WWE Raw (8/11/2008)

[ANKLELOCK 0]

Cena-Batista will kick 67 different kinds of ass.

 

They'll give em 20 minutes, Batista will feel motivated, and Cena will do his usual magic.

[Noah Fentz 0]

This is officially the worst thing in WWE history

 

Nothing will ever beat the Gobbledygooker for that top honor...ever.

 

I'm actually surprised at the results of that poll, not so much that Cena won, but that margin.

 

Consider the "mobile" demographic and you consider the source.

[Brett Favre 0]

Consider that Cena is the most over guy on RAW, and you consider the source.

[RedJed 0]

Build was ok for SummerSlam (Punk and JBL particularly had a good segment) and I liked the twist in the Kane deal......so he did something to Rey, or tried to, and got his mask? I totally was surprised by that. At least it will go somewhere.

 

Good to see Cena/Batista lose the tag belts back to Dibiase and Rhodes, too. Ultimately, I still didn't see the whole compelling point to flip flop the belts like that, since it still could have done the same job done just as easy if this match was last week, the title change never happened as such, and this week was spent to build more of a creative last angle to build Cena/Batista.

[cabbageboy 0]

Cena vs. Batista better not be main eventing the PPV. There are 3 major title matches (well okay 2 really, but I was counting ECW) as well as HIAC on this show. Cena vs. Batista is a thrown together match with 2 weeks of build, and I don't exactly have my hopes up that it will have an actual decision. It probably shouldn't have a decision.

 

It's tough to read the Punk/JBL match. Punk did get the upper hand tonight, which is ominous. But that said, it's a bit of booze to the face of JBL compared to JBL pinning him last week, so I think Punk needs to get the actual win here. They are harping too much on Punk being a lame duck champ for him to simply lose the belt.

 

Anyone care to clarify that mixed tag at SS? As in can Santino only win the IC title or can he somehow win the women's belt? Can Beth win the IC title? That match could be a lot of fun if they do it right, but they could potentially do something ultra dumb with it

[RedJed 0]

Consider that Cena is the most over guy on RAW, and you consider the source.

 

We're splitting heirs here, though. You're saying he's the most over, he may slightly be, but the reality probably is that the voting poll is heavily skewed by a younger percentage of the audience actually bothering to text in the first place, so that 79 percent result for Cena is far from really accurate.

 

With that said, I think Cena really isn't that more relatively over than Batista is. It's really a toss up......they both cater, in some essenses, to two completely different demographics. I will say this much, I hardly ever hear Batista actually get heel heat. I can't say the same for Cena. They probably sell a relatively similar amount of merchandise as well. I think Batista was always kept on Smackdown for a reason......because him and Cena were, in essense, one of the same in terms of numbers to bring to the company, and they wanted him to balance that other show as such.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

I will say this much, I hardly ever hear Batista actually get nuclear heat. I can't say the same for Cena.

 

Edited for Accuracy.

 

Cena is the most over person in the company. That doesn't necessarily mean most popular(though he is that as well).

 

This is a documented, numeric fact and we seem to have this argument every week because there is usually one person who doesn't seem to understand this.

[Papacita 0]

Didn't watch, but that Kane/Mysterio thing sounds interesting as hell. Not sure how it came off on the show, but I really wanna see where that goes.

[RedJed 0]

I will say this much, I hardly ever hear Batista actually get nuclear heat. I can't say the same for Cena.

 

Edited for Accuracy.

 

Cena is the most over person in the company. That doesn't necessarily mean most popular(though he is that as well).

 

This is a documented, numeric fact and we seem to have this argument every week because there is usually one person who doesn't seem to understand this.

 

Define nuclear heat, as I'm thinking you are getting things horribly mixed up in your own head regarding Cena, or at least other's opinion on him. I'm not saying he isn't the most over, but I'm just saying its not by a landside and an argument could be made that Batista is right up there with him, if not having a little more upward mobility in his reactions/business making ability at times, versus Cena. It's also defining what is considered "most over" as I think everyone seems to have their own unique version of that.

 

Throwing out shit like Cena is the most over person in the company as supposed "fact" on a relatively subjective argument is also stupid.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

Eh, I could buy that argument. Better articulated than that of a certain other poster here. I can assure you, I meant Noah Fentz.

[Brett Favre 0]

No one is on Cena's level. I'm not talking just cheers, just the reactions he gets haven't been heard since The Rock. Everyone is heard when Cena appears. Batista is a pretty over face, but Cena is at another level that transcends face and heel.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'm confused, RedJed. Are you saying Batista has more of an upside to him than John Cena? Batista is a steroid-related muscle tear away from permanent retirement, and is getting up there in age as well. John Cena is entering his athletic/physical prime with a supposedly "clean" body (yeah I don't buy it either) and he's only like 30, 31.

