers meant something to the sport, and that was only a few years ago. JBL vs. John Cena was passable, but come on! How many times do we need to see the same matches over and over again. The King and J.R.'s comment about Hulk Hogan's divorce was comedic, but kind of uncalled for. There is no reason for the WWE to do the same thing the media is doing with bashing Hulk Hogan's personal life. Not letting him be part of WrestleMania was good enough. Cryme Time vs. Santino/Carlito was awful. There were a few decent spots, but all in all it just wasn't good. The fans try to rally behind them, but they just can't stay positive about the team (ever) by the end of their bland and unoriginal matches. Melina was the star of the women's match, but still TNA has the better performers in the women's division. Cody Rhodes needs to turn heel, his lame face "good old boy" act isn't even stale since it never got off the ground. The main event was even slow and methodical. Months ago Hardy and Triple H put on a few great performances, but it really looks like Hardy just isn't all there anymore. Even the crowd isn't as hot for him as they once were. The McMahon giving away money was almost the least desirable thing on the show. It's a million to one shot in winning and the winners sounded like they had already been contacted and told they won earlier on in the night. Not one of them really sounded excited to win, (the holy sh-- comment was funny, though; even with the bleep, you could tell what the guy said). Vince looked like a 85 year old man with his glasses and inability to dial phone numbers. The whole concept works... on game shows, but not on a professional wrestling show. The ONLY good thing about last night was the Jericho-HBK segment. Y2J finally stepped through the tweener act and became a heel, and it was awesome. This program has all the right ingredients to have match of the year candidates, and I for one am sad that something so interesting and gripping had to take place on a night that makes ECW on Tuesday's look better.
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