Raw Review for August 04, 2008 by: Colin "Colb" Bonham

The RAW Report – Let the Action Do the Talkin’!

What was great about Raw last night was that there was a real emphasis on the wrestling side of the broadcast, and less of the talking. Now, don’t get me wrong, I find most of the non-wrestling segments to always be passable in the least, and there are some very good talkers on the show. But last night, the talkers shut up, and let their In-ring work be their voice, and it was refreshing. Overall I thought the show was a good one, even if it was maybe a little predictable, but yet again, some questionable booking came in to play. On to my thoughts of the show:

• The opening segment was a little different than the usual in-ring bit, and I thought it came off pretty well. WWE are trying their best to not make Adamle look like a complete failure, and I like the fact that they had him point out his faults. He seems determined to make amends, and be a good GM, and I have to say, I don’t think he did a bad job last night. So JBL comes out and again asks for a World Title shot at Summerslam. Then we get Jericho who campaigns for his shot. Adamle then makes the Handicap match for later in the night, JBL and Jericho against Punk, with the guy who pins Punk getting the title shot. But if Punk wins, neither of them gets the shot. A unique match that I guess we have to get used to being called ‘An Adamle Original’ from now on. Good start to the show.

• The first match of the night is for the Intercontinental Championship, between Kofi Kingston and Paul Birchill. Yet again, I thought these two had a good match, and this one was their best yet. Kofi comes away with the victory, which was fine, but knocks the credibility of Birchill, who is just beginning to get over with the crowd. They’re going to have to have Birchill beat Kofi in a non-title match if we’re going to be able to take Birchill seriously as a contender for the IC title. But having the belt on Kofi is doing no harm, because I think Kofi is extremely entertaining to watch in the ring, and is a good champion. After the match, Katie Lea gets in Kofi’s face, and Paul tries to attack Kofi, who blocks it. Paul then stumbles up the ramp way with Kofi slowly following, leaving Katie Lea in the ring. Leading straight into the Women’s title match after the commercial break.

• Katie Lea and Mickie had a solid match with Mickie coming away with a hard fought victory. The loss hurts Katie Lea’s credibility, and after the next segment, it looks like Katie Lea is out of the title picture for now. That next segment being Beth Phoenix coming down to the ring and attacking Mickie, putting herself back in line for a shot, which I have no problem with, as her and Mickie had very solid matches a couple of months ago.

• The next segment after the break has Adamle on the phone to Stephanie McMahon, thanking her for his opportunity to be GM. Santino and Beth walk in and both ask for a shot at the titles they want. Adamle says there is only room for one more title match, and the two argue it out. Santino cracks some jokes with his ‘I don’t want to be Women’s Champion, Beth’ line being the funniest. In the end, Adamle sets up a Tag Match at Summerslam that has Beth and Santino taking on Kofi and Mickie for both of the titles. Unfortunately, I think I know how this one is going to end with the weird couple getting the titles. I don’t mind Beth being Women’s champion, but Santino as Intercontinental Champion? How could they possibly but a title on a man who is out-matched by his female partner? That’s why I hope I’m wrong about the outcome of the match at Summerslam…

• Next we have a John Cena video package that is watched by Batista in his locker room. Todd Grisham walks in and Batista says he’s looking forward to the match, and again wants Cena to stay out of his way. A short, simple segment that builds up the main event.

• After the next break, we unfortunately have Layla dancing in the ring. Don’t get me wrong, she’s hot, but the whole thing was pretty pointless. I wish they had had her dancing through the commercial, and be interrupted by Willie Regal as soon as the show returned for us at home. I guess the point was to show the ‘WWE.com exclusive’ segment between Noble and Layla, with Layla saying she doesn’t associate herself with losers. So Willie Regal is in the ring and he says he wants to remind everyone of who he is. Then Jamie Noble interrupts, trying to prove a point to Layla, and Regal and Noble brawl in the ring. Overall, a kinda boring a pointless segment that really could have been done backstage. On the plus side, It will probably lead to a decent match between Regal and Noble next week, but is it really a match many fans are gonna care about? I don’t think so.

• Next we have the Handicap match with consequences, which was definitely the best and most exciting match of the night. Adamle made it more interesting when he introduced a 10 minute time limit to the match, where if there was no pinfall during the time, there would be a triple threat at Summerslam for the title. So we get into the match, which was obviously more like a triple threat match with Jericho and JBL fighting each other to get to Punk at times. The match ends with just less than 1 second to go, with JBL getting the pinfall on Punk thanks to Jericho’s guillotine with the ropes. A very good bout that the crowd was way into, and now we have a World Title match for Summerslam. My only criticism of the whole segment; Jericho’s trunks? I know it’s not a major thing at all, but he did look a little stupid didn’t he?

• Next we have the Shawn Michaels interview that they had been talking about during the show, direct from Shawn’s house in Texas. Shawn talks about all the injuries he’s had, and says that this time, he is going to listen to the doctors advice. His re-evaluation is 2 days before Summerslam, and the verdict will be announced live at the show. But Shawn says that if the doctor says he should stop wrestling, then that’s what he will do. A good interview that gives us all something else to look forward to at Summerslam, not that any of us really believe that Shawn is going to retire, but it’ll still be good to see him at the show.

• After another commercial, Matt Stryker is in the ring, thanking Adamle for finally allowing him to appear on Raw. The Arena explodes and Kane makes his way to the ring and dominates Stryker for a quick victory. Kane was getting cheered again here, and the fact that they put him against heel Matt Stryker makes me think that they aren’t going ahead with a full heel turn here. Kane gets on the mic after the match and says that he feels better now, because he knows ‘he’s dead’. The segment was fine, but they still weren’t making any effective progress in the angle. Not until later in the show, which I’ll come on to.

•Next, a video package for Batista is shown, that leads to John Cena standing backstage watching the video with Todd Grisham. Cena talks about Adamle as GM, and his match with Batista, then says he’s ready for the Tag Title match. A good promo, with Cena showing a lot of intensity. To me, Cena is great on the mic, and does a great job of making any match he is going to be in seem important, and that is exactly what WWE needs from their figurehead performer.

• Before the Main event, we go backstage and Kelly Kelly walks in to the GM office and congratulates Adamle on the show tonight. She mentions how scary Kane is, and Adamle says he’s got another Adamle Original. Next week, he’s going to find out what’s in the Brown Bag, and if Kane won’t show, Adamle will take the bag himself and reveal its contents. FINALLY, some real direction in the angle. Not exactly the way I was thinking it would come to a head, but at least there is some kind of direction and real progress in the whole angle. Judging by the Raw preview for next week, WWE are going to focus on the angle, which is more good news, as it really has taken a back seat to the Cena/Batista feud…well, what hasn’t?

• So finally we come to the main event, a match that I really wasn’t looking forward to, because I knew what the outcome was going to be. And yeah, it ends with Cena and Batista getting the titles, knocking all of the progress that Rhodes and DiBiase had been making over the last few weeks, like they didn’t matter. To be fair, Rhodes and DiBiase did get plenty of offense, and it wasn’t like the match was a complete squash, but having Cena and Batista knock off the young duo doesn’t make much sense in the long run. Hopefully Rhodes and DiBiase will get the titles back soon, so they can move on to a feud with Cryme Tyme. Cena and Batista try to ‘1UP’ each other to end the show by getting the crowd to cheer louder when they held up their newly won belts. As much as this storyline will be great in the long run, and the match at Summerslam will be big, I hope the Big stars lose the belts to the Potential stars soon, because they really don’t need the belts.

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