Falls Count Anywhere

11-08-07

All work and no play makes Chris a very dull boy all work and no play makes chris a very dull boy all work and no play makes chris a very dull boy...

RAW
Well, this was a weird show that in many ways felt more like 1997 than 2007. That’s not an entirely bad thing, but I kinda like more wrestling on my wrestling shows.

We open with a graphic for The Fabulous Moolah. She was a big part of the WWF in the 1980s and I’m surprised they didn’t do more at the start, but they did give her a good video package later in the show.

We opened with DX in the ring. Shawn and HHH are both still the guys they once were, but so much has changed in the business that it’s just not right. They did the long twenty minute segment like they used to. They had Hornswoggle come out and say that he wanted to be in DX. They tried to send him under the ring, but he wouldn’t because there was a monster under there. Shawn went and looked and came back with worms in his mouth.

The Boogeyman then came out and when he got to HHH he said “Can I be in DX?” That got a pretty fun little pop and I thought it was kinda neat. Khali came out, but they told him to leave and then The Coach came. This was a spotty and way too long segment.

They had Kelly Kelly get squashed by Beth Phoenix. It’s not a bad thing as they’re trying to get over her Fishmansbuster as a big deal and she used it fast and got the pin. I think Beth is so freakin’ hot.

There was something about Snitsky and Carlito that I wasn’t paying attention to. I am really bored by Snitsky and while Carlito is entertaining, the very fact that they’ll put him in with Snitsky is a sign of how little they’ve given him to do.

There was a decent match between the teams of Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio and Finlay and Mr. Kennedy. I’ve gotta say that these are four of my faves in the WWE right now. The match went back and forth a bit and got a little bit of time. Certainly more than anything but the main event on the show. The heels worked over Rey’s legs, which is a good piece of psychology.

Finlay and Kennedy are an interesting team. Back in 1997, when Hardy was just starting to show up on RAW as a high flier and Rey was the King Cruiserweight in WCW I’d have killed to see them team up. Sadly, they’ve both slipped several notches, though both are still good.

The finish got the crowd hot and ended with a Rey 619 and a Swanton onto Kennedy for the win.

Maria and Santino did a bit where they trashed The Condemned, now available on DVD. Well, Santino trashed it and Maria just stood there like a chump. Of course, Austin came out and did some heeling. Austin then brought out a beer truck and sprayed down Santino and Maria. Apparently there wasn’t a causeway close enough for Austin to do any real damage. Actually, Santino was really good here and I like it when they give him time, but this took forever.

I skipped a bit, but I understand that Vince announced that Hornswoggle would be meeting The Great Khali next week. Wow, I didn’t think they could get any lower.

I’m not sure why, but Jim Duggan and SuperCrazy beat Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. Remember when those two were big talents with nowhere to go but up? I do. This makes me sad. They didn’t even get time to do anything. They played comedy and then they got beat. They need to rebuild these guys or give them up for nothing and drop them. TNA would take them and use them even worse, but at least they wouldn’t be painfully misused in comedy crap.

About the only thing I can say about the Main Event was that we’d seen it before and it was just as good this time as it was the last time. This was the only part of the show that felt current. We had DX (HHH and Shawn Michaels) against Umaga (who is a 2007 version of a 1987 heel) and Randy Orton (who is the 2007 version of a 1997 heel being played by a guy whose psychology is more 1987 than anything else).

The match was strong and I think that Shawn is going to do incredibly well for one or two more years and then have to retire. You could see where he used match polish instead of actual action to make the thing work. They had Michaels hit Orton with the Sweet Chin Music for the finish. Good stuff that got time.

All in all, a decent show at best. They need to build more to the Pay-Per-View, but they’ll get to it shortly…I hope

That’s all for this week! I’ll be back in a week with all the news of 7 days of wrestling since I’m out of town this weekend. Hopefully, that’ll include a look at the Chris Jericho book!

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Chris Garcia