WWE Raw - September 8, 2008

[The Amazing Rando 0]

Let's break this down, really...

 

Punk loses the title: Not cool, but at least he can bring out the fact that he didn't actually lose it in a match (much like Cena, Edge, and many many others have thanks to injuries these past few years). Had he lost it in any match everyone would have probably been in an uproar. He wasn't going to hold it forever, and while I agree that first reigns should be used to make someone look strong, it didn't hurt Edge in the way he won and lost within a span of three weeks. He was still kept in the uppercard and Punk *will* be kept in the uppercard, even if it means dealing with Priceless/Manu/Orton for a bit.

 

Jericho wins the title: Good, but not in execution. As many have said it would have been better to have Jericho put in Cena's place, have Jericho be the third guy in the match, he gets attacked by HBK and then could eventually come back into the ring late and do the exact same pin, maybe after Rey gets involved and takes out Kane. Batista can be messing with JBL and have the barely awake Jericho roll Kane into the ring and pin him just after Batista pins JBL. Then they can continue with Rey/Kane, Batista getting screwed, HBK/Jericho, and Orton taking out Punk.

 

 

CM Punk will get other chances to hold that belt. It might not be for a few months but he will. HBK (and even Rey) won't be able to go forever and Punk would fit nicely into one of those face spots. It wasn't like they threw the title on Batista or JBL. They gave it to the most over heel on the Raw roster, and a guy that is very well-rounded character and in-ring wise. Next week's cage match will more than likely have a shitty END (regardless of who wins) but getting to that end will at least give us an entertaining match.

 

and sorry, Truthiness, but as far as professional wrestling goes, this is "A Post-Benoit World." Not every single person in the lockerroom does steroids, but there is more than enough documentation of a drug-use history in the business. It was only cause of Benoit (and maybe baseball) that people are starting to have to face tests. Sadly, the tests have kept a lot of potentially good storylines from happening (Regal and Hardy are prime examples) and while one would think that failing once might make people wake the hell up and not do them anymore...old habits die hard. And, even worse, sometimes even when you break the habit it has still done enough damage physically to make a 100% recovery impossible.

 

I want to think that eventually the business would be drug-free, but it's never - ever - ever going to happen. We will always have guys failing tests and disappearing for months. We will always have the sad news that someone we loved from ten years ago was found dead in their house, and we will always have to just shake our heads at the fact that people decided that a needle, a joint, whatever was more important than their job. The worst thing is - some of those guys actually consider those things a necessary part of their job.

[Brett Favre 0]

Jericho wins the title: Good, but not in execution. As many have said it would have been better to have Jericho put in Cena's place, have Jericho be the third guy in the match, he gets attacked by HBK and then could eventually come back into the ring late and do the exact same pin, maybe after Rey gets involved and takes out Kane. Batista can be messing with JBL and have the barely awake Jericho roll Kane into the ring and pin him just after Batista pins JBL. Then they can continue with Rey/Kane, Batista getting screwed, HBK/Jericho, and Orton taking out Punk.

 

Talk about nitpicking.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

Sure, nitpicky. But that was basically every single complaint in this thread balled into one. I *like* Jericho with the belt, it just wasn't the best way to give it to him.

[mysterious_w 0]

Charlie Hass and his "I really love my present endeavours" run is one of the best things on TV.

[King Cucaracha 0]

Now it's getting over, maybe they'll let him do Triple Haas.

[Silence 0]

Now it's getting over, maybe they'll let him do Triple Haas.

 

I wouldn't mind him poking fun at HHH by using insider terms.

[Scroby 0]

I know it probably won't happen because 62 weeks is a very long time, but I really really really REALLY want to see Hass dress up as the Ultimate Warrior and beat Santino for the IC title after 62 weeks.

 

So is WWE trying to make Santino face with the beating the Honkey Tonk Man's record? I mean did anyone else find it odd that Snitsky was sent out and not a babyface?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

The rating was back to 3.0, so either that .5 increase that was going on during Punk's reign was JUST for him, or football cut the rating down.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I hope it doesn't go 62 more weeks. With how stacked RAW is... they can stretch it out for a few more months... but it's going to be painful if they try to fit him in every couple minutes a show. I hope Regal eventually kills "The Italian" and takes the belt off him.

 

Or they could give it to the guy who does comedy bits well and isn't overrated in Jamie Noble... then have Regal kill him for the belt.

[Shelton Benjamin outta f'in nowhere! 0]

I know it probably won't happen because 62 weeks is a very long time, but I really really really REALLY want to see Hass dress up as the Ultimate Warrior and beat Santino for the IC title after 62 weeks.

But should he win dressed as the Warrior or... Santino Charella?

 

I didn't mind Snitsky being the opponent for the week. He's a monster heel. He needs very little motivation to hit someone and take their belt.

