Pre-Show Notes:
Since this week's Excess will be a Survivor Series preview, I wanted to discuss CNN's Death Grip documentary. This was the first time I saw it and I had already heard a lot of the rumors about the hatchet job done on some of the interviews. So, here it goes.

I've never been a fan of CNN. They usually blow shit out of proportion and make things bigger than they really are. When I heard they would be doing a report on professional wrestling, I knew the industry would be painted as a gigantic monster and they didn't fail me. They talked about the drugs and booze and just destroyed the WWE and really wrestling as a whole. They didn't mention TNA but they did mention WCW a few times. I noticed where they included the entire John Cena quote instead of fixing it to where it makes them look good. CNN has a history of manipulating things to get their point across. Journalism should report all sides of the story and not show bias. This is an opinion column, so it's my opinion. Anyways, they followed CM Punk for a little bit and tried to say his push was because of his straight edge lifestyle. They also said that Benoit had been the WWE Champion instead of the World Heavyweight Champion. The more I listened to the stuff the more it pissed me off.

They even compared the WWE's Drug Policy to the Olympic policy. Let's see here. Are they really trying to say the WWE should be as strict as the damn Olympics? Personally, the Olympics have been and always will be a bigger deal than anything else. Winning an Olympic medal is bigger than winning a conference title or something. I do think the punishments for failing drugs tests were a little weak. They might have changed it but they need to make it a little harsher. There's no doubt in my mind CNN did a hatchet job on the interviews. They're out to get their agenda across, even if it means not reporting the facts, i.e. Nancy f*cking Grace. Until they report the whole side, CNN can kiss my ass.

Moving on, I'm hoping the Undertaker-Batista finale delivers. It could probably be the best match on the show. I personally think it stole the show at Wrestlemania and Backlash. Undertaker is taking his time getting back into ring shape and I would do the same thing. The worst thing that could happen is for him to go out there trying too hard and get hurt. It's human nature to be gun shy when you start back doing something. I think these two will deliver and Undertaker will get the belt. I just hope there's plenty of blood and weapons, maybe a trip off the cage for Batista.

Now, if you weren't here on the comment board this weekend, you missed one hell of a show. I had people telling me to be positive about the product and not bash it. Quite frankly, if I did that, I wouldn't be doing my job. My job is to review the product and give my opinion, even if it doesn't go along with everybody else's. I never have and never will sugarcoat something and make it into something it's not. If a show sucks, I'm going to say it sucks. It's not my personality to lie about stuff. If you don't like what I say, it's not my problem.

Batista started off the show and got a good pop. He then cut a promo and put me to sleep. Undertaker came out and that got me going. It's only the second time I believe 'Taker has been on RAW. The more this happens, the more the brand extension will become extinct. Regal came out and told us that Undertaker and Batista would be facing Cade & Murdoch in a tag match. Problem here is Cade & Murdoch are teasing a break up. Why have them in a tag match and they show no signs of a breakup, then have them lose? See my beef? No logic on the creative team. You make your tag champs look weak with them losing. If you think that's a great idea, you're retarded. It was like when Triple H and John Cena defeated the champs with ease in singles matches. It doesn't make a bit of sense. But, Lillian's announcing was good and the lighting in the arena looked good. I thought the graphics were cool that they use every week.

After the commercial, they recapped the Austin-Santino segment from last week. Honestly, if you think Santino is as good as The Rock, I think you're crazy. Potentially be as good as the Rock? I doubt it. There will only be one Rock. There will only be one Stone Cold. There will only be one Hulk Hogan. Stop with the comparisons because right now, he's nowhere near The Rock's level when he was with The Nation. They announced a 10-Diva tag match for Survivor Series. That will be certainly nice to watch. Maria showed some improvement but Beth is too much. On a positive note, her music is nice and I like her little head thing she wears. I hope everybody is catching the sarcasm in my "positive" thoughts. Santino came out and blabbed some stuff. He challenged JR but The King stepped in. Didn't we see this in August before Summerslam with King Booker? It's like the creative team is a bottle of shampoo. If you ever read the "instructions," they say "Lather. Rinse. Repeat." or something like that.

As JR said, it was like an All-Star game on RAW. We had the Hardys and Rey Mysterio against Kennedy, Finlay, and MVP. I like MVP's gimmick and his attire like a pro athlete. This match was good except for the commercial break in the middle of it. On a positive note, that new Smackdown vs. RAW video game looks great. I'll be ordering it soon. The heels worked good in isolating Mysterio from his partners. Mysterio is truly a guy you can get behind for a few reasons. The first is he's a little guy and another is he sells his opponents' moves. The face team picked up the win in a pretty damn good match.

The Save Us stuff aired and it revealed some more about Jericho's debut. To this point, if you don't think it's Jericho, you might want your head examined. It said something about "X+1=J" and another equation. It said "Launch_19" or something close to it. It also said "Next Monday" and had a countdown with like "23 hours and 53 minutes." I might have that minute count wrong. Either way, I'm pretty sure Jericho is debuting next Monday.

Back from the commercial, Vince was in the ring and ready to talk. They had the staredown and it was pretty good. They way they're talking and banning moves, I'm thinking HBK may use the Sharpshooter and "screw" Orton, or vice versa. The ending stuff was a little weak. Mark it down. Orton uses a Sharpshooter and HBK gets "screwed."

Melina's split still hurts to watch. The match was about what you would expect from Divas. Nothing great. Nothing bad. I didn't expect the kiss from Melina to Layla. It was a nice addition.

Santino and The King had a match. It wasn't that great and King picked up the win. Nothing to get excited over.

The Save Us stuff aired again and by my math, it will be around 10PM next Monday that Jericho debuts. I'm excited for that.

They aired a training session with Hornswoggle that was damn hilarious. Coach came out dressed as Khali. Horny went over and kicked the hell out of Coach a few times. Coach kept complaining but I was enjoying it. As long as they don't run this in the ground, it will work. I wouldn't mind seeing a video of Hornswoggle working out and lifting weights.

The lumberjack match closed things out. I thought it was pretty cool that Mysterio was wearing a Hardy jersey. It was your typical Lumberjack match. I honestly couldn't get into it. Maybe it was because GSU was playing Florida State and I had the radio on towards the end. Finlay got in there and interfered to end the match and all hell broke loose. This is stuff I like. I think Survivor Series will be pretty good. It's better than last year's for sure without a million team matches. We've got a "Hell in a Cell" match. A WWE title match, a nice team match, probably an ECW title match, etc. Survivor Series will be good and probably be the best PPV of the year.

I give this RAW:
3 out of 4 ring posts

"Edge Return Tour" Match of the Week
Wrestlemania 22
Hardcore Match
Mick Foley vs. Edge

You can e-mail me at lukeparks@hotmail.com. If you send me spam, I will knock your block off. Just kidding, but seriously, I will.

Wrestling Autism

RAW – LIVE! – Mondays at 9PM on USA

Survivor Series – November 18 – 8PM – Only on PPV!