OaO Monday Night Raw thread 12/15/2008

[JoeDirt 0]

Thoughts from tonight's show:

 

-Kind of a filler/storyline progression/storyline initiating show tonight, which are obviously necessary.

 

-OK, so with the matches building to the RR title shot vs Cena we have a few options now. #1, JBL and HBK both make the fatal fourway match and JBL makes HBK help him/lay down for him and JBL gets the title shot at the Rumble. JBL still owes Cena a job from GAB so it's quite possible. #2 Orton takes advantage of a concussed Batista now and rolls through everybody #1 contendership. I thought that they'd save Orton/Cena for Mania but tonight seemed to be about shifting focus to Orton vs Cena already. #3 is Batista winning but after the concussion kick of death tonight I think it's less likely than before. Also if they wanted to do Cena vs Batista at the RR they probably could have just announced it tonight with Batista coming off a big ppv win but I guess then you wouldn't have two weeks of matches. But clearly it'd be weird to have him go over Orton at Armageddon and then have Orton challenge for the title at the Rumble anyways.

 

-Kelly/Kane stuff had me interested and some continuity with Kelly not liking Miz. I was worried it would be a stereotypical Kane abusing a woman mentally thing all show but thankfully that was kept short. I'm wondering where this leads as obviously it's got to spurn some sort of a feud or something for Kane and I don't really know who/what/where it leads. But that's good. The only thing I can think of is a feud with Kofi Kingston but that doesn't make that much sense, but he is free and needs to be elevated and have something to do. Blah.

 

-Ziggler's neckbreaker finisher is nice, he held a chinlock for too long in that match though.

 

-Good tag title match but odd that they didn't just wait to do the title switch then.

 

-Orton/Batista were awkward in their backstage segment and Grisham saying "you have a match tonight with Legacy vs you guys...Batista and John Cena" was funny, as if they didn't know what their own names were.

 

-Not much Santino or Jericho on the mic tonight makes me sad.

 

-For the matches next week Jericho obviously goes over Punk, and you would think that if Orton goes over Batista that means that we need two faces so Rey over JBL and HBK over Kane? If Batista goes over Orton then I would imagine we'd have Batista, Jericho, and then JBL/HBK. I think the latter might be more interesting but don't know which route they'll go.

[strummer 0]

I'm oddly intrigued by the Kane/Kelly Kelly angle

[cabbageboy 0]

I have no idea what that Kelly/Kane/Miz stuff was all about. Was she just throwing a random guy to the wolves to get Kane off her case, or was there more to it?

 

The lack of direction for Jericho at this point is a bit troubling. In fact it looks like his current direction is the fact that he is going to be buried by Stephanie and have no direction. Not really sure who will end up as the Rumble challenger on Raw, but it probably won't matter since it's a filler match anyway since the Rumble will be the draw.

[Hawk 34 0]

I have no idea what that Kelly/Kane/Miz stuff was all about. Was she just throwing a random guy to the wolves to get Kane off her case, or was there more to it?

 

The lack of direction for Jericho at this point is a bit troubling. In fact it looks like his current direction is the fact that he is going to be buried by Stephanie and have no direction. Not really sure who will end up as the Rumble challenger on Raw, but it probably won't matter since it's a filler match anyway since the Rumble will be the draw.

 

About a year ago Miz owed the contract rights to Extreme Expose which consisted of Layla and Kelly (this was after Brooke was released) and while Layla went along with it, Kelly hated Miz and Miz treated her like garbage and prevented her from doing what she wanted (namely this was dating Balls Mahoney). At some point, Miz released Kelly (or it was just dropped altogether). So, we are to assume that Kelly used this as a way to get back at him.

 

[goldengreek 0]

So who the hell does this lead Kane into a feud with?

Tomko? Thorn? Christian?

 

Kofi

[goldengreek 0]

My guess is Kofi Kingston.

 

Bingo !

