OAO RAW thread - June 18, 2007

[Downhome 0]

Here is the preview from WWE.com as of right now:

 

Preview:In the wake of tragedy

June 18, 2007

 

At the end of Raw last week, Mr. McMahon was presumed killed in a horrific limo explosion — a moment that will forever taint what was otherwise an historic WWE Draft. As Raw heads into the Coliseum in Richmond, Va. this Monday night, its Superstars must cope with the fact that WWE’s Chairman is for all intents gone, his body seemingly lost in the flames that engulfed his limousine.

 

It’s hard to focus past the black cloud that has encircled World Wrestling Entertainment all week long. No one will speak ill of the deceased, though it was apparent after last week’s “Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night” that many of WWE’s Superstars, our fans and numerous celebrities saw him as a pathetic, power-mad dictator. But now that he’s gone, what exactly does he leave behind? And how will it affect Raw’s Superstars in Richmond this Monday night?

 

As for the WWE Draft itself, last week Raw said goodbye to The Great Khali, Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters and Ric Flair; however Raw also welcomed its newest Superstars to the roster: King Booker, Queen Sharmell, Snitsky, Mr. Kennedy and Bobby Lashley. Needless to say, all will have a profound impact on Raw in the coming weeks. However, Lashley — who was stripped of his ECW World Title after being randomly selected in the Draft — is planning to make his mark a little quicker than the rest. He had already established a strong Raw presence during his rivalry with Mr. McMahon over the past few months; does he have an advantage over the other “newcomers” as they enter the Richmond Coliseum this Monday?

 

In the ashes of tragedy, life begins anew on Raw, Monday night at 9/8 CT on USA Network.

 

And just to recap - new to RAW:

 

King Booker & Queen Sharmell

Bobby Lashley

Snitsky

Ken Kennedy

Paul London & Brian Kendrick

Sandman

Daivari

William Regal

Jillian Hall

 

 

And gone from RAW:

 

The Great Khali

Torrie Wilson

Chris Masters

Ric Flair

Kenny Dykstra

Viscera

Victoria

Eugene

Johnny Nitro

[Vampiro69 0]

This is going to be an interesting night. They should let all the wrestlers speak about how horrible off a person he is and saying that they are glad he is "dead".

[haVoc 0]

It's a shame Vince wants to watch his death be played out on TV. Last weeks Raw was the best of the year until the end, which is going to be the only thing people remember.

 

Plus, you know Vince's storyline is going to hog up all the TV time so the new guys aren't going to get the right amount of time to be introduced. Everything not involving Vince is going to be rushed tonight.

[Vern Gagne 0]

They could have a hidden camera in the lockerroom. Have wrestlers who on camera kissed Vince's ass, and then show them celebrating Vince's death.

[Toxxic 0]

Sandman's gone to Raw? Wow... that'll work.

 

Or not.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Yeah, I can't comprehend why they've moved Sandman to RAW. They'll probably have him come out and cane someone like Val Venis for fun tonight, do some token comedy skits, then job to Randy Orton and then he'll be quietly released or his contract will be allowed to run out.

[sluggo 0]

i'll be there in my McMahon t shirt!

[Hawk 34 0]

I'm not quite sure why people think Sandman is being shipped to Raw to be forgotten. I feel secure that he'll land comfortably as a mid-card comedy act and do the same thing he has been for the past year just with less appearences.

[Nate 0]

the next couple weeks should be interesting to see how the draft picks adjust to the change of sceneary, my guess is we will see London and Kendrick make their Raw in ring debut vs WGTT possibly for a chance to face Cade and Murdoch

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Sandman is an low-carder who will replace Eugene on the "squash" list and make the squashes appear to be fresher.

 

I want Kendrick & London to destroy the Highlanders tonight, feud with TWGTT in July, then win the tag straps at SummerSlam from the Barnyard Mafia.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

For what it's worth, WWE.com was hinting at Kendrick & London possibly facing The Hardyz sometime in their Raw futures, despite Matt being on Smackdown!. I don't get it.

[Vern Gagne 0]

They could say the Hardy's are a Raw tag team. Seperate from Matt Hardy's solo career which is on Smackdown. It's a strech, but it's better than no explanation.

[haVoc 0]

Odds of Sherri getting a caption at the beginning of the show?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Odds of Sherri getting a caption at the beginning of the show?

 

Probably pretty high, I'd say.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

Hopefully I'll be able to keep it together emotionally through the entire two hours.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

WWE COO at Raw

By Zack Zeigler

Written: June 18, 2007

 

RICHMOND, Va. – Many Superstars have quietly raised questions about why WWE Chief Operating Officer Michael Sileck is at the Richmond Coliseum, home of tonight’s Raw.

 

Most refused comment to WWE.com, but under the promise of anonymity, a veteran Superstar gave his thoughts on why there might be more to Sileck’s decision to make a trip to Virginia than to just attend the show.

 

“He’s here to stake his claim as the person that should be the new Chairman,” speculated the source. “I know what happened to Mr. McMahon last week was a horrific tragedy, but WWE is still an empire that needs a figurehead, and that vacant throne at the Chairman’s desk is mighty tempting for anybody – especially for a COO.”

 

Our source also said that Sileck’s presence has ruffled Mr. McMahon’s former Executive Assistant, Jonathan Coachman.