[RedJed 0]

I'm confused, RedJed. Are you saying Batista has more of an upside to him than John Cena? Batista is a steroid-related muscle tear away from permanent retirement, and is getting up there in age as well. John Cena is entering his athletic/physical prime with a supposedly "clean" body (yeah I don't buy it either) and he's only like 30, 31.

 

Upside just in terms of his marketability factor, how he is a ticketseller, crowd reactions, and the like. How "over" he is. But not by far.....its one of those issues w/ Batista and Cena that you could honestly say, in one situation, Cena may be over, but in another Batista may be. And the other is probably always going to be number two to the number one by a slight margin in terms of how over they really are on Raw.

 

Comparing Cena's crowd reactions to those of Rock, and/or Austin even (if we are going to compare Cena to Rock, might as well throw Austin in there as well since Rock and Austin were one and two to each other back and forth in terms of "overness" much like I feel Batista and Cena are) I think is overstating things, not to a large degree, but enough for it to be a bit unrealistic to how Cena really is getting over, although I would say both him AND Batista are right up there in the top five overall for crowd babyface reactions on a consistent basis (I'd obviously throw Hogan in there for the other guy in the top five).

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Cena vs. Batista better not be main eventing the PPV. There are 3 major title matches (well okay 2 really, but I was counting ECW) as well as HIAC on this show. Cena vs. Batista is a thrown together match with 2 weeks of build

 

That's exactly why I hated them booking the match to begin with. After so many years of build-up, the match gets lost in the shuffle rather than have any kind of meaning.

[Jericholic82 0]

Did the voiceover guy say "Jerry" Valiant?

yea Jerry was the third valiant "brother" it was he and Johnny who lost the tag titles to Putski/Tito. I just saw that on 24/7 yesterday.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

Awesome recap package. WWE's production department is unsurpassed.

Agreed. The insertion of "you think you know me" when Edge starts beating down Chavo was an excellent touch.

 

That was indeed a nice touch as was other stuff like Foley's "Am I understood" ringing in the background.

 

I didn't catch that, but it is indeed great that they did it. I'd love to work in their video department.

They could practically give seminars on video editing at this point.

 

The music they used was an ode to 'Why So Series?' from Dark Knight OST though, surely?

 

[Wrestlefreak 0]

I was utterly shocked by the Kane revelation. Even after he said it wasn't his mask, I had no idea Kane was talking about Mysterio. It was awesome.

 

The JBL/CM Punk segment was also good. JBL is great on the microphone and with CM Punk's "straight edge" thing, they work well as opposites. I hope their match at SummerSlam is given enough time.

[Silence 0]

I was utterly shocked by the Kane revelation. Even after he said it wasn't his mask, I had no idea Kane was talking about Mysterio. It was awesome.

 

I almost thought Kane was going to "damage" Adamle's face at first so he'd have a reason to wear a mask.

[TheFranchise 0]

When Adamle referenced the mask, I actually thought he had a different mask.

 

I thought of Mankind and Vader for some reason, but didnt even think about Mysterio.

 

Good show.

[Chazz 0]

If The Kane/Mysterio storyline does turn out that Kane is holding him hostage somewhere, I wonder what explanation they'll come up with to reveal why nobody thought to call the police to report Rey-Rey missing? His wife and son have appeared on WWE TV several times before, so it's not like he was portrayed as a loner with no ties to anyone.(Then again, were probably supposed to forget he has a family. Either that, or the writers forgot.)

[TheFranchise 0]

Chazz, it was more than six months ago.

 

WWE doesn't expect the fans to remember that far back.

[Chazz 0]

Chazz, it was more than six months ago.

 

WWE doesn't expect the fans to remember that far back.

 

Like I said, we are probably supposed to forget about that. Still, it would be nice if they rewarded longtime viewers with continuity in some of their storylines once in a while.

[Noah Fentz 0]

Eh, I could buy that argument. Better articulated than that of a certain other poster here. I can assure you, I meant Noah Fentz.

 

It's a lot easier to articulate when you're not deflecting insults at every turn.

 

I still stand by my thoughts of Cena heeling and Batista taking the top spot. It only makes sense to get as much out of Batista as possible before the WWE is through with him. Cena has many years left in him.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

If The Kane/Mysterio storyline does turn out that Kane is holding him hostage somewhere, I wonder what explanation they'll come up with to reveal why nobody thought to call the police to report Rey-Rey missing? His wife and son have appeared on WWE TV several times before, so it's not like he was portrayed as a loner with no ties to anyone.(Then again, were probably supposed to forget he has a family. Either that, or the writers forgot.)

Nobody text-messaged Chavo.

