WWE Raw (6/30/2008)

[cabbageboy 0]

This was seriously the best Raw in forever. I can't think of one segment hardly that didn't serve a purpose, didn't attempt to get someone over, didn't set up a new storyline, etc.

 

The first 25 mins. of this show rank among the best stuff WWE has done in a long time. At first I was groaning at Edge interrupting JR, figuring it was going to end up some lame way to job him to Cena or Batista in order to get a belt on Raw. I did note that Edge didn't mention Punk's name in his list of guys he would never face. And for those who have actually watched ECW and SD, this was especially sweet. Bear in mind Edge screwed Punk out of the ECW title against Chavo, and also ripped Punk off a few times in matches on SD with La Familia doing run ins. This was a beautiful payoff for a pseudo feud that has been on and off for months, not to mention the wonderful irony of the man who lives by MITB dying by MITB tonight.

 

And then once I thought they might do something truly awful like put the belt on JBL, they did the exact right thing. Cena coming back was a foregone conclusion, but Cole and Lawler actually played this quite well on commentary. Cole has had a bad habit of making things too obvious at times, but tonight he and Lawler voiced concern for Punk putting the title at stake, while stopping short of saying "OMG King, JBL is going to win this thing easy!" Further, when Cena did come back he didn't just run through JBL's goons by himself, but instead Cryme Tyme helped (and got a big rub). I also liked that JBL's goons didn't actually attack Punk, but instead came off like actual security guards so Punk wasn't sure whether they would run in.

 

Somehow I think JBL will end up as GM. If his back is still hurt it's the best solution. Put him in a talking role and all that. I hope this Raw does a good rating tomorrow so that they don't give up on this new direction. Even if the rating isn't that great, they need to give these younger guys like Punk and Kofi a chance.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

Like someone else said, best Raw since the night after Wrestlemania. I too like Cena/Cryme Tyme but they'll have any interaction beyond tonight. Punk's win was awesome, but I was really scared it was just so that they could get rid of his briefcase and transition the belt to JBL. Glad to see Punk's gonna get a few week run, at the very least.

[RepoMan 0]

It really had the feel of the Attitude Era tonight. I love that they're not booking by the numbers, at least for the time being.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

Raw worked tonight, and it was for one reason.

 

 

Pandemonium.

 

 

For the most part it really seemed as though there was no authority. Edge crashes the party, Batista crashes Edge, Punk wins!, JBL goes nuts, Jericho flips his lid, etc etc etc. It seemed like while we might know who was coming out next we had no real idea what was going to happen. Sure, the Kane/Noble thing kinda fell flat, but everything else was pretty damn good.

 

It gave me a reason to watch next week. For starters, I want to see more "spontaneity" and also there are tons of fun little storylines. I might not be a big Hardcore Holly fan, but I wonder what - if anything - he is going to do. I wanna see if Kofi exacts any revenge or what the deal was with Cryme Tyme of all people coming out to end the show. First Lance Cade and now those two, it's great! And hell, PUNK WINS!

 

The best part in all of this seems to be that outside of JBL/Jericho/Cade there are really no big heels left. This is really Batista's chance to just destroy everything and claim his own dominance as one who "walks alone". Put him in the tweener role with Cena/Punk/HBK on one side and the aforementioned heel trio on the other with Cryme Tyme and maybe Dibiase/Rhodes (money money money!) on the other and just puree. Gang Wars might not have been the highlight of ten years ago but a big overarching storyline could be just what the show needs to get shit back on track.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I can't see JBL and Jericho working together any time soon. Oh, and Punk and Kofi being the champions on Raw makes me happier than I've been in a longgg time.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

I can't see JBL and Jericho working together any time soon. Oh, and Punk and Kofi being the champions on Raw makes me happier than I've been in a longgg time.

 

 

They wouldn't have to 'work together' so much as be the main antagonists.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5z3f1_cm...e-6-30-08_sport

 

For anyone who missed it.

[Angle-plex 0]

Batista will probably turn heel and challenge Punk since he did 90% of the work on Edge.

[Open the Muggy Gate 0]

Somewhere out there, a Pepsi can is laughing.

