Pre-Show Notes:I didn't watch Armageddon but from all of the things I read, it was a decent show. I'm glad Edge has the belt back and the Major Brothers are going to get a push. I like the idea of Edge taking 2 guys underneath his wing. It reminds me of the time Kurt Angle took Haas & Benjamin and formed Team Angle. I don't know what their name will be but I could see something like the Rated R Rookies or something. Orton retained and Hardy won, just like I figured. Other than that, Armageddon wasn't that spectacular.
Moving on, I deleted a post off the comment board earlier concerning the Tribute to the Troops special. If you want to insult our troops, regardless of your age and whether you agree with the war or not, I'll personally beat your ass. I have family members and friends over there and I swear, if you ever insult them and call them "stupid" or anything disrespectful, if you're in my area, I will personally beat your ass. That's not something to joke about at all. Without them, you wouldn't be able to post dumb stuff like that. I won't even address the comment I deleted that referred to me as a racist. Complete blasphemy.
After all of that, it's now time for RAW is Blogged!!!
They started off RAW with a look back at the Anniversary show which was pretty cool. I enjoyed it and it was a great show.
First up was a Santa's Little Helper Diva match or something. The first team out was Jillian, Melina, Victoria, and Layla. During this crap, I flipped over to Monday Night Football to check out former Georgia Southern running back, Adrian Peterson, play. He went to GSU, which is the school I go to. I'm sure people will have a problem with me checking out MNF, but I don't care. You guys don't run my life. The next team was the faces with Maria, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, and Michelle McCool. Now, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't TNA doing a match like this on Impact Thursday? Melina & Victoria did a cool looking double team move during the match. Mickie picked up the win and the faces did a little "meeting of the minds" with the heel Divas.
After this, Vincent Kennedy McMahon made his way down to the ring and he looked like the time he came out after losing the ECW Championship. He told the Divas to clear the ring and he looked like he was going to cry. He ran his mouth about the Anniversary Show and the whole thing was saved by the arrival of Jeff Hardy. Hardy started talking about the Iraq special and compared Vince to Saddam Hussein. He went on to say that nobody gave a damn about Vince. It was like the death angle all over again. He walked over to the corner of the ring, slipped down, and began to cry. This made me want to cry. They had a great, nostalgic show last week and they started the show off like this?
Back from commercial, Vince was still in the ring with Silly Willy Regal and a referee talking to him. Triple H's music his and he made his way down to the ring. Up to this point, it's about 20 minutes into the show and they've talked about Armageddon once and that was to call Jeff Hardy the #1 Contender for the WWE Championship. Triple H talked some and apologized to Vince about last week. Silly Willy got in the ring and told Trips to remove Vince or he'll have security throw Trips out of the building. To this point, Vince looked like one of those kids at a theme park that took a dump in his pants on a ride. Meanwhile, there was a guy holding up a sign that said "Bring Back La Resistance" and I can't agree more. Then again, they'll probably be buried by some singles guy. Vince got on the mic and started talking like Delirious from ROH. Vince then made a match with Coach & Silly Willy against Triple H. He then said he hoped something bad happened to all of the fans.
After the commercial, it was time for the handicap match. It was without a doubt an odd match. So far, this show seems like it was just thrown together. A funny spot in the match was when Trips busted Coach for having brass knuckles. He crawled up Trips' leg and ended up giving him the knucks. Triple H hit the Pedigree for the easy win. Odd match and a very odd start to the show, besides the Divas match. Trips posed and they sent it to JR and King. They recapped the match for the WWE Championship. I do like the stuff that happened between JBL and Jericho. I don't think this will lead to a full-time JBL return but it will make for an interesting feud. I don't know if this means Jericho will be on Smackdown full-time or not. I like stuff like that. The average fan wouldn't have remembered that Orton threw Jericho into JBL. It's a cool way to start a feud.
When they came back, they showed the WWE Rewind with Rhodes & Holly winning the tag belts from last week. Could this be the making of an actual tag team FEUD!? Out next was Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly taking on Cade & Murdoch, who were cashing in their rematch clause for the titles. The smart thing to do would have Rhodes & Holly go over here, so they prove they're legitimate champions. The match saw Holly get worked over, Cody get the hot tag and the win. It was a decent match but many of the fans in attendance could care less. I am glad to see they're continuing the "Win or Go Home" storyline with Ric Flair.
