The One and Only Raw Thread for 7/1/02

[Guest M Nyland]

I'm actually interested in what the Hardyz will do next week....

 

 

the WW_ made me enjoy the Hardyz again...I never thought I'd see the day

[Guest Breetai]

For a shining example of how to put someone over without having to job to them, see the endo of that ladder match.

 

I can't remember the last time the friggin' UNDERTAKER gave someone such a huge rub.

[Guest M Nyland]

that rub was so huge it made the Bradshaw/Nowinski backstage "rub" look like childs play...

[Guest cabbageboy]

What's with everyone saying RVD sucks so bad on the mic? He did fine tonight, though still isn't as hilarious as his cocky stoner persona in ECW.

 

I swear UT is more interesting than he has been in years. He seems really mean and heelish, but yet also shows his opponents respect when they take him to the limit now. Also showed Cena respect.

 

I had no idea why the Dudleys would beat Benoit/Eddie in Benoit's return match. That was a WTF moment.

 

Booker T is getting the Luger push....he beat a big fat dude via a lame countout.

[Guest M Nyland]

next.....Booker T and Goldust both fall out of the Royal Rumble together....

 

a coin is tossed and somehow HHH ends up fighting HIMSELF at WMX9!

[Guest TheDames7]

The worst ladder match that I can recall was either Goldberg/Hall or Rock/Foley with Bossman & Big Show interference for the WWF Title. The only time the World title has changed hands in a ladder match, btw.

 

Dames

[Guest M Nyland]

DDDames.....Trivia Guru...

[Guest jester]

Also, speaking of Chris Harvard, he has quickly become a wretsler I;m enjoying. He made Bradshaw his personal bitch for 2 weeks in a row now! But what was up with that black eye?

Yeah, what was going on with that? It also looked like he had some scratches on his chest. Victim of some locker-room sodomizing....I mean hazing, perhaps?

 

Other thoughts on Raw:

 

-ladder match was a bit slow at times, but I think it did great overall. Hardy looks good for nearly winning, Taker looks tough for retaining...look out, the championship belt means something again.

 

-HHH in the nWo: It might be more interesting to have him fued with them, rather than join them (maybe that's the secret plan?) He can say "What the uh hell are you uh talking about, I ain't uh, joining you." I'd like that because it would tie up all the wrestlers I just don't care about and maybe keep them away from the ones I do for awhile.

 

-I heard the WWE knows Molly's fans hate the whole big ass thing. And yet, they keep it up.

 

-Benoit: great to see him back and lookin' fine. I don't even mind the job. I think they may be teasing at Guerro/Benoit turning against each other, hence the part where Guerro accidentally kicked Benoit off the apron.

 

-Flair losing: had to be expected. Look at this way: Flair couldn't beat McMahon, but he could beat Brock? Uh-uh. I still like him in more of an owner roll.

 

Overall, good show!

 

jester

[Guest jester]

Oh, yeah 24 frickin pages of comments on the show...what does that tell you? And when was the last time that happened? It's only a few hours after the show too...

 

jester

[Guest Ace309]

Am I the only one who thought the ladder match's ending felt forced? Sure, the bastard rana-ganso-tease-chairshot spot was kind of cool, but Jeff was just standing at the top of the ladder looking stupid and not moving several times.

 

Yes, I realize that he was tired/injured/whatever due to the savage beats... but if he can scramble up the ladder almost all the way, why is he suddenly so damn fatigued just because he gets to the top? Is it because Taker's too slow to get to him on time?

[Guest M Nyland]

Yes, I realize that he was tired/injured/whatever due to the savage beats... but if he can scramble up the ladder almost all the way, why is he suddenly so damn fatigued just because he gets to the top? Is it because Taker's too slow to get to him on time?

Duh....

[Guest Ace309]

Well, obviously. My point was that maybe they should have avoided the "race up the ladder" spots, or at least not used it on three or four successive occasions since they obviously know Taker's not among the fastest workers.

[Guest Choken One]

It's not as Bad as when Rock pratically fell asleep waiting for HHH at Sumer Slam 98, when HHH injured the knee and Chyna had to run in and knock him off with a loblow.

[Guest Nevermortal]

Funny story about that knee.

 

It blew out on him at Summerslam '98.

 

So, its currently wrestling dark matches.

 

HELD DOWN~!

[Guest M Nyland]

and those dark matches are against Big Bossman I heard....and Bossman squashes that knee till it learns respect...then MAYBE it can be moved up to Heat....MAYBE...

