WWE Raw (3/31)

[mfn 0]

Best Raw in forever.

now i'm pissed i didn't dvr it.

[Guest cheetoe]

Watch Hogan try to out do this, I hate to say it but he will.

 

Funny you say that, because during that final segment for a second i thought to myself "now Hogan is gonna come back just so he can have a retirement farewell speech and try to top this one"

 

 

Hey, he does owe HBK a job.

 

Show would be the one he gives the job, after dominating the match and no selling most of Show's offense.

 

Man, I thought the SAME THING. If Hogan saw that he must have got egotistical by saying HE deserved that send off since he built the company. Flair got the greatest send off ever. I still can't believe this. Watching Flair all these years and even being one of the guys saying he should retire. Wrestling will never feel the same again UNLESS he pulls a Foley

 

I don't think HBK against Hogan would be right. Maybe against Cena or even Edge.

 

 

If Austin was still even a part time wrestler, I would love for it to be him... wouldn't ever happen though. You're right, it should be someone whose career would really benefit from it. Edge would be perfect. Orton as well.

[Darthtiki 0]

Between watching this and the opening day of the Dodgers 50th season this has been a great day.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

The Dodgers existed before Los Angeles.

[Guest]

I don't really care how this sounds, but I'm glad I wasn't there. I couldn't help but shed a tear. Or two. When the Horsemen came out, that's what got me.

 

It's just one of those things, you know it's fucking sad that you actually shed tears about something so trivial, but I couldn't help it anyway. Thankfully, nobody else came into the room.

[Black Lushus 0]

shedding a tear is the new the room is spinning?

[CBright7831 0]

What a show and a moment I will never forget....ever.

 

Apparently Taker and Vince came out after the show. Taker did a urn salute to Flair.

[Dandy 0]

I was thinking last night that this was a situation where kayfabe shouldn't really matter. I thought Vince should have been out there (Taker, too, but I didn't think about him at the time), and Festus shouldn't have been in character. No need to keep up the "illusion" when you've got one of the greatest of all-time and you're sending him off.

[CanadianChris 0]

So, this is probably worth grabbing a torrent of, then?

[Dandy 0]

Without a doubt. I wish I hadn't known the surprises coming out beforehand, but it was still great. Ric broke down many times, and it just made you feel the emotion.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Cryme Tyme coming back was a surprise. It looks like they did catch their office leak. I wonder if the creative team looked at the Raw roster and saw it needed some "diversity". Either that or they are planning on splitting up Cade and Murdoch and figured Raw needed some new tag teams.

 

London and Kendrick are on the road to a break up. Spanky was acting a lot more heelish last night.

 

Punk vs Jericho was the match of the night. They actually worked really well together, which is interesting since both have been criticized for their non-wwe style work. With Punk heavily influenced by the Japanese-style, and Jericho coming up that way, I guessed it was a match. I don't mind Punk jobbing in that it was a competitive match. I think Jericho could be journeying to the darkside as well.

 

Big Show vs Khali will be a horrid match, but last night was interesting in that Khali basically punked out. Big Show is obviously going to go over, but Khali could be out the door sooner than later as he's going to lose his threat aura as he's jobbing in every feud these days. How can you keep him relevant? Especially with zero mic ability.

 

Batista is after HBK? I actually found it intriguing. Though one is on Raw and the other on SD! (not like that means anything anymore).

 

Orton vs Hardy was okay. I hated the finish as well in that Orton just took Hardy's finisher on the outside, so it should have really knocked him out. I would have been fine with a out-of-nowhere desperation RKO for the win if it was like his last ditch effort and then he went back to being woozy sorta deal.

 

JBL vs Orton - Dick Heel vs Dick Heel? Face turn for Randy? Or does JBL win the title for a HHH vs JBL title feud?

 

Santino vs Maria set-up and outcome was harmless.

 

The Flair ceremony was great. It was interesting seeing what wrestlers were allowed in the ring - specifically Jericho over Edge and Show, but I guess Edge is a heel. Either that or SD! being there was supposed to be a surprise. The Horsemen, Harley and Steamboat coming out was great. I hope a UT and McMahon vid hits the net though.

[Kinetic 0]

The thing that was interesting about it (for me, at least) was that, although Flair has been part of WWE for a few years now, the vast majority of his career was spent elsewhere, and virtually all of his career highlights happened outside of this promotion. So it was neat to see a tribute that encompassed his contributions to wrestling in general, rather than just his relatively meager contributions to WWE.

