Email This Article - Contact Us - VIP Sign-Up - Back to Home Page

|

This is this week's Raw Roundtable Review article, which is a weekly VIP Exclusive feature that is emailed to all VIP members and also posted at the VIP version of PWTorch.com (minus all ads, packed with exclusive articles and audio shows). We present this week's Raw Roundtable as an example of just one special exclusive VIP members experience each week. A similar Roundtable feature is published after all PPVs and many Smackdowns and Impacts. To become VIP CLICK HERE

James Caldwell, Torch columnist (6.0)

This show was all over the map, and hopefully they'll get back on track to promoting Survivor Series next week. There were random segments upon random segments, mixed with two very good tag team matches, and one stellar performance by Santino Marella. First, Santino. The guy is simply the most entertaining person on any wrestling roster right now. End of discussion. He outshined Steve Austin, but Austin had terrible material to work with, so it's not fair to Austin. Nevertheless, Santino is just that good right now. His delivery is impeccable and his charisma was on full display opposite Austin. If they can only figure out a way to draw money with Santino, they have a new star on the roster.

I sure as heck hope this was truly a one-night-only DX reunion. Shawn Michaels was good as the dominant ass-kicking babyface when he returned to feud with Randy Orton. On this show, he returned to that goofy sidekick to Triple H and lost his edge until the superkick to finish off Orton in the main event. Michaels does not need to travel down that goofy path ever again. He's so good in the ring that his charisma takes over in a believable, serious fashion. Michaels should still sprinkle in some of the humor once in a while, but it shouldn't be the focus of his act.

This was an up week for Jeff Hardy. Next week might be a down week. WWE just can't decide from week-to-week whether he's the next John Cena or just another mid-card babyface. The video package was well done and the victory with Rey Mysterio gave Hardy the opportunity to shine... The random singles matches needed background. Why was Kelly facing Beth one week after being smashed? What's the deal with Holly and Cody? What happened to the Highlanders? Who is feuding in the tag division? Many of these questions could have been answered with backstage segments throughout the show with a shorter opening segment and cutting out the "time-killing" Hunter, Michaels, Big Dick, and Girls Next Door segment.

Sean Radican, PWTorch columnist (6.5)

This show had three things going for it. The Mysterio & Hardy vs. Kennedy & Finlay tag match, Santino, and the DX vs. Orton & Umaga main event. Other than that this was a fairly bland show.

The opening segment with DX held the attention of the crowd, but a lot of HBK and Triple H's act goes a long way these days and, by the end of the nights when the dancing fat guy drenched in oil came out, I had seen enough. I think WWE could better spend their television time investing in the build of WWE Champion Randy Orton's character than relying on dragging out old acts from the "Attitude" era to make a Raw feel special. There's not much going for Umaga these days, either.

Vince McMahon, for whatever reason, is scaling back his television time lately. His appearance this week could have been saved for another time. I'm sure the announcement of the Khali-Hornswoggle match at Survivor Series had wrestling fans across the nation setting aside a Sunday in a couple of weeks.

I really enjoyed Santino's segment with Stone Cold. They interacted well together and it was nice to see Austin come back in a more meaningful manner as opposed to just showing up, kicking some ass, and drinking some beers. I think Santino would be great as a manager, as he's not much fun to watch when he wrestles.

There were a couple of really good television matches on this show. I liked the dynamic between Mysterio and Hardy. The final moments of their match against Kennedy & Finlay were very good. The main event was also good, but it also illustrated that without John Cena around, there's not much to get excited about in WWE these days.

Jamie Penick, PWTorch contributor (6.5)

There was a lot of really random, really pointless and unnecessary stuff on this show, but there were also two good TV matches as well as the star of the show Santino Marella that made up for the crap. 

On the bad note of the show, DX needs to be done. They took Shawn Michaels completely out of character and tossed him back to his sidekick role when he's two weeks away from a World Title match at what is supposed to be one of the bigger shows of the year. It's short-sighted and unnecessary. And on that note, if they're making fun of the writers' strike with the crap they threw out in the opening segment, then looking at the last few years of programming, I'd say it seems as if their writers went on strike quite some time ago.

Also, there was so much randomness crammed into almost every ounce of this show. Why was Cody Rhodes wrestling Trevor Murdoch? Where were the Highlanders this week for that feud? What is Hardcore Holly doing out there, and what is his relationship with Cody exactly? (There are some theories on that front, but I digress.) And those are just the questions coming out of that inane waste of five minutes.

