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WWE Raw Reax #1: "After witnessing one of the best Raws live last week, they come up with this?" Jul 7, 2008 - 11:36:51 PM
Adrian Finley of Oklahoma City, Okla. (3.0): Best Match: Not tonight. Worst Match/Segment: The John Cena feces show. Wade, you're not the only one who witnessed the "Super-dork-leveling-up" of John Cena. Before anybody comes at me with him being a great philanthropist, I understand that. Off camera, great guy, on Raw, total dork. From the opening segment of a plethora of "poopiness" to the "Was-that-really-necessary" segment with him and Mickie James, to the Bart Simpson-style graffiti on JBL's limo in which the word "poopy" got more air time than Rey Mysterio and Santino, it's really easy to see why people boo this man. Cena, stop playing the yes-man, grow some, and let creative know that the material they're feeding you is making you look like a muscular Beavis and Butt-Head. After witnessing one of the best Raws live last week, they come up with this? The sense of "same ol' shhh" is starting to rear its ugly head again.
Dan Strauss of Goodhue, Minn. (7.5) Best: Main Event. Worst: Not enough wrestling again. Stephanie McMahon's opening speech was pointless as nobody believes this angle is legit and they aren't pushing it much at all. It was good to see Punk come out and look strong. By showing him alone against a top hated heel to start the show, it shows that WWE is going to give him a decent main-event push. The four other guys coming out went alright, pretty much the same old shtick where you have a multi-wrestler match to determine the #1 contender. This opening segment was nowhere near as hot as last week's, but almost as long, so I hope WWE isn't making the 20-25 minute opening segments their new standard. The Y2J-HBK confrontation wasn't as good as it has been in weeks past but still decent. I love the fact that they are one of the rare current hot fueds that don't involve a title, revolving instead around the pride of two men. I initially liked Lance Cade's involvement, but they haven't done anything with it; he just stands behind Jericho with a new t-shirt on every week. The fatal four-way was a pretty good match with some good spots. Batista looked like his left arm was legitimately hurt after the match. Intriguing finale with Kane losing it and attacking everyone. I like Kane and would like to see him get a noteworthy push. Tonight could be the start of a heel push for him, but the writers will have to follow up with some strong material for it. Overall a decent show, but a few notches below last week. WWE has a lot going for them with the fresh shake-up that the draft created, but they'll ruin a good thing if they keep taking emphasis away from the actual wrestling in the ring.
Dan Wahlers from the PWTorch VIP Forum: Right on the money, Wade. That was some of the worst, most lame material I have heard in a long time tonight. I'm not sure who John Cena is supposed to be appealing to with this garbage. He actually spray painted the word "poopy" on JBL's limo. Actually, I take that back. I guess maybe that would appeal to Cena's 7 year old fan base. Brian Gewirtz loves his toilet humor, but this is getting ridiculous. And was Cena and Cryme Tyme destroying JBL's limo supposed to be funny or cool? Maybe I don't know what's funny or cool anymore, cause I sure wasn't laughing. What I did actually was get up, and go make something to eat during that segment, I couldn't take it anymore. It felt like it would never end. Instead of that pointless segment, I'd have rather seen Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes, who were noticeably absent from the show this week. Very lackluster Raw tonight overall, which is a shame after last week's show. I don't know if we can maybe chalk it up to everyone being tired after the South American tour last week, but as far as I know, the writers don't go on those tours. So that's no excuse for poor writing. Between Cena's poop jokes, lights falling down during people's promos, fans running through the backstage area for no reason, Kelly Kelly showing up on Raw with no rhyme or reason, and Kane's "is he alive or dead" routine at the end of the show, my head is spinning. I don't know if "he's" alive or dead, but I do know that Raw sure was dead tonight.
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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