[JPopStarKami 0]

If they want to do a Punk vs. Jericho feud from this, they need to make Jericho a full-blown heel for the feud at least, or else they risk making Punk look bad, especially if they do a promo war. I mean, I don't doubt Punk's abilities on the mic, but it's 50/50 right now split as far as their fans, and since they're apparently going to be building him up with the briefcase, they have to make sure he goes up in popularity instead of down.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Why does he (and all winners for that matter) need to carry around the briefcase wherever they go? RVD looked ridiculous, and now so does Punk.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I still thought they should've had Randy Orton come out alone instead of with the WWE roster... Flair had a large impact on his career, moreso then John Cena or Jericho. But I guess they still wanted to keep a little kayfabe, but whatever.

[Perfection 0]

I still thought they should've had Randy Orton come out alone instead of with the WWE roster... Flair had a large impact on his career, moreso then John Cena or Jericho. But I guess they still wanted to keep a little kayfabe, but whatever.

 

I agree and on top of that, and although last night wasn't about this, I think it would have put orton over more with the fans. Orton is gradually getting face pops now despite being a heel because he has busted his ass and has done such a great job lately. Then again, maybe they don't want him as a face and that is why lol. It was interesting that Jericho was in the ring instead of big show, who obviously loves flair to death. I never knew flair was that close to him or that he had that big of an impact on jericho. Would love to know the back story to that. There is so much about last night, I want to find more about like the backstage emotions of the locker room. It was such a big deal and so emotional, its one of those things that I want to know every little detail about it. I sure hope we get to see the video of undertaker, mcmahon, and the parting of the sea for the greatest of all time after raw went off the air.

[dubq 0]

I have to admit, I was wondering the whole time where Taker and Vince were during the send off. Good to hear that they came out after all. I was half expecting/hoping that Taker would come out, the roster would part and he would hand Flair his title or something like that. What actually happened was just as good though!

[dubq 0]

PS - I hope tonight was the beginning of a Jericho heel turn. Much like HHH, he seems to me much better at the heel role than the babyface role.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Why does he (and all winners for that matter) need to carry around the briefcase wherever they go? RVD looked ridiculous, and now so does Punk.

They don't want to risk it getting stolen? Kayfabe-wise, the title shot contract is contained in the briefcase, right? If the holder gets it stolen, whoever pilfered it could theoretically cash it in himself.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

The briefcase is a trophy.

[dubq 0]

Why does he (and all winners for that matter) need to carry around the briefcase wherever they go? RVD looked ridiculous, and now so does Punk.

They don't want to risk it getting stolen? Kayfabe-wise, the title shot contract is contained in the briefcase, right? If the holder gets it stolen, whoever pilfered it could theoretically cash it in himself.

 

True enough, and obviously they'd want the contract on them at all times (rather than locking it up somewhere) to add to the fact that they can cash the title shot in anytime, anywhere.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Ah, good point, I forgot about the cash-it-in-at-any-point part of it when making my reason.

[Just call me Dan 0]

Is it just me or did HHH walk out and look years younger for some reason?

[NoCalMike 0]

It's on youtube

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crtk3VsszvA

 

LOL. Triple H is the first to come out. Nice how most of the legends were no sold by the crowd. The four horsemen got cheers but probably because people recognize the name "four horsemen" over the actual wrestlers themselves.

[dubq 0]

Personally, I don't mind the briefcase at all. I mean branding it with the wrestlers name/theme is a little tacky, but we're talking about wrestling here so it's not so out of sorts that they'd do something like that.

[dubq 0]

It's on youtube

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crtk3VsszvA

 

LOL. Triple H is the first to come out. Nice how most of the legends were no sold by the crowd. The four horsemen got cheers but probably because people recognize the name "four horsemen" over the actual wrestlers themselves.

 

Why wouldn't HHH come out first to "MC" the final part of the farewell? He was Flair's best man at his recent wedding.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Not to mention HHH has made it clear Flair is his idol and he wishes to emulate him in every phase of the game, including fan respect.

[dubq 0]

Is it just me or did HHH walk out and look years younger for some reason?

 

I was thinking the same thing. I actually think he looks, at least, to be in the best shape he's been in since his first quad tear during the Two Man Power Trip days.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

HHH looks younger cause of the beard, as does HBK.

 

And its not LOL that he came out first, he's probably Flair's best friend. Best man at the wedding and all.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

He's obviously a lot smaller bulk-wise as well. Also maybe the orange wore off from the night before.