 

“As much as Coachman was broken up about Mr. McMahon’s passing – and he was distraught about it all week – he was hoping that a big promotion would take away some of the pain. Now, who knows if he’ll get a raise or if he’ll even have a job when the new boss starts. If I were him, I’d be nice to Sileck, even though nothing is confirmed, but who knows, man. It can’t hurt to be nice to anyone who’s a contender for the position.”

 

The man responsible for causing the stir among the Superstars wasn’t coy about being there, but offered no concrete answers as to whether a new title will be in his future.

 

“I’m here to help out in any way possible,” said the COO. “I have taken on additional responsibilities since last week, and the main reason I’m here today is to discuss the tragedy with WWE employees who work on the road.”

 

As far as coming to Richmond strictly to make a play as the No. 1 contender for the Chairmanship, Sileck shook his head and added, “My responsibility here today is to explain to the hard-working WWE employees that the show must, and will, go on.”

[fazzle 0]

Willie the Worker is leaking stories to WWE.com!

[Downhome 0]

It would be interesting if they had someone on RAW tonight to appoint Eric Bischoff as the new head of WWE, since he has the most experience with that sort of thing having been over WCW back in the day, as well as having WWE experience as the GM of RAW.

 

They could have Coach instantly being Bischoff's helper once again, since he's always been friendly with him on screen, even when Vince was around.

[Robert 0]

I wouldn't mind having Bisch come back and claim that Vince signed the WWE over to him while he was in his weak mental state. Also that, and I'd have him disrupt the ten bell salute to Vince. I think that Bischoff being back would be fresh since we rarely see him anymore.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

Re: Bischoff

 

I'd prefer Vince and Bischoff and DX and nWo and Hogan and Austin the rest of the washed-up Attitude Era bullshit stays off TV. It's 2007, not 1997, and Bischoff sucked back then, much less 10 years later when the marks and smarks alike know he is just an actor with no real political power.

[Downhome 0]

There's a million things that they could do with this angle, so I guess that's the good thing about it all.

 

Vince faked his death just to force people to miss him and to respect him. While he's "gone", he's seeing all of the changes being done to his creation, and he doesn't like it at all.

 

Eric Bischoff replaces him as the head of WWE.

 

Coach becomes the manager of Bobby Lashley.

 

His family publicly states that the best thing to do is to move forward, even with these changes.

 

On WWE.com they could post reports where "critics" rate the shows after Vince's "death" as "the best WWE product in years".

 

And so on...

 

They could have workers finally reveal stuff about Mr. McMahon in interviews as well. Nothing too bad, but just stuff that Vince wouldn't want people to know.

 

Maybe have Chris Jericho finally return to RAW, saying that the reason he's been gone for so long is because Vince had a personal grudge against him for some reason, but now that Vince has passed, and as much as he has nothing but sympathy for Vince and his family, his time to return to WWE is finally here.

 

Have Eugene come out and say that the "special" gimmick was Vince's idea, and now he can finally be himself.

 

Etc...

 

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah, after Bischoff's last Raw appearance as GM where he guested and screwed everyone out of belts I'd rather he not come back. How about a new boss or GM on Raw that is impartial and doesn't screw people? The Coach has never been more than a grovelling toady, so I hope he isn't the new boss.

 

I do think a show needs some sort of authority figure. Not all over the show or anything, but there needs to be a clear understanding to the viewers that SOMEONE is running things. ECW right now is bizarre since there's literally no one running the show. Just a Jim Crockett type boss who makes an occasional match and makes announcements.

[Downhome 0]

Ok, if you want someone besides Bischoff, how about Jesse Ventura? Their reasoning there could be that he has such a long history in the industry, and with WWE and Mr. McMahon, and on top of that he was the Governor of Minnesota - talk about management experience.

[fazzle 0]

How about THE CAT?!

 

Seriously, he was an awesome impartial GM. (heel at the beginning, but then turned impartial later on)

[foleyfanforever88 0]

With the additions of London/Kendrick, Regal, Kennedy, and Booker to RAW, along with the removal of Khali, I can't wait to see if RAW can once again become the more entertaining brand to me.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

The Sandman is a former ECW World Champion, much like Bobby Lashley.

 

Thus, if Sandman is not included in the main event for WWE Vengenace, making it a Six-Pack Challenge, I will be pissed.

 

What better way to rekindle his star power and get him over then to brawl with Foley and cane Cena in the face?

 

Tonight, I want a "YOOOOOO!"

[SamoaRowe 0]

Excellent point about The Sandman, which is a fact I doubt the creative team even has taken into account.

 

I bet they'll pull some bullshit about the ECW title not being a true "World" title before June 2006 .

[fazzle 0]

So are there going to be any wrestling matches on this wrestling show?

 

 

Maybe we can have a tournament to determine who gets arrested for killing Vince. The losers advance, and the ultimate loser gets thrown in jail for life.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

It would be interesting if they had someone on RAW tonight to appoint Eric Bischoff as the new head of WWE, since he has the most experience with that sort of thing having been over WCW back in the day, as well as having WWE experience as the GM of RAW.

 

They could have Coach instantly being Bischoff's helper once again, since he's always been friendly with him on screen, even when Vince was around.

 

which would be funny considering Bischoff was stalking Linda and now Linda is a "widow"..

 

I just realized...are they going to do a fake funeral (with a casket and all) for Vince?

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

I expect Sandman to say he wants in at Vengeance...

 

And then Coach's music hits. And he says to show Sandman how Raw "does things", he puts up Sandman's spot in a match, with Sandman facing...

 

UUUUMaga. Squash ensues.