Pre-Show Notes:John Cena returned last night in a blaze of glory to win the Royal Rumble from the 30th spot for the second year in a row. I have to give the WWE huge props for keeping his return quiet and having the entire MSG mark out when he returned. I'll be honest, if I had been there, despite my dislike of Cena's character, I would have marked out like a little child.
But, the more I thought about it, the more it came clear that Cena's torn pec might have been a work. Think about it. He tore it on October 1st and had surgery a few days later. Normally, a torn pec results in 7-12 months of rehab. Cena returned in 4. So, either he was really hurt and just pulled a Terrell Owens & returned quickly or it was just a work. I know he is doing a movie similar to The Marine. I just don't know if was off to film it or what. I know when he filmed The Marine, he was "stabbed" by one of Carlito's associates.
Anyway, the return of Cena really started 2008 out with a bang. I mean, nobody expected Cena to be there! I was expecting him at One Night Stand or Great American Bash. He came out and worked pretty good.
Now, before I get to my thoughts on the Rumble match, let's look at the rest of the card. I thought the MVP-Flair match was one of the best of the night. Flair's promo seemed so believable, like there was a real shot that he would get beat last night. They had a pretty good match and the win by Flair with the Figure Four was pretty good. I don't think it hurt MVP's character at all. He's the rising star going against a legend and he just happened to tap. It's not like Flair hit him with a few power moves and just destroyed him. That's something that might happen with a match against Cena or Triple H.
The Chris Jericho-JBL match was alright. I agree with Richard about JBL being out of shape and not belonging in the ring. He probably should have started getting in shape a few months before he "left" Smackdown. This feud doesn't seem like it will produce great, technical wrestling matches unless JBL gets in shape. It looks like one that will be a cage/hardcore type feud where they can go slow and really inflict pain. Despite Jericho getting the win by destroying JBL, his return hasn't lived up to expectations. Well, my expectations at least.
Rey Mysterio proved once again that he can have a good match with just about anybody. He got booed in Madison Square Garden and it seems like he's turning into Cena, where he gets cheered by the kids. The whole ending was good, if it leads to a continuation of the feud. It seems like Mysterio will be involved in the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out. Edge & Company have done some good things. Vickie getting out of the chair to mess with the referee was pretty good despite her just, hopping on up and messing with the ref. It kind of reminded me of Linda McMahon just rising up at Wrestlemania 17 to slap Vince.
The WWE Championship match didn't live up to the hype and work in the past few weeks. It was like, they were going, going, oh, the match is over. I thought Jeff Hardy deserved to win the title, even if it was only for a night or a week. Remember, Kane won the title and the next night lost it to Stone Cold Steve Austin. I don't know if the ending was to put Orton over more or what but it wasn't great. Now that Cena's back, Jeff Hardy will go back to being the IC champ and being used to enhance the main event guys, which leads me to the next series of points.
The Rumble match itself was good. Michael Buffer just screams WCW but it was a nice touch. I liked having HBK and Undertaker starting things where they left off last year, which makes me think they'll have a match at 'Mania. As much as I like Jimmy Snuka and Rowdy Roddy Piper, they didn't belong in the match. Matt Striker, one or both of the Highlanders, Brian Kendrick, Carlito, and even Hacksaw, since he tried to qualify, could have taken their place. It was a pretty good match. Why was Chavo in there? The main title holders don't need to be in the match. One kayfabe "provision" I would make is past Rumble winners are already entered into next year's match. If you watch NASCAR, they have a thing before every year called the Budweiser Shootout. Previous winners of the Shootout are automatically entered regardless of the previous season's performance. That's one little provision I would add to the Rumble stuff. Everybody else would have to qualify but not all the spots would be filled so what happened at the end would be open.
I didn't expect Cena to show up. I didn't think Undertaker or HBK would win. I didn't want Triple H to win either. With Cena returning, Jeff Hardy will go back down to the IC division unless Cena goes to Smackdown, which we all know won't happen. It could happen because RAW is so heavy with main event guys. He hasn't been gone long enough to get the bad taste out of my mouth or anybody else's just yet. It's like school vacation. You're out for a week or two and then you've got to go back. You're just not ready for it. Poor Jeff Hardy. Maybe he'll drop the IC title and get a title shot at Wrestlemania. Overall, it was a good start to 2008 in the PPV market.
As far as Wrestlemania is concerned, I'm guessing Cena will challenge Orton for the WWE Championship. I'm also guessing that Undertaker will challenge Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship. I don't know about the ECW title. From all indications, it will be Batista against Triple H, judging from the staredown and elimination from last night.
Since WWE has gone to HD, there's been a lot of talk about the camera angles and stuff like that. I remember when ESPN went HD, they had the same problems. The thing is, the camera guys have to remember that the entire audience doesn't have HD. They've got to practice getting the people involved in the match or segment in the frame where the standard definition people can see it and screw the HD guys for the time being. In 2009, when everybody will have switched to HD, things will be different. Now, it's time for RAW is Blogged!
They recapped the events of the Royal Rumble match itself before we started RAW. Cena got a great pop at the Rumble but as soon as his music hit on RAW, the boos started back up. It's like a bad dream all over again. He started off by sucking up to the crowd and then he got serious, followed by a "CENA SUCKS" chant, which I enjoyed. He said he risked it all for a chance to be at Wrestlemania. They had a dueling "CENA" "CENA SUCKS" chant. He talked about having Wrestlemania early. Bad bad thoughts ran through my head. I almost started crying. This brought out Orton who told Cena he's beat everybody that's challenged him. Cena sucked up to him and told him that he was the only one that put him on the shelf. Cena showed us the scar and they ran their mouths some more. Orton said he could have the match at No Way Out. I just want to curl up and cry as we go to commercial.
