The OAO Raw thread for 07.05.04

[The Czech Republic 0]

I like that they call Tim a "mark."

[Guest Staravenger]

Who cares about Tim, we want Matt.

[Silence 0]

Since HHH beat Benoit tonight, I would hope that this means that Benoit retains the title at Vengeance, but since this is HHH we're talking about, I'm not sure yet.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

Actually, King said it as HHH was gloating with the belt over Benoit, so I doubt he was talking about Eugene.

[The Mandarin 0]

Orton/Jericho was good, minus the house show finish which ANYBODY could have called when the match was first signed. All the Eugene segments were good as well, and the HHH angle is some of the best writing in a while.

 

Oh, and Ingrid is quite annoying. I'm going into mark-out mode when Matt Kennedy Gould(~!) makes his cameo tonight.

[CanadianChick 0]

Pretty good Raw. Jericho's reaction was off the charts. I loved it!

 

Eugene's comedy was good. The first segment was pretty damn funny.

 

I could have done without the ending of Y2J/Orton, but I guess it was for the best seeing that both have relatively big matches.

 

I like the Edge angle. They're FINALLY giving the crowd a reason to cheer for him. If he's going to be a serious face, they might as well give a sinister feel to him. Although I am curious to know why he thinks he's different than the others, heh.

 

The serious Eugene stuff was alright (NOT the storyline of the year). I think I'm going to get sick of it fast though.

[slimm44 0]

RAW was better than what I expected. I liked the opening segment, but some of the matches were lame. Y2J Orton went too long, the main event was kind of cool. I figured out the storyline between Matt and Kane and Lita. It will turn out Matt and Kane are botht the fathers in a miracle of birth Lita is having twins. Just an idea, knowing WWE something more dumb will come up. 6 matches for Vengeance is pretty weak but at least the matches have had a couple months build up.

[Guest news_gimmick]

I thought the show was solid tonight. Eugene as commish was done well, everything from the odd booking of the title match to his classic office! The IC title was great if not a little predictable. Overall a good week going into Vengeance.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

How long until Eugene's Office shows up on auctions.wwe.com?

[iamsherm 0]

I wonder if the same people writing the Eugene/HHH/Benoit story are the same people writing the Edge/Evolution story. So far I have been given no reason to CARE about why Edge wants to systematically take out Evolution. His promo tonight was one of the more basic, cookie-cutter segments I've seen in a long time.

[iggymcfly 0]

Well, entertainment-wise, tonight's Raw was fantastic. All the segments were entertaining, and the Eugene/Evolution storyline really is quite good. I thought it was kind of weak the way they were telegraphing it ending next week with HHH saying he just wants the title back, but the idea fo HHH liking having Eugene around and dragging it out could be a good reason to go that route, especially if Flair and Eugene win the tag belts.

 

However, there are still a few flaws I see with the product as a whole:

 

1. Benoit being undercut.

 

OK, I usually don't complain about this, but it was especially bad tonight. Edge coming out and talking about how he wanted to be the one to finally take down Evolution, and HHH saying he would fail just like Benoit, while Benoit was still champion was just ridiculous. If HHH won the belt at Vengeance, and Edge cut that promo on Raw the next night, or even if Benoit came out and said he wouldn't be overlooked as a transitional champion ala Jericho before RR 2002, it would have been fine. But just ignoring your champion like that is not a good way to build up a PPV.

 

 

2. There's not enough depth on the television roster.

 

There's a reason that there are only five matches booked for the PPV. There's no one else to wrestle. Every healthy heel that appears on television except for Tyson Tomko and the utterly heatless Cade are already booked for the PPV. Basically, on the heel side you've got Evolution, Kane, Tomko, and La Res. That's it. The face side's not much better, as Regal's the only face with any backstory or credibility that's not already booked on the five-match card. I'm not saying they need to go all Smackdown and call up OVW guys with ridiculous gimmicks. But doing little things like having A-Train serve as Bischoff's enforcer or splitting Rosey and Hurricane (who are pretty much dead as a team) or even calling up a couple tag teams that have worked together in OVW and keep their previous gimmick together could help flesh out the show a little bit tremendously.

