By Luke Parks on April 28th, 2008
Pre-Show Notes:
Backlash is in the books!!! Matt Hardy went over and became the new United States Champion. HBK got a win over Batista and maybe a knee injury. Big Show, well, he beat Khali. Kane retained while Mike Adamle continued to make my ears bleed when it comes to commentary. Oh yeah, Mick Foley debuted as the new voice of Smackdown, which is much needed. The Divas tag match was a cluster-f*ck of course. The Undertaker retained on perhaps his final run with the title. And, we have a new WWE Champion…TRIPLE H!!! While I’m glad to see Trips with the belt, it kinda devalues Wrestlemania. Why not change the title there? It was a hell of a match but I thought Orton should have kept the title longer but that’s just me.
As far as King of the Ring is concerned, it’s too early to tell. We honestly don’t know if it will lead to a push or if it was just a time filler. William Regal is one of the best technical wrestlers in the company. I feel like he’s somewhat wasted in a General Manager role. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy his work as Commissioner Regal and as General Manager Regal. I just think he would be better utilized as a singles competitor especially when there aren’t that many mid-card heels right now. The Coach would be better suited for the role as General Manager. He’s awful doing the color commentary on Smackdown. Please don’t get me started on Mike Adamle. Anyway, it’s too early to judge why Regal won the KOTR. He could come out tonight and give himself an IC title shot. Or, he could come out and get shamed or something by the main event Superstars. Until something like that happens, don’t pass judgment on Regal winning the King of the Ring.
Another topic at hand is the possibility of turning CM Punk heel. People have pointed out, as well as myself, that Punk was getting booed last Monday night. Do I think they should turn him heel? Hell yeah! If anybody has seen Punk’s heel work from ROH, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, I suggest you go look it up on YouTube. Punk is excellent as a heel. He has a natural heel charisma, like Edge or Randy Orton. When Punk won the ROH World Title, he turned heel and played the part excellent. I think if he’s turned heel, it will get him over faster. I thought he was already over beforehand but he wasn’t doing too much to get over as a face. They need to let him talk. With MVP, it was the reverse. He talked first and then got the ring work together. With Punk, he’s got the ring work down but he needs to talk to get over even more. Punk should be turned heel before he cashes in the Money in the Bank title shot. Get him over before you put him over.
Now, it’s time for RAW is Blogged!!!
RAW is Blogged:
We started off the night with a recap of Triple H’s win of the WWE Championship. I honestly hope they change the title belt back and Trips doesn’t eclipse Ric Flair’s 16 reigns.
Triple H made his way down to the ring with a great ovation from the East Rutherford, New Jersey crowd. You can download his ring tone at m.wwe.com for those of you that want it. I’ll stick to my Edge entrance ring tone. Triple H said he didn’t want to be a downer but the “Age of Orton” was officially dead! He got a nice “Triple H” chant. He talked about his comeback from his torn quad muscle. He was then interrupted by Randy Orton, who said he was a victim of his own success. Orton said he was cashing in his rematch clause at Judgment Day in 3 short weeks. Way to tell the creative team they’ve got work to do! Trips ended up clocking Orton with the mic, who then in turn said he couldn’t wait for Judgment Day. He challenged Triple H for later that night for the WWE Championship!
Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely will take on ECW Champion Kane tomorrow night on ECW.
Mickie James & Crew made their way down to the ring for a 12-Diva rematch from Backlash. Before this starts, if the faces win, they continue to devalue last night. I’m not saying the Divas match was really important, but why the hell have one team win and the other win the next night? Will they have a rubber match on ECW or Smackdown? Kelly Kelly got left in the ring to start the match. Melina had her hair pulled back, which looks good on most girls but not her. Kelly botched a DDT. Jillian looked awfully white for a “tanned” Diva. Needless to say, it was a pathetic match with the faces going over. So, the evens the count at 1 win a piece for each team. Ok, on Smackdown this Friday, they need the rubber match with Lillian or somebody as the special ref.
We’ll see King Regal have a coronation ceremony later. Apparently, he is getting a big push!
