Raw VS SmackDown!

[Guest I Got Banned for Sucking]

*Spoilers* Ok, from now on, that heading won't be there, so if you don't want spoilers, don't venture in.

 

Raw VS SmackDown!

28/05/04-29/05/04

By iB ([email protected])

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Quite a busy weekend. Shifting house involves shifting a piano, unfortunately. As well as all the other stuff, but I'm getting there.

 

And on the plus side, I found stuff!

 

Went to the theatre (not movie) on Saturday night and fell in love with the lead actress, but that's another story for another time. Well, not really.

 

A great Raw last week, Shawn Michaels being suspended and all (but that's not the reason). Of course he'll be here tonight, to build to Bad Blood along with the rest of Raw.

 

And then there's the "under-achiever". All we know about this week's SmackDown! is a Lumberjack match between John Cena and Rene Dupree for the U.S. Championship. Uh... why?

 

Let's do it.

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Nice opening video package, covering the Michaels/Triple H feud.

 

"How does it feel!?"

 

 

5/10

 

This is WWE Raw for the 28/05/04 here in Australia and the 24/05/04 in the USA, where we are LIVE (well, not really) from the Metro Centre in Rockford, IL - Your announcers are Jim "J.R." Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler

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Triple H bitches and Eric Bischoff kisses ass

 

I liked the way that we kicked the show off with this - it's so obviously getting the Bad Blood main event spot (Benoit and Kane can't work in what will be such a bloody ring) - but while this feud won't live up to the sheer awesomeness of their first, this will more than likely be their last match together (if WWE have a brain in their head - avoids extremely uncreative joke), and it's going to be the one.

 

These were nicely spread out tonight, covering the entire show for the pay-off at the end of the evening. Delivered well by Triple H and Eric Bischoff, utilizing the crowd with Shawn Michaels' name. And hey, it looks like any hope of Edge/Flair filler in Columbus is out the window.

 

4/10

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Scheduled for one fall: Edge VS Ric Flair w/ Randy Orton

 

I would've liked to see this on the Bad Blood card, but it would've been much like Benjamin/Flair at Backlash.

 

Standard match, and I don't mean pretty bad, I just mean standard setting-out. It was enjoyable as a whole, was pretty fast-paced and contained not-so-bad wrestling.

 

Randy Orton accompanying Flair worked well, because it helped hype for Bad Blood with Shelton Benjamin. And the fact that Edge's win was a direct result of the Benjamin interference doesn't make Flair look weak, even if people will forget that in a week anyway.

 

2.5/10

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Triple H and Batista babysit

 

The last line delivered in that opening promo got a laugh out of me.

 

I always like us going outside the arena, and Trips and Batista waiting for Michaels out there ensures entertaining television.

 

And there's the venue!

 

2.5/10

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The Search is on

 

If Vince is going to be on the show, at least he's not ruining it. Even if him on the current Raw wouldn't be so bad.

 

The obvious difference here is the 'vote-off' scenario and the quarter mil cash prize. That's fair enough, even if the winner probably won't even get on TV and the money is to keep them quiet.

 

2/10

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The epitome of "soap opera bullshit"

 

Todd Grisham really does sound like a dork.

 

The Matt/Lita conversation outside the dressing room had all the ingredients for Lita to tell Matt that she didn't love him anymore, meaningfully or not. And then we go inside...

 

More soap opera bullshit. And I don't have a problem with that when it's done well and/or means something, but this one doesn't meet the latter category's standards. I mean, apart from a small promo later on, Benoit/Kane has got nothing. The fact that Lita is more-than-likely turning heel with Kane is great for pushing Matt, but that requires time, and that's time that won't allow to see-saw this and a title feud.

 

1.5/10

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Is that him?

 

Man, Steven Richards is getting treated like shit lately. And he's one of Vince's favourite Superstars! Go figure!

 

I'd say we're getting another squash next week.

 

2/10

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Tag team contest scheduled for one fall: La Resistance VS Rosey & The Hurricane

 

Nothing too bad here - while Sylvain Grenier continues to not improve, Conway, Helms and even Rosey keep things going nicely.

 

Actually better than expected, pretty fast-paced, and could lead to something better. They are taking steps to revive Raw's tag team division by the looks of things, and that is good. But Benoit and Edge, if you're not a tag team divij kinda team, you need to drop those belts.

 

That is all.

 

2.5/10

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The Heartbreak Kid has arrived

 

I loved this here - Michaels just jumps out of nowhere and starts beating the shit out of Triple H, but... where did he come from?

 

This is the first of more of these, that show pure hatred between the two. Entertaining as fuck.

 

5/10

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Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel

 

Randy Orton's the guest this evening.

 

It was interesting to see how the newly-face Jericho would handle this situation - siding with Orton on most everything or go against him because of his turn.

 

Very well-handled, with that natural charisma from Jericho, who played it cool as the wiseass face at first, but showed alliance with Shelton Benjamin in his challenge-issuing.

 

Putting these two together gets respective heat, which is great, and also helped this evening to hype Benjamin/Orton at Bad Blood, as well as setting up the following match, thanks to Uncle Eric, and what happens post.

 

5/10

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Tag team contest scheduled for one fall: Chris Jericho & Shelton Benjamin VS Randy Orton and Batista

 

Your formulaic tag team match between these four - what you'd expect. I'm loving these each and every week on this show. Randy Orton and Batista work well together, as they should, and Jericho and Benjamin would make an awesome face team.

 

Great action from all four participants. Chris Jericho and Shelton Benjamin are naturally talented, Randy Orton is Randy Orton and Batista is coming into his own. The focal point was to see Benjamin and Orton in action, and things worked out well.

 

Great, fast-paced ending, opening up a few doors for the future - nice Benjamin/Orton hype too, but... Is the powerslam Benjamin's new finisher...?

 

5.5/10

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Post-match shenanigans

 

Trish at announce = standard hype.

 

Christian being out injured is good in that it gives Jericho and Tomko quality time together to concentrate on their inevitable match-up. The table powerbomb was nice, and at least Tomko didn't botch his second move on television.

 

Just as long as Trish isn't involved in the match and it's not in a Steel Cage...

 

2/10

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The only title hype for Bad Blood as yet

 

It was just that. And will probably be some of the only.

 

Standard scenario for a change - Kane is jealous of Benoit holding the title and the life he has, as opposed to how Kane lives. Even the dumbest mark could understand what's happening.

 

It's a shame that Kane's injured, because I could've looked forward to some tag matches involving him and Benoit (and Matt?). But we need that hype to make what should be an awesome match that much more awesome psychologically.

 

3/10

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Another brawl

 

Wonderful stuff - more pure hatred. Tearing up of the office, nice upsetting of Eric and keeping people interested for just what match Michaels wants - and what Bischoff wants.

 

6/10

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Non-title contest scheduled for one fall: WWE Women's Champion Victoria VS Molly Holly

 

I loved it before I saw it, but then when I did it, I thought it may have been a tad over-the-top. But then I remind myself - Victoria can wrestle, is insane beautiful, and I want her to marry me. She do whatever the fuck she wants.

 

Standard enough match thought... not a lot special. The main attraction was Victoria relentlessly getting the Widow's Peak over on both heels.

 

Repetitive filler and standard.

 

And that chinstrap is fucking disgusting. I'd rather a Kurt Angle...

 

1/10

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Miscellaneous bits

 

The SmackDown! Rebound was done well enough - but covered one thing, and one thing only. Not that there's much else, but still... They couldn't even hype their main event for this week?

 

.5/10

 

The Bisch lays down the law

 

The feud's hype continues by getting every single Raw worker in on it. That's great, but... It makes them all seem like pawns, and Bischoff cherishing his show but threatening to fire every single Raw worker, rendering him without a show, it stupid.

 

3.5/10

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Eugene's backstage promo

 

Johnny Nitro sucks on the mic, but gets the heat.

 

This promo helped to continually get the crowd behind Eugene, and I'm still impressed with what's being done with him. The recoil of The Rock was great too.

 

But was Regal supposed to be in on this or what?

 

2.5/10

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2-on-1 Handicap match scheduled for one fall?: Jonathan Coachman & Lance Cade VS Eugene

 

Hold up... Let me make a little adjustment...

 

Tag team contest scheduled for one fall: Jonathan Coachman & Lance Cade VS Eugene... and Chris Benoit!

 

Awesome stuff there. Excellent entrance from Benoit, he's being the nice guy, and that works for both him and Eugene.

 

Not much special by way of a match though. Benoit and Eugene just wanted to kick the two heels' asses, and they did indeed do that.

 

Great ending, and that includes Eugene running around with the belts. It was entertaining for the non-wrestling portion, for the most part, and is an excusable main event due to what follows.

 

1.5/10

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The brawl continues

 

Another nice brawl, and WWE's Slam of the Week leads us into what happens next.

 

4/10

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Triple H wants to end things once and for all

 

Dude, he's pissed.

 

I loved seeing Michaels come down, and the brawl is underway. This has the main event slot, and noone's there to stop them.