 

What they've been doing is compensating for the lack of depth by spending a great deal of time on the Eugene story and using filler such as the Diva search for a large portion of the show. This does not allow for any movement up and down the card as you've only got a few select wrestlers stuck in the same roles. If they can just bring up some other people and give them a chance to get over with a few minutes of TV time a night, it could really help flesh out the card.

[CanadianChick 0]

I wonder if the same people writing the Eugene/HHH/Benoit story are the same people writing the Edge/Evolution story. So far I have been given no reason to CARE about why Edge wants to systematically take out Evolution. His promo tonight was one of the more basic, cookie-cutter segments I've seen in a long time.

I thought it was because he wanted a change.

 

And since it seems to me that Raw is lacking solid face midcarders (I think Matt's the only one right now), Edge should seek help from young, hungry guys, or something like that. This storyline could benefit more than Edge and Evolution.

[iamsherm 0]

Yes, he said he wanted change, but why? His anger seemed so misplaced when he came out a couple months ago and berated Orton for running his mouth, and tonight was much of the same. He needs to spell out his grievances rather than just rely on the fans standing behind him simply because Evolution is "bad" and he is "good."

 

I like Edge. I think he's capable of much better delivery than what we've seen since he returned. "You're going down" and "I don't like you" seem to indicate that he's dumbed down his promos a bit.

[CanadianChick 0]

I do agree with you in the sense that yes, the promo was quite vague. I'm actually hoping that it's revealed that Evolution (if they were around at that time) took Edge out at No Way Out last year. Why? Because they wanted to help Raw and Bishoff against the war on SD (because successful Raw=money for Evolution, who's on the top of Raw). It may seem a bit of a reach, but at least it places Edge's anger somewhat.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Evolution "officially" formed a little before No Way Out 2003, so your theory holds true.

 

Still, it's Edge, and he's not over with the crowd enough to do the Sting 1997 "take out each member" deal...or even the Goldberg 2003 "go through each member" deal, for that matter.

 

Even with a mega-hot Canadian crowd tonight, Edge got a...nice...ovation. No way in hell his IC Match with Orton will be anywhere near as hot or good as Jericho's bout with the champion tonight.

 

WWE would be very smart to keep the title on Benoit, turn Eugene, and do HHH/Edge and Benoit/Mega heel Eugene at SSlam.

[CanadianChick 0]

They're going to push Edge. A way to get him over is to take out members of Evolution to get the leader. And now that it looks like they are actually giving a reason for people to care for Edge,he could get to be as over as he was before injury quite easily.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Okay, so they'll push Edge.

 

Take out each member...okay. To get to the leader?

 

That would mean Edge won't be winning the IC title Sunday.

 

So they're going to further develop fan interest in Edge by making him fail on Sunday?

 

Right.

[SuperJerk 0]

Wouldn't it be funny if HHH too got attached to the little bugger, and Evolution punts him because everytime Evo wants to punk Eugene, HHH says wait until finally he says "hey the little guys not that bad" BAM Instant face turn setting up HHH/Orton.

and then in the background you'd hear "Ladies and Gentlmen...the NEW WWE World Heavyweight Champion... The Amazing Rando"

Your first title defense could be against East-Man.

 

I'm actually hoping that it's revealed that Evolution (if they were around at that time) took Edge out at No Way Out last year.

Well, we all know there's no way it could've been SHELTON BENJAMIN that did it!!!!!

 

(I love the way 90% of the time we're expected to just forget all the evil shit faces did during their heel runs.)

[CanadianChick 0]

Okay, so they'll push Edge.

 

Take out each member...okay. To get to the leader?

 

That would mean Edge won't be winning the IC title Sunday.

 

So they're going to further develop fan interest in Edge by making him fail on Sunday?

 

Right.

Why would Edge have to lose? Just because he's a main eventer, doesn't mean HHH can't fight for the IC Title. Hell, if HHH actually has the World Title by the time he feuds with Edge (Hopefully not, but there's a pretty big chance), then it can be an 'ol Champion vs. Champion match. When those are done properly, they can work.

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

I thought the IC title was "below" HHH? Isn't that what he said a while back?

[iggymcfly 0]

Well, by itself, the IC title is below him when he's held the world title for about 14 of the last 22 months. However, in theory there's no reason why they couldn't do a champion vs. champion match, or even be bitches and make Edge defend the IC title early in the night before he gets his title shot against Trips in the main event.