JBL made his way out to the ring. His opponent was Robbie of the Highlanders. I’m presuming this starts his job punishment for being featured on TNA Impact during Wrestlemania weekend. Sure enough, he destroys Robbie and then gets on the mic & challenges John Cena and the winner of the title match.
If any of you have noticed, the WWE is becoming like Nike with their logos everywhere. They’ve done it a few weeks but now, on the guardrails, they’ve got them at the 4 ring posts.
London & Kendrick made there way to the ring to take on the TNA team of Cade & Murdoch. I say that because they’re teasing a break up and every team in TNA is teasing dissension. They wrestled a quick match that wasn’t their best efforts. Murdoch got rolled up and couldn’t get still, so London & Kendrick got a 4 count. Murdoch got on the mic, then on the announcer’s table, and started singing “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks. I personally like the song but I could have done without that. Cade got out of the ring and walked to the back. (See boys, that’s how you do a recap in a blog.)
They recapped HBK and his knee “injury” from last night. He was announced to be the guest on Jericho’s Highlight Reel.
Paul Burchill came out with his “sister” Katie. So, I guess the incest angle is still on. Super Crazy was in the ring, ready to get squashed. Katie changed it to a 2-on-1 handicap match. The crowd was dead for the win by the brother & sister.
They then had the coronation of King William Regal. If he starts acting like King Booker, I might have to hurl. In the middle of his promo…..KENNEDY!!! His music got a big reaction and he came out wearing what looked like a jumpsuit. Kennedy cut a face promo, talking about how he would have won the King of the Ring tournament. It’s like Kennedy flipped a switch and got back going like he was before he came to RAW. They ended up having a pull a part brawl which ended with Kennedy getting a busted lip. I’m glad Kennedy…KENNEDY is back!
Twist of Fate: The Matt & Jeff Hardy story is out on DVD tomorrow. Hell yeah!
The best talker in the business, Santino Marella, made his way down to the ring with Carlito. He’s come a long way from being a jobber for a while. Despite being hailed from Patterson, New Jersey for a while, Santino said he hated New Jersey and the Sopranos were fake. I actually loved the Sopranos. His opponent would be Cody Rhodes. They had a pretty good match. The crowd actually got behind this one more than London & Kendrick and Cade & Murdoch’s match. Cody Rhodes picked up the win, got on the mic to talk a little bit, and then got the Back Stabber from Carlito.
They showed Chris Jericho, who was dressed in a tux, walking to the ring for the Highlight Reel with Shawn Michaels.
The Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho made his way down for the Highlight Reel. They still have that belt don’t they? Tonight was the awards edition of the Highlight Reel and Jericho was ready to present the award for the Best Actor in the WWE. They showed a horribly acted clip of Morocco & Mr. Fuji trying to act. They then showed Heidenrich humping Michael Cole in the back off an episode of Smackdown. Sick. So much for targeting kids. The final clip was HBK “faking a knee injury” so he could beat Batista at Backlash. The winner of course was HBK who came out limping to the ring. Jericho did most of the talking before he walked out and left HBK in the ring. I guess they’re finally turning Jericho heel.
Backstage, Santino Marella thought Rowdy Roddy Piper as a WWE Diva. After that, they recapped the Fatal Four Way from Backlash.
Randy Orton came out for the WWE Championship match against Triple H. I think they’re giving it a lot of time or they have something else planned for tonight. They got the special introductions to go along with the match. There’s no possible way to recap this match until it was blacked out. I thought it was a tad odd that Triple H locked in the Crossface but I guess they’re over the Benoit stuff. Backstage, King William Regal came in and demanded the show be taken off the air because the people disrespected him. While a cool concept, I’m pissed I didn’t get to see the ending of the match!
I give this RAW:
4 out of 4 ring posts
“RAW is Blogged” Power Rankings
1. The Undertaker
2. Kane +1
3. Triple H +2
4. Randy Orton -2
5. Matt Hardy +1
6. CM Punk -2
7. Shawn Michaels +2
8. Chris Jericho
9. MVP -2
10. William Regal NEW
“RAW is Blogged” Match of the Week
One Night Stand ‘06
WWE Championship
Extreme Rules Match
John Cena vs. Rob Van Dam
“RAW is Blogged” YouTube Clip of the Week
McMahon Reveals Himself as the Higher Power - http://youtube.com/watch?v=oREeOru8KtM
RAW - Mondays at 9PM on USA Network
Judgment Day - May 18 - 8PM - Only on PPV!