As for the good of the show, I really hope the Jeff Hardy video and the subsequent victory for him will lead into a serious push in the near future; I'm very cautiously optimistic on that front, however. His tag match as well as the main event match delivered some entertaining wrestling and both of those matches were very good for T.V. You just can't go wrong with Shawn Michaels in main events on a consistent basis. 

Santino Marella was gold once again this week, and he outshone Austin in their segment together. For a guy not even a year into his WWE run, that's really impressive. His delivery was great, and his line about Jim Ross had me nearly rolling with laughter. The rehash of the beer truck wasn't needed though, and Austin just kind of phoned this one in to shill his crappy movie. I think Santino needs to open a can of ass-whip on someone next week to get his heat back, and that's the bottom lines, because he say it be so!

Pat McNeill, PWTorch columnist (6.0)

As horrible as that opening segment was, Monday night's episode of Raw delivered in three key areas. The semi main event was a good match, which teased what little intrigue is left in a big interbrand Survivor Series tag match. Jeff Hardy and Finlay in particular worked well together. The fans treated the match like a big deal, and that helped.

Secondly, the skit with Steve Austin finally confronting Santino Marella worked. It wasn't a one-man show, either. Austin did his usual routine very well, but Santino is becoming a breakout star on WWE television. Maybe someone needs to teach the former Intercontinental Champ how to wrestle, or maybe Santino could manage a heel who needs help behind the stick, but it would be criminal not to use Marella in a better spot.

Third, the main event did what it needed to do, as it built interest in seeing Shawn Michaels get another crack at Randy Orton's WWE Title. Michaels is going to need a little bit of booking magic, because Orton's anti-charisma is not helping matters. The champ walked to the ring like his wife was dragging him inside the mall for a sale at Nordstrom's. Umaga has done a tremendous job fleshing out his character, so good that fans might even forget how many times Hunter has beaten him cleanly. A minor thumbs up.

Bruce Mitchell, PWTorch columnist (4.0)

Much of this show was like a yard sale of leftover parts of older, better skits from an older, better time. Steve Austin would have benefited from a more tightly written and produced skit, but then Raw would not have benefited from many, many more minutes of SCSA ratings. The Jeff Hardy/Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay/Mr. Kennedy match was better than the DX main event, but the whole show was just waiting around again to see HBK Superkick Randy Orton. They ought to just fire Carlito and Shelton Benjamin.

Wade Keller, PWTorch editor (4.5)

The DX skit at the beginning was horrendous. If it was "supposed to be bad," nice try, but it's not much different from what every other DX skit looked like before Hunter's injury. You also don't use "killer heel" Great Khali in the role of a comedy figure in a bad sketch. You also don't have Shawn Michaels, your top contender at the next PPV for the World Title, act as scared of Khali as he did. Geesh, what a mess of a segment. And it just went on and on and on. Although there's nothing funnier than the mean-spirited bully-like Hunter mocking someone's accent. Seriously, what's funny about that? The guy s a neutral character. There's no joy in seeing Hunter make fun of him in any way, so this was really Hunter mocking anyone who has an accent. One of these days he's going to have to get over the big nose nature gave him, grow up, and move past seventh grade humor.

Michaels doesn't get a pass for making fun of how bad it was. He has the clout to just say no in the first place.

The Kennedy & Finlay vs. Hardy & Rey match is being overrated by everyone. It was seven minutes of adequate TV wrestling. Are our standards really that low? It was fine, but hardly a reason to give this show a thumbs up.Definitely glad to see a music video for Hardy, though. That's the type of thing WWE needs to do more of for non-PPV headliners who have a chance to move up if simply treated consistently like a bigger deal.

Santino Marella was a great foil for Steve Austin. Austin was great with his tone, introducing himself to him nicely, and later saying he was just fine with an honest review of his DVD. The segment was scripted where Austin wasn't attacking Santino because he didn't like the movie, but rather because he didn't watch the movie he reviewed negatively.

The highlight of the show for me was the crowd sitting there silently as Hacksaw Duggan and Super Crazy tried to get the crowd to chant for them. WWE fans sent Vince McMahon a message there. Hopefully it's received.

The main event was very good with the right finish. The Santino-Austin segment and main event were almost enough to get this into thumbs up range. But not quite for me.

Info on becoming VIP Today!

Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET

For UFC & MMA NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO