Pre-Show Notes:Wow, how time flies! It seemed like yesterday I was posting my Year End Awards and here we are, time to get back to work. I’m personally refreshed from wrestling and I’m ready to see what 2008 has to offer. It’s always good to take a step back and take a rest from the hustle & bustle of professional wrestling. I know the superstars of the WWE have enjoyed their time off.
A few things while I was away, the New England Patriots finished the regular season as the first undefeated team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. I’ll be pulling against the Patriots throughout the playoffs. I honestly think the Jacksonville Jaguars have a legitimate shot at beating them. Anyways, enough of the chit chat, let’s get to the first edition of RAW IS BLOGGED of 2008!
I’ve always been a big fan of RAW Roulette. It’s one of my favorite gimmicks in the WWE. I’ve even thought Smackdown could do something similar. Starting 2008 off with RAW Roulette is good. As RAW opened up, Vince & Silly Willy Regal were talking about last week, which was a pretty good show. Vince made a match between Regal & Triple H with the stipulation being a First Blood Match! That’s a good way to start off the show.
Next up was another round of Mr. Kennedy…KENNEDY against Shawn Michaels. Their match is a “Strange Bedfellows” match, which is an odd name for a tag match. The opponents for this match were Trevor Murdoch and Charlie Haas. In case you haven’t heard, Lance Cade injured his shoulder and he’ll be out some time. You know, as much as I like a superhero gimmick, The Hurricane and Rosey did me in on that one. Kennedy ended up turning on HBK and getting the pin on Lucha Haas.
The next match was Hardcore Holly against Carlito in a “Trading Places” match. Whatever happened to a good ole street fight or hardcore match? Carlito came out dressed as Holly and vice versa. Needless to say, this wasn’t my favorite match of the night. Holly got the win after an assist from Cody Rhodes. I wonder why Cody didn’t come dressed as Santino…
In case you’ve been under a rock, Maria is posing for Playboy. While her “pillows” won’t be as large as “pillows” in the past, I’ll still enjoy her issue.
Backstage, they recapped the stuff between WWE Champion Randy Orton and Matt Hardy from last week. Jeff Hardy stated he would not only take Orton’s title, he would take him out. It’s good to see a fresh title picture, instead of the same morons every month. It’s like sports, you don’t want to see the same couple of teams running the show all of the time. Throw a wild card (Jeff Hardy) in there every now and then. Also around this time, Hornswoggle was told if he won his match, he and his partner would get a spot in the Royal Rumble.
Our next contest was the lingerie pillow fight with the Divas. I’ve come to realize I’m a red blooded male just like all of you and I love some good eye candy. Ashley Massaro made her return for the match. There wasn’t much to this match. T&A, no not the crappy promotion that seems like WCW all over again, but the things that men like to see. Ashley got the win for her team as we see Triple H walking to the ring for the First Blood match.
The WWE will soon be broadcasting in HD. That means I need to start getting some money together to buy an HD TV. Damn, I hope technology chills out for a while. Every time I turn around, something new is coming out.
The First Blood match was up next. This thing was brutal. If you saw it, you know what I’m talking about. I’ve been seeing the reports about how Triple H is very disliked backstage. I don’t think I could like the guy either if I worked there with him. Respect him, probably. Like him, hell no. He’s starting to remind me of Hulk Hogan in WCW. Sure he put over Jeff Hardy at Armageddon but Hogan put over Goldberg. It wasn’t long before he was back running the show.
Horny was backstage looking for a tag partner and Santino turned him down. Poor Hornswoggle.
Our next match was a handicapped match with Chris Jericho taking on JBL and Snitsky. I don’t know if Vince has gotten the message but nobody cares for Snitsky. I don’t care for him and neither do some of the fans. This one ended in a No Contest as JBL took out everything in sight. Jericho looked pretty banged up from some of the shots he took. He was either selling well or was really hurt.
After King and JR ran down the Rumble card, the next match was Hornswoggle and his partner against the Highlanders. To no surprise, Mick Foley came out and was Horny’s partner. It was a decent comedic match considering who was involved. Hornswoggle and Foley got the win so they have qualified for the Royal Rumble.
The main event was the Steel Cage match between Jeff Hardy and Ooomanga. Orton came out to ringside and cheered Umaga throughout the match. The sickest spot had to be Hardy’s Whisper in the Wind off the top of the cage. If you think he’s more boring than Cena, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Hardy got the win and climbed to the top of the cage to stare Orton down. I hope they build on this and continue. They’ve started off 2008 great so far.
I give this RAW:
4 out of 4 ring posts
Wrestling AutismRAW – LIVE! – Mondays at 9PM on USARoyal Rumble – January 27 – 8PM – Only on PPV!