[The Truthiness 0]

I said a few months ago, if Punk won the title with the MITB all the times he was "jobbed out" wouldn't even matter and they don't. That was a brilliant title change and fantastic 2 hours of wrestling.

 

WWE is awesome.

[cabbageboy 0]

In a bizarre way all the jobbing makes Punk more exciting, as though you don't know if he can keep winning so you watch. Even a seemingly routine defense against someone like The Miz would have heat now, since he jobbed to The Miz recently.

 

You know what's funny? Year after year Raw would pillage SD's roster in the draft and bury all of the guys they get. Or even last year they got Lashley from ECW and he did nothing. This year they got Punk and Kofi from ECW and within a week those guys have the top titles on Raw.

[haws bah gawd 0]

YEA FUCKER YEA that was a great RAW. Unpredictable the whole way through, and amazing. As soon as Batista finished beating Edge, I was thinking of how great it would be for Punk to cash in MitB. Batista got to the top of the ramp, and his music was still playing, so I kind of lost hope. Then "This Fire Burns" started playing, and I just marked the fuck out like I haven't done in a LONG time. I haven't felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest while watching wrestling in a long ass time. Well done WWE!

[DerangedHermit 0]

[The Truthiness 0]

There is only one World Champion in that picture and he won it 3 hours ago.

 

 

It is awesome that I've actually followed both of those guys since the beginning and seeing where they are now is pretty cool.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

 

I think I've found my new desktop background.

[King Kamala 0]

I picked the wrong night to miss RAW

 

 

UGH!

[cabbageboy 0]

Truthiness, do you know something about Joe that I don't? Did he job the TNA belt at a house show or something? Or is it that you aren't considering the TNA belt an actual world title?

[Crippler Crossface 0]

Interesting fact of the night: Edge has been involved with every match where the Money in the Bank contract was cashed in:

 

2005 - defeated Cena after cashing in his shot

 

2006 - speared Cena, costing him the title against RVD

 

2007 - defeated the Undertaker after cashing in his shot won from Kennedy

 

2008 - defeated by CM Punk after Punk cashed in his shot at the World Title

[Guest Public Account 3]

Let's not talk about the TNA WORLD Title. It has no relevance to the discussion.

[cabbageboy 0]

It's funny but I think the RVD cashing in is still the best, since he is the only MITB winner who actually cashed in and it was an actual PPV main event that drew money, rather than a Pearl Harbor job on someone. Really it's the only time the MITB has been used the way it was intended.

[The Truthiness 0]

 

That is odd.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

I don't want to be Buzz Killington over here but calling that one of the best overall Raws in awhile is a bit of a stretch (but maybe not by as much as I first thought). Let's break it down.

 

- Opening segment. A match was technically involved in this, but really it was 25 minutes and no wrestling. That said, it was awesome, even before the Punk thing, which made it even better.

 

- A short and not that good women's match.

 

- I can't remember the order or how things went down, but this was seemingly followed up by at least 2 or 3 more non-wrestling segments (JBL challenging Punk, Cena also challenging Punk). We're now over an hour in and the only match more than 20 seconds we've had is Mickie James vs. Jillian Hall.

 

- A very short squash match for the tag champs.

 

- An IC title match with a DQ finish and a lot of action during a commercial.

 

- JBL entering the ring.

 

- A main event where Punk wins clean.

 

So it was actually pretty light on wrestling... BUT yeah, it was a fun Raw and pretty enjoyable, and while watching the show live I thought Cena coming out where the IC title match should have been (to break up the flow of non-match segments) worked better at the time it happened for Cena to be "kicked out". In this respect, it was very much like an Attitude era Raw and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

Now that all of that negative stuff is out of the way, yes, I did enjoy the show and was happy to see Punk leave Raw with the belt. The opening segment was just so damn good that the idea of Raw amounting to a large non-wrestling build up to a second world title match made sense. After being dissapointed last night that they didn't book the obvious solution of Punk getting a belt for his brand, this more than made up for it and made for really exciting TV. I even marked out like an idiot clapping at me TV and cheering.

 

Well done, WWE.