[The Niggardly King 0]

I expect Chuck Palumbo's last appearance to be jobbing to Santino in week 9 or 10

[Noah Fentz 0]

The rating was back to 3.0, so either that .5 increase that was going on during Punk's reign was JUST for him, or football cut the rating down.

 

I'd have to think MNF would be responsible. The WWE and NFL have always appealed to a similar demographic. It's nothing new to Monday night.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah. Nobody was going to miss Aaron Rodgers's full time debut as starting quarterback of Green Bay Packers against division rival Minnesota Vikings.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Makes sense. I thought the days of losing large ratings due to football were over (5.3 to 4.5, sure, but those people are all gone) but I know big football games still take a bite.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I actually watched more football than wrestling on Monday for the first time. CHL needs a title. That was so over.

 

[cabbageboy 0]

I mostly flipped back and forth between Raw and the Packers game. And I'm not sure when it was that Raw ever lost that many viewers due to MNF. In 1998 Raw's ratings actually went on an upswing in the latter half of the year, in 1999 they stayed the same for the most part. I suppose there was a decline in 2000 but that was mostly due to the move to TNN.

[Enigma 0]

What the fuck was up with that gay ass "wave" shit Rey was doing? No fan would be caught dead doing that.

[Noah Fentz 0]

You mean that Koko B. Ware-esque flapping shit?

[Enigma 0]

Yeah. At least Koko was all manic and crazy about it.

[Noah Fentz 0]

I was pretty annoyed by it, myself. I miss the best ring entrance ever for Rey...

 

Shooting up from under the top landing will never be duplicated!

[DCH 0]

I wonder if the bellbottoms are making Mickie sloppy most of the time like she's afraid to trip over them?

 

Yeah, that could be it. She should just start wearing the skirts again.

 

Why did she stop wearing those skirts anyways? I used to enjoy them, but I have to admit, Mickie's flat belly is pretty sweet though nowhere near as nice as the skirts. though I'm not happy about the way the Punk/Jericho situation was handled, I'm digging Jericho. Even if his trunks look extremely weird. he should go back to tights. I'm digging this new Orton. he is probably One of my favourite heels. The slap was perfect. I was waiting for DiBiase to get it and marked out when Orton slapped him and the idiot doesn't know how to respond to it.

[SamoaRowe 0]

I'm pretty sure Mickie got rid of the skirts because of the move to make the shows TV-PG and cut down on the divas looking slutty or trashy. When she was performing in the skirts, we got lots of (nice) upskirt shots of her thong.

[Enigma 0]

Vince wanted to change directions again and steer WWE back to being more kid-friendly. This includes having TV-PG ratings for the TV shows.

 

And, well, you can't get a TV-PG with images like this:

 

[DCH 0]

^ One word. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. I hate TV-PG ratings. In Australia the rating has remained the same so I don't really get affected by this. It's M15+ so they don't edit out anything.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Well you can't edit out what doesn't happen anymore.

[DCH 0]

As in swearing and stuff, which AFAIK is bleeped in the US.

[Jingus 0]

Well I'm sold, especially given how anti-Punk you are.

The hell is that even supposed to mean? You're basically saying that since I don't particularly like Punk, that anything negative I say about him must be a lie? Go back and read my post again, bob. Or maybe for the first time, since you seemed to miss the entire point. I didn't say I ever saw Punk falling off the straight edge. I said it was a friend of mine. And I acknowledged that said friend might've been full of shit.

 

How can they shit on Morishima for a bad look when you have Manu looking like a fat biker.

The WWE has a couple of weird exceptions when it comes to fatties. If a Samoan is fat, they don't care. Part of the gimmick, I guess, though other Samoans from Snuka to Rock have been able to keep slim. The only other guys who seem to get a pass are any fat white dudes who are doing a redneck or hillbilly gimmick. Don't know why, but Vince never minds if he has some pudgy schlub in a pair of overalls.

 

I miss the best ring entrance ever for Rey...

 

Shooting up from under the top landing will never be duplicated!

He physically can't do it anymore. The impact from making that landing every night was fucking his knees up even moreso than otherwise.

 

As in swearing and stuff, which AFAIK is bleeped in the US.

What gets bleeped sometimes seems haphazard. Obviously any usage of "fuck", "shit", "goddamn", or most euphemisms for genitalia all tend to be banned. Racial slurs, well, remember the trouble Big Show got in when he mush-mouthed mumbled the word "goofs" talking about Kaientai and some people heard an entirely different fourth letter. But sometimes they're really random about stuff. Every once in a while you'll get a verboeten word which slips through, never over the promo mic, but sometimes the ring mic picks one up. Seems to be more common on PPV, where restrictions are in theory a bit looser. And then sometimes they go and bleep random stuff which makes no sense at all, or just have bad timing on the bleep so you hear half of the swear but then miss like the next five unrelated words too. I guess that's what comes with the territory in a live, semi-unscripted show.