Tags: Match of the Week, Power Rankings, Triple H, William Regal, WWE Championship, YouTube Clip of the Week
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April 28th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
haha first for the first time ever
an interesting way to end RAW but I HATED IT! what a way to devalue a title match, I am so angry and confused right now!
April 28th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
It was great to see Kennedy back, but if Regal is getting a push then Kennedy wont be beating him. I expected Kennedy to start a feud with Jericho over the IC title. I guess creative have decided to give Regal some credible opposition.
Where was CM Punk tonight?
Where was John Cena?
Confusing!
And I still HATED the end of the title match, so how do we know if we have a new WWE champion? That in my mind pisses all over Ortons reign as champion if his rematch is going to be ruined like that!
April 28th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
it looked like only the home viewers saw the backstage stuff (makes sence). So now we have a royal Gm being more a royal pain in the fans backside. *shrugs* I won’t mind as long as we don’t do anymore blackouts like tonight.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Chris, Cena wasn’t on to play off the punt he took last night from Orton. Prob was working on his movie lol.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
Hmmm
I guess just without Cena, Umaga, Cryme Time, Punk, Jeff Hardy and *gulp* even Snitsky RAW just seemed a bit lacking in talent tonight.
Glad to see they are continuing to work hard on the tag division though and this can only be a positive thing!
JBLs promo was awesome!
April 28th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
really weird way to end raw indeed.. but it was different and if wwe does something and makes people wonder… well that can be a good thing. Im sure HHH retained though. I am so glad Kennedy returned and that was an awesome segment with William Regal. Best iv seen from Kennedy since he was on smackdown.. and im serious when i say that. Cody rodes is so natch on the mic… like i see great things from him.. as long as they dont rush him.. and they dont need to either.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Maybe someone finally took one of the sticks out of Vince’s ass and now we’ll have decent tag matches.
On a side note I got to thinking. If they ever give Takers new move an on-air name I was thinking calling it the hangman’s noose, since its more or less a choke hold.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Well I’ve got a 12 hour wait till I can see Raw, that or they show Backlash instead. Had a feeling Kennedy would do what it says he did.
With Jericho going heel, good for Kennedy to go face otherwise the mid card wouldn’t have any single faces.
Luke I see you said the midcard doesn’t have any many heels. Who are you considering the mid card faces? I’m thinking the mid card on both shows is lacking but Raw is doing worse off. I don’t count the heat regulars or tag teams as midcard.
For me Jericho is about the only mid card face but you said it looks like he turned, now Mr. Kennedy. HBK can still go main event when ever he wants so I don’t think of him as mid card.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Chris Jacks, do you not know that Jeff Hardy is suspended? Why the hell would he be on a show if he’s suspended? Devalue a title? No, devaluing a title would be having it change hands the night after. Chris Jacks, you should know the fans would be smart enough to either log on to WWE.com to see who won or tune in next week. It’s a great way to gain viewers.
CM Punk is an ECW Superstar…he’s not on RAW permanently. Last week was about building for Backlash.
Kinaj, I’m considering the mid-card faces right now Jeff Hardy and Kennedy, since he apparently turned face. Regal is heel. Umaga is a tweener. Jericho is turning heel. But as you said, they’re lacking right now.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Very solid post PPV Raw.
while I tend to agree with you Luke about Orton holding it longer, he did have it for 6 months. That is a very long time the way its been going. He doubled the average title run of the past year or two and it “might” be the longest heavyweight title run since JBL.