 

Sweet Chin Music to Flair, Batista and Orton are taken care of. Bischoff's down, reinforcements to break things up, but they just keep getting into it.

 

More reinforcements, more and more, and finally, they're broken apart so that Eric can make that announcement.

 

This has the potential to be the greatest Hell in a Cell of all time - the blow-off, the final encounter, over, once and for all.

 

8/10

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Raw was a tad down this week, but still kept on it's winning streak. Great IC Championship hype, mediocre for the Womens Championship, Eugene is still runnin' wild, promising build for a not-so promising angle in Kane/Matt/Lita, the same for Jericho/Tomko, a bit of a muddle as far as the World Tag Team Championship, and not much for the World Heavyweight Championship, which needs it right now. But the fact that Kane won the Battle Royale and the match happens for no particular reason other than that does a bit of excusing.

 

Satisfactory wrestling on the show too. So that with nice development in some parts, in fact, awesome for Michaels/Triple H makes this a good show.

 

7/10

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Nice vidcap chronicling last week's main event highlights and the Champ's collapse.

 

2.5/10

 

Kurt Angle's new trademark

 

Isn't Kurt overdoing the '(pre-show) up close and peronal' thing? Still, it was nice to hear what he had to say, and the crowd were used well in regards to Eddy.

 

2/10

 

This is WWE SmackDown! for the 29/05/04 here in Australia and the 27/05/04 in North America, where we are taped 25/05/04 from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI - Your announcers are Michael Cole & Tazz

 

Tonight, John Cena defends his U.S. Championship against Rene Dupree in a Lumberjack match! Er... Why?

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Tag team contest scheduled for one fall: Rob Van Dam & Rey Misterio VS The Dudley Boyz

 

Easily the match of the night, and I believe was around par with their Judgment Day encounter, if not surpassing it.

 

Starting off, some nice submission work by the Dudleyz ensured quite a long affair. They were also showing the size difference between them and Rey, who works tremendously with Van Dam as a tag team.

 

Fast-paced work by RVD as usual, and him and Rey pretty much carried Bubba and D'Von to an enegetic opener.

 

I liked seeing Paul Heyman again, but the problem is that I think he's hit a brick wall here with the Dudleyz, because there's really not much to do. The match's ending ensured a program here, and while seeing Heyman is great, his full abilities are being let shine in this program.

 

5.5/10

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Backstage celebratory proceedings

 

Excellent speech by Heyman - fucking tremendous. When he speaks, you listen.

 

I can't praise that speech enough, and everything else was pretty mediocre. This here shows just why he's associated with them.

 

He was genuinely mysterios in his contemplation to them, and sets up for some strange happenings a little later on.

 

7/10

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Another standard John Bradshaw DiBiase promo

 

Throwing Michael Cole in there and having show the slightest amount of guts doesn't cut it for a new and different promo.

 

Nothing more than what you'd expect for him - accuses him of lying last week, and that's about it. Even having Eddy choose a Great American Bash stip doesn't help it make the cut, especially seeing as it will be, and is, a stupid stip anyway.

 

If he (JBD) sucks as a wrestler, why can't he use his new gimmick to deliver a fresh, vibrant, entertaining promo?

 

1.5/10

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Scheduled for one fall: Scotty 2 Hotty VS Booker T

 

I mean, come on. First of all, Booker is being put in these types of matches every week while he's on the fence waiting for the writing team to come up with something for him. And then, guys who were credible enough a few months ago are being squashed by him.

 

Sure, the rematch might draw for next week, and at least Cole & Tazz tried to hype it as much as possible. Eddy's booked up until the PPV, and if Mordecai runs in next week and it's him and 'Taker, then is the Book just going to do this for the next couple of weeks? I wouldn't mind seeing him in the U.S. Championship hunt, myself.

 

Match-wise, energetic for what we got, but still pointless and stupid.

 

1/10

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Mordecai vignette

 

Yeah, crappy on TV as well in vignettes. He's gonna bomb.

 

No rating.

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Non-title contest scheduled for one fall: WWE Champion Eddy Guerrero VS Damaja w/ Doug Basham

 

Loving Eddy's entrance.

 

More of the same standard stuff with heel Kurt. Playing off of last week and onto the Great American Bash was good for we're given, but still nothing great, and I don't really care how the Bashams look here.

 

DUD, obviously

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A Bikini Contest next week? Should be sucktacular.

 

Mixed tag team contest scheduled for one fall: Torrie Wilson & Spike Dudley VS Jamie Noble & Dawn Marie

 

The token heels and faces teamed up. What an effort.