[The Truthiness 0]

It's funny but I think the RVD cashing in is still the best, since he is the only MITB winner who actually cashed in and it was an actual PPV main event that drew money, rather than a Pearl Harbor job on someone. Really it's the only time the MITB has been used the way it was intended.

 

Actually even in that match, Edge was the reason the title changed hands. He has been invloved in every match that the MITB has been cashed in.

[zappafrank 0]

I picked the wrong night to miss RAW

 

 

UGH!

 

 

I picked the wrong week to quite sniffin' glue.

 

The one thing that really irked me about RAW was how they telegraphed Punk retaining the title, specfically Lawler's commentary. He kept talking about how he had a good feeling, how Punk got himself into it, etc. Plus, there was a commercial break b/w ring intro's, and that feels a bit "throw away" to me, and not something they'd do with a big time, "meant to be taken seriously" title match.

 

I was taping RAW and came home at 10:15 and sat down to start watching thinking, "Oh, nothing important could have happened." And then Cole starts talking about "new World Champion CM Punk," so the moment was spoiled for me. I should pay attention to those nagging doubts. I feel so regarded.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Woah what's Public Accountant 3 doing here. The board runners aren't sports entertainment fans!

[El Psycho Diablo 0]

Punk? Champion? Ugh.

 

Must be nice to be at the head of that "least likely to get busted for a Wellness violation" list.

[King Kamala 0]

Now that I've watched the angle on Daily Motion, it's time for Fantasy Booker With King Kamala Classic.

 

I'd book CM Punk ala Bret Hart during his first title run. They've already done the first part well (A well respected mid carder out of nowhere defeats the arrogant heel champion while he's off his game).I'd have Punk declare himself "a fighting champion" and defend the belt weekly against mid-card guys who don't typically get World title shots, building up momentum for a showdown at a big PPV with an unstoppable, established main event heel.

 

Personally, I'd go with Batista. Batista got screwed out of the title last night and effectively did most of Punk's work for him tonight. That jealousy could drive Batista mad and perhaps a weasley, meddling heel could convince Batista that The World title is rightfully his.

 

Anyways, dorky fantasy booking rant over.

[Hawk 34 0]

Now that I've watched the angle on Daily Motion, it's time for Fantasy Booker With King Kamala Classic.

 

I'd book CM Punk ala Bret Hart during his first title run. They've already done the first part well (A well respected mid carder out of nowhere defeats the arrogant heel champion while he's off his game).I'd have Punk declare himself "a fighting champion" and defend the belt weekly against mid-card guys who don't typically get World title shots, building up momentum for a showdown at a big PPV with an unstoppable, established main event heel.

 

Personally, I'd go with Batista. Batista got screwed out of the title last night and effectively did most of Punk's work for him tonight. That jealousy could drive Batista mad and perhaps a weasley, meddling heel could convince Batista that The World title is rightfully his.

 

Anyways, dorky fantasy booking rant over.

 

Why not just say Jericho? I'm all for a Bret Hart type reign since Jericho/Shawn and Cena/JBL can be the real headline act. Leaves Punk with guys like Burchil until they are ready to fully turn Batista.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Now that I've watched the angle on Daily Motion, it's time for Fantasy Booker With King Kamala Classic.

 

I'd book CM Punk ala Bret Hart during his first title run. They've already done the first part well (A well respected mid carder out of nowhere defeats the arrogant heel champion while he's off his game).I'd have Punk declare himself "a fighting champion" and defend the belt weekly against mid-card guys who don't typically get World title shots, building up momentum for a showdown at a big PPV with an unstoppable, established main event heel.

 

Personally, I'd go with Batista. Batista got screwed out of the title last night and effectively did most of Punk's work for him tonight. That jealousy could drive Batista mad and perhaps a weasley, meddling heel could convince Batista that The World title is rightfully his.

 

Anyways, dorky fantasy booking rant over.

I think we've found Matt Striker's role on Raw.

[King Kamala 0]

I thought of Jericho for the weasley, meddling heel(really there's no other choice) right after I typed that spiel but I didn't feel liked editing it.

 

And I don't usually like the World Champ being 2nd banana but I think this case would be an exception.