Im probably in the minority, but I loved the ending of Raw. It goes back to the good ol days when anything could happen at any time and you never knew what would happen next.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
SCU, not to rib on ya but it sounds like you think that the attitude era is coming back
April 28th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
shadow,
dont make more out of my comments than what I said. I said it was a move like they used to pull back then, I never said anything about this being the return of the Attitude Era.
and Luke, Ill give you a big hell yeah on your match of the week! That is still the hottest and best crowd I have ever seen at any wrestling match! I get constant chills when I watch that one. GREAT CALL
April 29th, 2008 at 12:59 am
SCU, never tried putting words in ya mouth lol. just saying thats how i read it. personally, i’d like vince to go back to those days even abit. he’s made things too dull the past few yrs.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:42 am
I was not too much into RAW but was into the main event, which was going well until Regal made them go dark. I thought it was a really bad way to put an end to good match.
Hey I forgot to ask if anyone else on here noticed Cade and Murdoch’s new entrance attire? I did not see their match last night so not sure if they had them on, but in the past few weeks I swear Lance Cade stole something out of Greg The Hammer Valentine’s wardrobe and Trevor Murdoch stole something out of the Fallen Angle Christopher Daniel’s wardrobe! hehe
April 29th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Although I would’ve liked to see the end of the match I thought this concept was preety interesting. I’m psyched Kennedy’s back and apparently as a face. Will John Cena have his first non title feud since June 25th 2006 with JBL?
April 29th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Well its about damn time Kennedy turned face. How long have we been waiting for this? The ending was odd. But, overall the show was ok. I defenitely agree that Orton should have kept the titlt e. That just goes to show you what happend when you tap your boss’s daughter. Personally I’m glad Cena wasn’t there. His character is old. If he doesn’t do something crazy the next couple of months, he is going to lose a lot of fans. People are going to go from booing him, to not even care about him.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Well the main event for Judgement day has been announced: HHH vs Orton in a steel cage match for the WWE title.
Guess that makes last nights ending make more sense. My huge concern when watching was this was by having a rematch on RAW it was immediatly a way to take Orton out of the title picture and if this had been the case and that ending would have been the result of his rematch it would have devaulued his run as champion. But now as long as no one else is added to the cage match its all good.
I never said it devalued the title - I said it devalued the title match which in my opinion it did. No one would have ever expected Orton to win it back but since he has now been given another rematch this doesnt matter.
Obviously I know Jeff Hardy is suspended. I was simply making the point that RAW is certainly feeling his absence especially when they dont have some of the other guys on.
As MITB winner I would expect CM Punk to be appearing on almost every show, even if he had just done a backstage segment like he did at Backlash.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I was pissed at first of the ending, but not as much anymore since they are facing eath other at Judgment Day
That was probably Kennedy’s best promo since coming to Raw..I like the possible face turn
I agree with Luke, Regal is one of the best technical wrestlers in the business..he has more of an old school style of wrestling which most new school fans might not appreciate as much
April 29th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I liked raw it advances storylines an is setting up some nice fueds for judgement day. The steel cage match between hhh an orton shoud be good and also dnt be surprised if wwe add to the judgement day card, from the raw side
HBK vs. Y2J
Regal V Kennedy maybe a street fight after there brawl on raw
Cena v JBL i would love to see another i quit match between these 2 but i doubt it
Tag Titles Holly Rhodes V Carlito Snatino
womens title Beth phoenix v mickie james
Raw has pletny of fueds they can put on the JD card so raw is doing well at the moment thats 5 matches i said wwe could add from the raw side but i only think hbk/y2j cena/jbl & regal/kennedy will be added but they will be great
April 29th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Pretty solid wrstling last night, even the Divas (for the most part). I don’t get why they had all 12 of them out there when only 6 had something to do with the match. Billy, I agree with you on Cody. Spencer, I’d have to say Murdoch looks like he stole something out of Black Reign’s closet instead of Chris Daniels. Speaking of which, where’s Curry Man? Luke, I love the YouTube clip!
April 29th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
“It’s me Austin!” - Vince
“Aww son of a bitch!” - JR
That, in itself, was priceless!
April 29th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Being a 30+ year watcher of wrestling, I too was pissed off @ the end of raw, esp.4 the paid crowd–but I realized that they (WWE) had sumpin up their sleeve. AND lo and behold, a “rematch” 4 JD b-twn Orton and HHH. So much 4 giving the fans what WE want!! Now we must ppv 2 C it again. This was an obvious stunt by WWE 2 snatch $$$ from us. The heat should B mostly on WWE 4 psyching us out like this!!!