 

Thats why they took that tag titles off of Punk and Kofi

 

Punk will fued with Regal and Kofi with Kane

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

I fell asleep for the 2nd straight RAW

[zappafrank 0]

I was at RAW this evening, so here are some observations:

 

Tomko (dark match) was really well-received. He got a huge pop when the audience recognized who it was, and there were legit "Tomko" chants.

 

You could definitely hear boo's for Cena, but on the whole he was cheered, especially during the more dramatic moments of the main event. Batista's pop was there, but nowhere near what it was in '05 when it was pretty deafening, and he eclipsed Hogan's pop for the dark main.

 

Orton got a good reaction, but it settled into solid heel heat by the end of the night.

 

People really didn't boo Kane. They popped for all of his appearances, and booed when Kelly^2 rolled out of the ring.

 

The tag title match was really good live. Punk's got one of the top pops of the night (along with the aforementioned people, plus Rey).

 

The dark main (street fight b/w Jericho and Cena) was pretty short, less than 10 min. But it was decent, and the crowd was pretty into it. Jericho came out while the trainers were still helping Batista to the back, so that was good timing in terms of making sure the audience didn't filter out. He got a lot of good heel heat during the match.

 

The crowd popped when Sim Snuka mentioned who his dad is (and a lot of it seemed to be of the "Really? I didn't know that!" variety).

 

"Santa Claas" was well-received by the crowd, and there was even a solid "SANTA! SANTA!" chant. Of course, this is the same crowd that started chanting "MIS-TER RO-GERS, clap-clap- clap clap clap" when Kurt Angle took a cheap shot at his death a few years back (Mr. Rogers and his show were from Pittsburgh, and Angle said "I'm the best thing that's ever come from this city. Who else is there? Mr. Rogers? He's dead!").

 

I've been to pretty much every TV broadast, taping, and PPV here since 2002, and this was one of the better shows (nothing can top the SD where Edge cashed in his MitB early last year, though, or the HHH/Benoit Iron Man match from RAW in '04). A lot of times, Pgh crowds tend to be dead (for the SD taping earlier this yr, tons of the upper seats were blocked off), but the crowd tonight was solid. They weren't "in your face," but they were definitely there. It wasn't a sell-out, but everything was pretty filled up to the 1st set of balconies. Every time WWE comes through we wonder if the Pgh crowds are going to kill the city for WWE, but tonight was a good showing.

 

And at least there were "Let's go, Pens!" chants to balance out the ever-present and oft-out of place "Here we go, Steelers, here we go!" chants.

 

I wouldn't have hated myself had I missed the show, but I'm not sorry I went, either.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

Would it have killed the wwe to bring in Jimmy Snuka for the spot where Deuce becomes Sim Snuka (Sim? WTF!)? I'm betting that the bookers don't care for the storyline really, but know they needed to give it a try because it writes itself. It will fail and Sim Snuka will be released in the New Year.

 

Batista looked injured during the match last night, I'm figuring he tweaked something in a leg and probably needs time off - hence the Kick o' Doom.

 

Isn't Khali a former Champion?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Ah, so they're Dropping the Deuce.

 

...Sim Snuka?

 

Sounds like a Will Wright wrestling game.

 

The thread was won here.

[cd213 0]

When Sim Snuka is given the GM spot, he can call RAW his Sim City. Scary enough, I can see Vince doing something like that.

[Wrestlefreak 0]

I'm loving this Kelly Kelly/Kane angle. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was not the Miz that Kane was really after. The twist with th Miz makes me think that Kane was really going for JoMo in the ring, but just wanted to play some head games. This could divide Miz and Morrison.

 

On the subject of Miz/Morrison, glad to see they retained the belts in a great match last night.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

I know it wont happen, but this could be a nice way to turn Kelly heel. Kelly may have something Kane wants, and Kelly can start using Kane as her body guard, or use him just to cause chaos as she sees fit.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

I know it wont happen, but this could be a nice way to turn Kelly heel. Kelly may have something Kane wants, and Kelly can start using Kane as her body guard, or use him just to cause chaos as she sees fit.