Has anybody told them there's no beach like they've got picture in Orlando? Ashley came then out next to a limited reaction with her cute little pyro. Next up was Mickie James, who got a pretty good pop. Out next was Jillian, who sings her own theme music. The Glamazon was out next with a screwed up intro by Lillian. JR covered her ass on TV which was funny. I know how Lillian feels. When I did announcing here at Georgia Southern, I screwed up a few times. The match was sloppy. Ashley tried to get in to break the pin but was too busy giving the "rock/wolfpack" hand signal while Beth was giving the fisherman suplex to Mickie. Maybe these ladies should stick around in Philly and go visit ROH's SHIMMER Women's Promotion to learn how to wrestle.
Backstage, Silly Willy Regal and Vince were chatting about a "match." They were discussing a certain "match." My guess was the Elimination Chamber match. Vinnie told Willy to go make the announcement.
Silly Willy came out and screwed up twice. I bet that got him yelled at. He announced that at No Way Out, 6 guys would take part in an Elimination Chamber Match for the #1 Contender's Spot for the WWE Championship. He went on to say Ooomanga (Umaga), Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jeff Hardy, and Triple H would be the participants. Hmm, hints the Jeff Hardy No Way Out promo poster in the WWE Magazine. I wonder what Smackdown will do. After they, JR introduced former American Gladiators host Mike Adamle to the broadcast team. He seemed REALLY excited about the 2 tag matches that would happen later.
After the commercial, they showed the segment involving Maria posing for Playboy. Yes, I will definitely be looking forward to that. Carlito made his way down for a single's match accompanied by Santino & Maria. Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly are the tag champs? I knew that but it's been a while since we've seen them. Cody botched an arm take over. I guess tonight is the night for screw-ups. Carlito eventually hit the Back Stabber for the pin. Interesting match.
Backstage, Triple H and Shawn Michaels talked about the Elimination Chamber and the chance to go to Wrestlemania. Trips talked about needing a partner and HBK said something about a wardrobe change. Cue WWEShop.com plug and DX is back. Michaels came out running around like an idiot. I'll give it to him, he's hilarious. With this reunion and the rumors going around, I'm smelling a heel turn!
They did the whole DX intro and then Umaga, sporting new red trunks, & Snitsky came out. YAY! Trips got on the mic asking for a toothbrush or some Tic Tacs. Now, that was funny! The Philly crowd who are always great started a "Brush Your Teeth" chant! They had a pretty good match with DX picking up the win of course.
Backstage, JBL and Randy Orton were chatting about facing each other for the title. Nothing to great. I'm missing my weekly dose of "DAMN." After the break, Todd Grisham interviewed Jeff Hardy. Hardy said the Rumble was only the beginning. They switch to Vince and Hornswoggle with Vince getting on him about not winning the Rumble.
After a recap of the Flair- MVP match….KENNEDY!!! Kennedy came out to face Brian Kendrick. Kendrick started off by slapping the taste out of Kennedy's mouth. They had a fast match with Kennedy picking up the win using The Mic Check. I guess the Green Bay Plunge won't be used again. Kennedy got on the mic and said he asked Regal not to include him in the match. He said he wanted to do something that was better than winning the title. He said he wanted to end Ric Flair's career and some other stuff. Ric Flair then came out and said he had two things to say to Kennedy, "Good Luck" and "WOOOO!"
I guess they wanted us to get our fill for the Divas as Melina came out to face Maria, who was accompanied by Santino Marella. If you want some real women's wrestling, check out TNA or the SHIMMER promotion that tours with ROH. There was lots of screaming with Maria getting the win and her butt being exposed. Santino jumped in to cover Maria's rear area up. Santino got on the mic talking about JR getting an erection and us never seeing Maria in Playboy. Screw you Santino!
Todd Grisham interviewed Chris Jericho who agreed that a new Chris Jericho had emerged. That Chris Jericho was liked about the Chris Jericho who was talking and that Chris Jericho would spend some more time with JBL and that same Chris Jericho would go to Wrestlemania while JBL would go to Disney World. I guess since TNA is in Universal Studios, Disney World is the only theme park that's going to be mentioned.
Back from commercial, Mike Adamle talks about the Orton-Cena match and the Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out.
Out first for the main event would be Jeff Hardy followed by his partner "Y2J" Chris Jericho. Out next was JBL with his elaborate entrance and then Orton came on out. They worked Jeff Hardy for most of the match before Jericho got the hot tag. He was going good until Orton gave him the RKO to allow JBL to get the pin. Cena came out and JBL bailed on Orton. Just like that, Cena gave Orton the FU and the reign of Super Cena picks up where he left off. I mean, will Cena pick up the belt at No Way Out, like one time when Hogan came back and picked up the WCW belt right off the bat?
I give this RAW:
2 out of 4 ring posts
The wrestling was sloppy along with the people involved just didn't make a great follow up to the Royal Rumble.
"RAW is Blogged" Match of the WeekNew Year's RevolutionWWE ChampionshipEdge vs. John Cena
Wrestling AutismRAW – LIVE! – Mondays at 9PM on USANo Way Out – February 17 – 8PM – Only on PPV!