[TheFranchise 0]

If The Kane/Mysterio storyline does turn out that Kane is holding him hostage somewhere, I wonder what explanation they'll come up with to reveal why nobody thought to call the police to report Rey-Rey missing? His wife and son have appeared on WWE TV several times before, so it's not like he was portrayed as a loner with no ties to anyone.(Then again, were probably supposed to forget he has a family. Either that, or the writers forgot.)

Nobody text-messaged Chavo.

Swish.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Absolutely sucked. There is no way the same person who wrote the four weeks after Vince was written off is writing the show now. I think Stephanie is back, but don't know if that is true.

 

CM Punk is becomding a public service announcement. I thought he was surely going to tell his little punkers to say their prayers and eat their vitamins as well.

 

Kane was talking about Mysterio? LAME. If Kane would have pulled out his mask two weeks ago it would have went over huge and he'd be a top contender. You can tell Kane hated the turn in the angle as well. There is no why this is where the angle was going initially, somebody killed the original idea and put this garbage in as a cover.

 

Jericho lost his workrate when he switched to the short shorts it seems. Two bad matches in a row since he made the change.

 

Burchill/Katie vs Kofi/Mickie was a much better feud. I'm just not feeling the Santino/Beth pairing.

 

I was so disgusted with the Kane/bag story conclusion I turned off the show so I can't comment on the rest because I don't know what happened. Nor do I really care.

 

Adamle is shit as a GM. I had high hopes for him but damn is he boring in his role. They could have did something different with him, instead he becomes the cookie cutter GM character.

[Papacita 0]

I was gonna make a joke about Mysterio's family, but Spiff beat me to it. DAMN YOU SPIFF!!!!

 

I almost thought Kane was going to "damage" Adamle's face at first so he'd have a reason to wear a mask.

 

I like the new development w/ Mysterio, but this would've been good angle too. I could see tortured Kane destroying opponents every week, then putting the mask on them to hide their pain. They could make up some psycho/bullshit explanation of how losing the mask left him exposed and vulnerable to the world, and his giving the mask out is a way to provide others the refuge that he was denied. Would've been cooler if that was done 5 years ago, but this could've been interesting.

[JPopStarKami 0]

Absolutely sucked. There is no way the same person who wrote the four weeks after Vince was written off is writing the show now. I think Stephanie is back, but don't know if that is true.

 

I was thinking exactly the opposite.

 

CM Punk is becomding a public service announcement. I thought he was surely going to tell his little punkers to say their prayers and eat their vitamins as well.

 

Not even close man. They haven't played up his straight edge background much other than a mention of "I'm straight edge so I'm disciplined", so this was refreshing and a way to advance the storyline. Now I want to see Punk beat up JBL more than anything. I may be a Punk mark but if it worked for me it should work for the fans.

 

Kane was talking about Mysterio? LAME. If Kane would have pulled out his mask two weeks ago it would have went over huge and he'd be a top contender. You can tell Kane hated the turn in the angle as well. There is no why this is where the angle was going initially, somebody killed the original idea and put this garbage in as a cover.

 

Actually, Rey disappeared when Kane started this storyline. I was disappointed at first, then I remembered Kane had said the man who wore that mask was 'scarred beyond all human recognition', so instead of being a pointless swerve, it makes me wonder what the hell he's done to Rey.

 

Jericho lost his workrate when he switched to the short shorts it seems. Two bad matches in a row since he made the change.

 

Disagree with you on the 2 on 1 handicap last Raw. That was a good one. Versus Kane he wasn't that great though.

 

Burchill/Katie vs Kofi/Mickie was a much better feud. I'm just not feeling the Santino/Beth pairing.

Yeah, they've got a good feud there. As for Santino/Beth, it's refreshing. Not one of those cookie-cutter couples.

 

Adamle is shit as a GM. I had high hopes for him but damn is he boring in his role. They could have did something different with him, instead he becomes the cookie cutter GM character.

 

He's a breath of fresh air to me. Don't know why but there's something different about him. He's better in his role as GM than he was as an announcer. And at least he's not shouting: "Tonight you get to face....KANE!"

 

Really man, I think the writing has been just as good as it was. Everything seemed to click last night.

 

[King Cucaracha 0]

Adamle did a really good job this week in his short couple of segments. As in, you know, a deliberately good job, instead of 'good to laugh at'.

 

And the 'swerve' with the Kane angle was the good kind, building it to be so obvious that it was one thing and delivering something else interesting instead, as opposed to building it to be obvious then doing something simply to catch people out. Can't say as Rey vs. Kane excites me, but it gives two guys a storyline instead of one. And let's face it, Kane getting his mask back isn't the greatest idea, since you lose all the facial expressions he's honed. He's scary enough without it. No point in taking a backwards step, just because it'd be cool for a week or two.

 

Santino is terrible. He was particularly unfunny tonight.

 

So... call it a hunch, but, do you not like Santino or something?

[TheFranchise 0]

Isn't Rey still in contract negotiations?

I believe he's not happy with them.