 

While things don't seem to mean anything now for Torrie and Dawn as respective valets for John Cena and Rene Dupree, this was a fun little match, nothing more. It made zero sense, but it was just a collection of spots, worked well for the crowd and had a spiffy ending.

 

2/10

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Kenzo Suzuki debut vignette

 

I'm anticipating his Great American Bash debut, presuming that it's not just going to be another standard 'PPV debut squash'. Seriousness showed here.

 

2.5/10

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The resident homosexual innuendo team talk fashion

 

Interesting enough. We got to see Jackie dressed skimpily, but this team doesn't seem to have another dimension, and this gimmick might just die out before it even begins. I mean, it's just recycled material, cliches and the same themes as the week before.

 

1/10

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The Doctor is in the house

 

Served two purpose:

 

1. To show that the troops are getting a free PPV.

2. John Cena making a terrific entrance.

 

While things don't seem to mean much on this show anymore, at least Cena is still the face and Angle still the heel by being an ass to him.

 

2/10

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Pre-Cruiserweight Championship match-up

 

Better than any of their previous segments, due to the fact that Chavo Sr. is not being made to look like an idiot, and in that change, he is pretty damn funny.

 

Who can smell a Chavo/Chavo match sometime in the near future?

 

3/10

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And the prematch intro furthered that theory's likelihood.

 

Cruiserweight Championship contest scheduled for one fall: Chavo Guerrero Sr. (Champion) w/ Chavo Guerrero Jr. VS Jimmy "Akio" Yang

 

As little as I like Mordecai, at least his Crucifix-esque finisher is being sold a week after it happens. That and/or Vince just wants the cruisers to look like shit.

 

Nice psychology in Chavo Sr. going after that injured neck of Akio, who has some nice offense, but his old finisher (the Yang Time) is belittled in using it as a desperation maneuvre.

 

More heat on Chavo Jr. and Sr., and while it would be good for Akio to actually get some credibility, if his division took a turn for the better, he might turn aswell.

 

1/10

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Miscellaneous bits

 

Nice Raw Rebound, showing the Diva Search, as well as Michaels/Trips and Kane/Matt/Lita build. And the fact that that was shown over Kane's title picture promo shows some out-of-whack priorities.

 

2/10

 

The Dudleyz have a sacrifice

 

The suspense was there when you were wondering which Paul they meant, and the notion of it being Heyman. But the urn was a nice way to show Bearer and how it is his niche, but... Why do we want the Dudleyz/'Taker at the Great American Bash? Shouldn't Mordecai be handling that? Is this a just a weak attempt get this team on PPV? Shoudln't Mordecai be running in next week during Booker/'Taker, starting a feud so that Booker can go to the U.S. Championship division and the Dudleyz can be tag team division heels?

 

We don't, yes, yes and yes.

 

3/10

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The match and feud is given credibility by Angle's seat and the Superstars beginning to flood ringside. Nice showing.

 

U.S. Championship contest scheduled to be a Lumberjack match: John Cena (Champion) VS Rene Dupree

 

The only reason that I can fathom as to this being a Lumberjack match is Kurt Angle's feeling towards Cena. And at least it ups the feud itself.

 

Nothing great match-wise, but the lumberjacks were used... well, fairly enough. Bob Holly's still standing up for his country and him and Billy Gunn are trying to be made look like a legitimate tag team but failing, Rico and Haas look to be being brought together more as a team, Luther sticks up for Kurt Angle, and shows viciousness.

 

So the lumberjacks were used decently, the match up to the end was based around them, and that ending had some nice action with a nice ending, and was inadvertently a patterned match for Cena, but it didn't matter much here.

 

3.5/10

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Overall, the show was up a bit this week. As much as most don't give a shit about the Eddy/JBD, Dudleyz/Undertaker, Booker T/Undertaker and Mordecai/Undertaker programs, they were built for.

 

A nice opener and main event sandwiched in some pretty damn mediocre midcard work too.

 

Still not a great show by any means, but at least some decent wrestling in some places and and angle development is taking place, and the month was ended that way.

 

2.5/10

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Overall, of course Raw scores it this week. While it was a little down, it still didn't go below SmackDown!. Some things are muddled on Raw right now, but the good wrestling and for the most part, good or great storyline continuation is there.

 

The winner of Raw VS SmackDown! for the 28/05/04-29/05/04: WWE Raw, defeating SmackDown! by 4.5/10!

 

And next week, Raw comes to Montreal.

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'Til next time,

Beau

 

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