 

Kelly Kelly definitely has something Kane wants...

 

It won't be a heel turn though, because they need her a face for her Playboy push (after which she'll be yesterdays news like Candace and Maria). It has to be a little guy, otherwise why not just say Batista, Cena or whomever who regularly kick Kanes ass.

[Bigelow34 0]

Would it have killed the wwe to bring in Jimmy Snuka for the spot where Deuce becomes Sim Snuka (Sim? WTF!)? I'm betting that the bookers don't care for the storyline really, but know they needed to give it a try because it writes itself. It will fail and Sim Snuka will be released in the New Year.

 

 

If Jimmy came out then Sim would have gotten a face reaction and it is clear they want him to be heel and maybe even hook up with The Legacy.

[haws bah gawd 0]

I know it wont happen, but this could be a nice way to turn Kelly heel. Kelly may have something Kane wants, and Kelly can start using Kane as her body guard, or use him just to cause chaos as she sees fit.

 

Kelly Kelly definitely has something Kane wants...

 

It won't be a heel turn though, because they need her a face for her Playboy push (after which she'll be yesterdays news like Candace and Maria). It has to be a little guy, otherwise why not just say Batista, Cena or whomever who regularly kick Kanes ass.

 

My thoughts, exactly. Honestly, I don't see Kane as a threat, and haven't for a while. He received a VERY short push earlier this year when he beat Chavo for the ECW title in 8 seconds, but really, who HASN'T beat Kane? Rey Mysterio owned him throughout their feud over the Fall, Cena beat him in a horrid match a couple weeks ago, and Batista always beats him. The only person I remember Kane getting a decisive win over recently was the handful of times he destroyed Jamie Noble and Evan Bourne, the latter of which gave Kane a run for his money before losing. Who would Kane be her bodyguard against? Noble? Sim Snuka? Watch out, here comes Hacksaw!

 

RAW actually wasn't too bad last night. I kind of felt sorry for Hacksaw getting dogged by Jericho during their segment. I would have liked to have seen Hacksaw yell "Who you calling a Has-been?", then take a swing at Jericho with the 2 X 4, but instead, it just looks like we'll see a pimped-out Duggan next week.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Sad Jim Duggan is one of the best characters on Raw.

[Chazz 0]

Second time in just a few months that Jimmy got verbally bitchslapped. Poor Hacksaw.

[lee_hero 0]

Kane hasn't been a threat for a really long time. They should have put the mask back on him at the blow-off for the Rey feud. Maybe that could have sparked some interest in him. After finally completing watch the new Kane dvd set, I found the whole collection of matches rather odd, he loses about 75% of them. It's a good set though, I recommend it.

 

And on the subject of Kelly Kelly having something that Kane wants...

 

I think she has something every male with a pulse wants,

probably females too.

[King Cucaracha 0]

I would have liked to have seen Hacksaw yell "Who you calling a Has-been?", then take a swing at Jericho with the 2 X 4, but instead, it just looks like we'll see a pimped-out Duggan next week.

 

Is it wrong that when Cryme Tyme told him it's time and sadly lead him off, my first thought was they were going to take him out back and give him the Ol' Yella treatment?

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Ah, so they're Dropping the Deuce.

 

...Sim Snuka?

 

Sounds like a Will Wright wrestling game.

 

The thread was won here.

For which line?

[Exslade ZX 0]

Ah, so they're Dropping the Deuce.

 

...Sim Snuka?

 

Sounds like a Will Wright wrestling game.

 

The thread was won here.

For which line?

Ha, didn't even take notice to the dropping the deuce line the first time around.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Ah, so they're Dropping the Deuce.

 

...Sim Snuka?

 

Sounds like a Will Wright wrestling game.

 

The thread was won here.

For which line?

 

It's the combination of both of them. A double dose of bringing the ha ha.