April 29th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
1. While I’ve never liked the current spinner belt, I never really cared enough about it to bitch because its all about marketing….until last night when HHH came out in it and in a contrast to HHH’s rather stylish attire, I saw for the first time how gaudy, and tasteless it really looked. It lacks anything remotely resembling class.
2. I thought he was supposed to be a 13 time champ.
3.Once again Mickey James really looked bad, I still think she’s gotta be on something cause no one ages that fast in less than 5 years, she went from hot to haggard (maybe its just cause I have Hi-def that I’m noticing, I dunno)
4. During the Highlight real, I was yelling at my tv for shawn to tell us he was faking, I wanted to see that arrogant “I just owned all of your asses” grin he used to have, I want to see heel Shawn so bad
5. Hey Santino, next time remember to explain that the reason New Yorkers are always so pissed off is cause Jersey’s the light at the end of the tunnel.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I sort of liked the ending of Raw. Makes it really look like Regal is in control of the show. I dont know if it’s me, but i could see this Kennedy/Regal feud go on for a while. If it’s done right this could make Kennedy a superstar. Remember what happens when you dont respect your boss, you get Austin Vs Mcmahon. This feud could turn into the same thing, and as good as Kennedy is on the mic and how cocky he is, it’s almost meant to be.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Welly welly well. I loved the show. It had variety, great matches, great promos and a certain original edge to it, sort of took me back to the Attitude Era where everything was varied and felt like so much more than a wrestling show. I wish they could do this more often.
I didn’t mind him “cutting” the show off, since the main event was dead anyway, but their timing could have been better - you know, they could have cut in the middle of a three count from Orton or something.
Kennedy’s return was my favourite thing. Why he doesn’t have 5+ world title reigns already is above and beyond me. But hey, when you can have Batista feuding with the same guys over and over and over and over and over again, why the hell do that?
Another highlight was Rhodes vs. Santino Marinella. Rhodes has gotten that Hardcore Holly edge to his work recently which can only be positive. His post-match promo made me laugh something fierce.
Overall, a good, original and fully entertaining show. I’d give it a 9.8, but what with the lack of SuperCena it’s a 9.9.
________________________
You all my know my thoughts on Backlash, and I really felt that Raw needed to put up a great show to, heh, avoid a backlash on themselves.
As for other things, yeah I too noticed Mickie (my girl!) has been looking a bit strained lately? Maybe she needs a good guy to “take care of her” for a bit? Just in case, I’m right here.
Oops, what with my long comments I’m gonna need a blog nobody will read myself someday…ai-yup!
April 30th, 2008 at 12:15 am
About the WWE title, I didn’t see HHH with it yet, I’m sure he looks like odd with it. I mean it doesn’t spin anymore but the belt does say Champ. I liked Edges Rated R superstar title, now that was a cool belt.
On my TV mickie still looks okay, probably just your HD.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:59 am
HK, would you stay off of my comment board with your, whatever you call it?
The stuff with Regal just gives him a sense of legitimate authority. Most people know the GM spot is an on-air character. But, with him taking the show off the air before the ending of the main event gives the impression he has actual pull.
They seriously need to go back to the belt JBL had before Cena won it and turned it into the spinner belt. It apparently doesn’t spin anymore but I still hate it. I’ve got a replica title they can use for a while!
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
If you stay off the Blog Spot with your, whatever you call it drivel, we got a deal bub.
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
That’s a negative bub. I work for this site. You don’t. Buh-bye.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Ok I got a good question why in the hell did WWE strip Undertaker of the World Title ?
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:28 am
They’re doing some cliffhanger angles to boost ratings. It’s pretty cool but I wish they hadn’t taken the belt from Undertaker.
May 3rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Well hopefully they put the World Title back on Undertaker soon or other wise that cliffhanger is BS if you ask me I hate the fact that WWE even thought about taking the title off of Taker very stupid I would rather seen HHH striped of the belt before they stripped the World Title from Taker.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
When will CM Punk cash in MITB?