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

HHH was inserted as the #1 guy upon his return and HHH and WWF deserved to be ripped apart over it. HHH deserved being ripped for coming back in bad ring shape. WWF deserved being ripped on for making an unproven guy return from serious injury as the #1 guy in the entire company.

 

Beniot is returning as a midcarder and won't be a big focus of the company while still unproven atfer serious injury.

 

I offer a difference of opinion. Benoit was never over enough in the WWF to get a big son and dance for a comeback. He was hurt during his push, which hadn't lasted very long if memory serves me correctly. If Brock Lesnar is challenging for the title at Summerslam and gets hurt, he's not going to get the hype that Triple H got. Benoit was more over than Lesnar is, but that's the most immediate analogy that I see.

 

In Triple H's defense, it's not like he put on a lot of muscles while wrestling like he did in 1999. He put on muscle while he wasn't wrestling. I can relate to that in way because I just started paying basketball for the first time in about 3 or 4 years. While I was good before I stopped playing, I have put on alot of muscle since then and I can't just step back on the court and do the same things that Iwas used to doing. My body is different and I'll have to find find new things to do instead of gradually getting used to it like I would have done had I been playing basketball all this time. Triple H having an injured leg may not be the problem, I think it's the fact that his body changed while he wasn't wrestling.

[Guest Cataclysm911]

I thought that this RAW sucked, I guess I'm in the minority.

 

I recorded it, and watching it on tape, so I could fast forward through the commercials. I found myself fast forwarding through a lot more than commercials. Bradshaw Vs. Harvard.. great, fast forward. Random women with Jerry Lawler acting like an idiot.. great, fast forward. Benoit returns, and is teamed with the second best worker on RAW, other than himself.. and jobs to Bubba & Spike.. great, fast forward. Booker, whom I care about, faces the Big Show, whom I don't care about. Great, fastforward.

 

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

 

I could go on, but what's the point?

[Guest evenflowDDT]

Damn... why the hell are there so many replies this week? Anywho, I actually thought it was a pretty good show, and I actually liked the ladder match. Sure, it was a bit slow, but there were definitely enough cool spots to make it worthwhile... plus the post-match r0x0red, even if Jeff Hardy sounded like... I don't know what... some kind of beast of something. Jeff Hardy's promo earlier in the show was also surprisingly good... hmmmmm.... is it a fluke or is the guy actually improving?

 

As for the rest, I was disappointed to see Benoit/Guerrero lose, but when Guerrero knocked Benoit off the apron my first thought was "are they going to try a Benoit/Guerrero feud?" Again, there were enough cool spots to make it worthwhile, and the post-match r0x0red!

 

How the HELL did Nash get such a big pop? That had to have been staged or something... right? For all that's holy in this world I hope so.

 

So... this week marks two super-kicks from Shawn Michaels. Why was he brought back again? Oh yea, temporary ratings boost. HHH is going to be in the nWo, and Big Show will be kicked out? Does this mean The Kliq will become an on-screen and backstage entity? That's weird... sort of an art imitates life vibe going on there.

 

Match ended by countout... that was pretty darn cool. Seriously, it's a logical finish. Plus the Booker-man went over, and I respect that, SUCKAAA!

 

Who did Molly piss off this week? I'm really starting to dislike Trish A LOT now... she acts more heelish than most of the heels on the roster and yet because she's the WWE's official sex symbol she's probably going to win back the women's title (not that it means anything around anyone other than Molly's or Jazz' waists because they can WRESTLE anyway) at the next PPV.

 

The Regal/RVD match was pretty good, and should've gone longer. But silly me, they'd never do that on RAW... they didn't even really do it on the PPVs either. This is free TV... what do you expect?

 

I'm actually kinda digging Harvard Chris. Sure, the match wasn't really that great, but it was short and to the point. Really, that's all you can ask for in a match that you know in advance won't be very good. When Chris first announced a "wrestling match", I was afraid it was going to be like the Flair/Austin "wrestling match" a month ago, and wondered what the hell Bradshaw was going to do since punches and clotheslines are 7/8 of his offense.

 

Yea, nothing else that I remember, Brock went over some nobody in the opener

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

And for the record, I think the nWo should break up. Any group that can make me stop caring about my all time favorite wrestler deserves to die.

What does the nWo have to do with Chyna?

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

Match ended by countout... that was pretty darn cool. Seriously, it's a logical finish. Plus the Booker-man went over, and I respect that, SUCKAAA!

The logical choice should have been Booker winning by pinfall. Yeah, he won, but the end result was an HBK/nWo promo, not emphasis on Booker.

[Guest Spaceman Spiff]

Am I the only one that thinks HHH won't be joining the NWO?

 

Isn't that obvious?

I thought the same thing.