It's too early to speculate on Wrestlemania 24. However, one thing I would like to see if Flair win the belt going into 'Mania, then have an Evolution Fatal 4-Way between Flair, Batista, Orton, and Triple H for the WWE Championship. That probably won't happen but I can dream. Flair came out and cut a promo on his love for the business. He said he wants anybody who goes against him from now on needs to bring their A-game. I don't know if we'll get a promo like that before all of his matches but it's kind of emotional. During the commercial, if you were keeping score at home, Taylor Made won "I Love New York 2." Flair made his way down followed by Umaga. My problem with this is that Flair should have started at the bottom of the RAW roster and worked his way up. Umaga dominated Flair most of the match and JR said that Umaga could brag that he ended Flair's career. What's he going to say? The only thing I can make sense of that he says is "SAMOA!!!" You guys should have known something was up when Flair was but the guardrail and none of the audience was nearby. Either way, chalk another one up for the Nature Boy. On his way back up the ramp, there was a chick holding a sign that said "I Miss Cena." Well, I don't.
As they went to commercial, they recapped Armageddon finally. They showed the 3 Edges, which was cool. Reminded me of the 2 Angles when Eric Angle subbed for his brother Kurt one time. Don't forget the multiple Kanes and multiple Undertakers.
After the commercial, Chris Jericho made his way down and got the best reaction that I've seen since his return. He was also sporting a new "SAVE_US" t-shirt. I think it's funny when Jericho refers to the production people as "monkeys." JBL wasn't at the arena but he was there via satellite. They argued back and forth and JBL said he had talked to Vince. He said Jericho wouldn't get another title shot and if Jericho messed with JBL again, he said Jericho wouldn't appear at the Royal Rumble and would never be champion again. Jericho wanted to know what happened to JBL and if he sold his balls on Wall Street. He insulted JBL some more and JBL looked like he had been kicked in the nuts. JBL talked about his dominance on Smackdown and that he was coming to RAW. YAY! Wait, wasn't he just on RAW 2 weeks ago?
Back from commercial, they hyped up the tag match between Kennedy & Orton against Hardy & Michaels. Santino then made his way out to the ring followed by Carlito. That's a team I would like to see more of. Their opponents were LONDON & KENDRICK! Has Vince finally let London out of the dog house? Just as I thought that was true, Santino & Carlito go over with the Back Stabber on Kendrick. Santino got on the mic and declared himself & Carlito a great team. Santino said that Carlito liked to swap spit with guys that weren't cool. I like this pairing. I just hope they don't get buried.
I do like the potential feud between CM Punk and MVP. Just please, leave Big Flabby V, Mark Henry, and Kane out of this.
They did a backstage interview with Randy Orton. He talked about Hardy and their match at the Royal Rumble. They cut over to Ric Flair and Triple H walked in. They didn't chat long before Psycho Vince came in. He said at New Year's Eve on RAW, Flair's career would be on the line. Well, duh. He made a match for New Year's Eve RAW between Flair and Triple H. YAY!
After the break, it was time for the tag team main event and out first was Jeff Hardy and he got an excellent reception. Next up was the Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels who also came out to an excellent pop. A noticeably smaller KENNEDY made his way out next. I wish they would let him do his own intros. That's the best part of his gimmick. No offense to Lillian but I would rather have KENNEDY do his own ring intro. Orton came out next to his usual heel reaction. I wish they would change that belt and for back to a regular belt. That spinner belt just screams "CENA!" I'm just glad 2007 is almost over and this upcoming year will be better for pro wrestling. The match was alright. Jeff Hardy can create some excitement in a match with his high-flying style. The finish saw Jeff Hardy give Orton the Twist of Fate followed by the Swanton Bomb. Decent match with Hardy getting a pin on the champ.
I give this RAW:
2 out of 4 ring posts
To follow up Armageddon, this RAW wasn't that good. They've been rolling the past week or two and they pull something like this? They had some weird booking along with some at-best decent matches. Some people will disagree with me but I wasn't entertained that much.
Next week's blog will be a "Best of 2007" Awards blog. I did one last year similar to the one next week. I hope you guys will enjoy that next week. So, instead of recapping the Tribute to the Troops, I'll once again be doing a "Best of…" Awards blog. Another thing is if you send me an e-mail and I don't respond, there's a good chance it got caught up in my junk mail folder. If you're interested in working for WNW, contact Richard or Ryan Gray.
"RAW is Blogged" Match of the WeekInvasion 2001Team WWE vs. Team WCW/ECW
Wrestling AutismRAW – LIVE! – Mondays at 9PM on USARoyal Rumble – January 27 – 8PM – Only on PPV!