 

HHH = DDP

 

1) They're not even on the same roster

2) What's the point announcing it in advance? Takes away the impact.

[Guest Incandenza]

Raw was okay this week. Not as good as last week's Smackdown, but fairly decent. Random thoughts:

 

* The pacing of Lesnar's matches have been improving, though still aren't very good. Once he moves beyond the generic power moves, I might actually start to like him.

 

* Speaking of Lesnar, I like how his match with RVD was made a whole three weeks before the PPV, rather than waiting till the week before to announce it. It shows that the WWE is--gasp--thinking ahead on something. Good for them.

 

* Regardless of which way he goes, Triple H's involvement should be the last hurrah for the nWo. Seriously, when your elitle fighting squad consists of the Big Show, X-Pac, a guy who won't wrestle (Michaels), and a guy who can barely wrestle, and probably won't for very long when he heals (Nash), what is left for these guys to do? They are a waste of time, space, and--something Vince should be concerned about--money. On the plus side, a Triple H heel turn and nWo membership would be a roundabout way of admitting that Hunter's solo face run was a failure.

 

* Vince spent very little time on TV last night. Good.

 

* I like seeing Bradshaw be beat by a rookie in under a minute; I don't like seeing him kick out at three like an unprofessional shit.

 

* I liked Benoit's tag match. Granted, he had Guerrero help take up some of the slack, but Benoit looked alright when he was in the ring.

 

* Though it had me going in the final couple of minutes, that ladder match was s-l-o-w. I'm thinking Undertaker is pretty much a face now (it didn't take much effort, as the crowd liked cheering for him, anyway), which will help in his match against Angle, but how will that affect his PPV match with the Rock? Maybe Angle will be thrown in to make it a three-way, which would also help cover up some of Rocky's rustiness.

 

And so on.

[Guest Ram]

-Flair losing: had to be expected. Look at this way: Flair couldn't beat McMahon, but he could beat Brock? Uh-uh. I still like him in more of an owner roll.

Well, thanks to Vince's RUTHLESS AGGRESSION~! speech on last week's RAW, apparently all the wrestlers are afraid and intimidated by him.

[Guest DawnBTVS]

Anyone else thinking Bubba had a broken neck after the two German Suplexes delivered by Chris Benoit? Watching it on slow motion makes them even nastier.

 

Also Jeff was so OVER with the crowd at the end when he almost got the Title. Watch the crowd and you'll see just about everybody on their feet cheering for him. True markout moment for me till Taker did the nice Chokeslam spot:)

[Guest M Nyland]

Yeah....I was jumping and praying for Jeff....

 

but we were proved wrong

 

TAKER CAN CLIMB~!

 

 

 

Taker has Roothleth Agrethion...

[Guest LJSexay]

Trish CAN wrestle.

 

I doubt Taker is a face now, I DO think that he did give Jeff a huge rub by approving of him and raising his hand showed that Jeff has guts and will do whatever it takes to achieve the goal he wants. All or nothign attitude I guess, and Taker just elevated Jeff in the eyes of the fans.

 

Great Raw, and I think the ladder match ruled, I mean, matches with a ladder that tell DAMN STORY~! aren't meant to be full speed, especially, in a taker match, he isn't a fast one.

[Guest Ace309]

My gripe with the ladder match isn't that it told a story and therefore wasn't Bumpfest 2K2. I liked the story, I just feel that near the end they relied too much on repeating one spot that Taker, evidently, was in no condition to perform and that Hardy jumped the gun on consistently.

 

I hate to say that, because I have nothing against Taker. It was very surprising to me that he wasn't able to get into position in time.

[Guest Incandenza]

What story was last night's ladder match telling? The "Small-but-plucky-Hardy-once-again-gets-his-ass-handed-to-him-by-the-Undertaker" story that we've been seeing every time the Hardyz and Taker have crossed paths this year? Bah, it was nothing new.

 

I did like the finish, but, as I said before, the match was too damn slow, and occasionally ugly (I'm gonna blame Taker for that fucked-up rana spot). There have been worse ladder matches (Goldberg-Hall), but this one was lousy.

[Guest Prince Paul]

I suprsingly liked the ladder match. I mean, they had me believeing in a couple of spots, that Hardy was winning. When Taker went flying out of the ring, I thought, holy shit, Jeff's gonna win. I kept screaming for Taker to get the hell up. Finally, he did, whew! Close call.

 

And of course Taker can climb a ladder for god's sake. He's not a cripple or a gimp.

[Guest Gendo]

And of course Taker can climb a ladder for god's sake. He's not a cripple or a gimp.

 

You mean a Hogan, right?