wrestling / Columns

For The Record 7.05.09: Raw’s Greatness

July 5, 2009 | Posted by Kristopher Rodriguez

Raw has been very entertaining the past three weeks. Among its best qualities as of late has been its: unpredictability, competitive Diva’s Division, and frequent use of Smackdown talent:

Unpredictability

Monday nights have been full of surprises the past few weeks. During the 3-For-All, Vince McMahon announced that he sold Monday Night Raw to Donald Trump. Of course, internet fans knew that it was just a stunt. But from a storyline perspective, it was quite intriguing. It got a lot of buzz from the “mark” fans who thought the purchase was real. They watched the following week in droves. Casual TV viewers who were curious tuned in to see what all the hoopla surrounding Donald Trump was about. And members of the IWC wondered how long the storyline would last and where it was going. Couple that with the fact that Raw was commercial free and featured a Last Man Standing title match, it was not surprising that June 22nd’s Raw got high ratings. This past week’s Raw continued the string of unpredictable programming, but we’ll get to that later.

Diva’s Division

The Women’s division has also been quite good. Maryse has been a great Diva’s Champion, and she is complemented well by the efforts of Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix, Rose Melendez. They will also be aided by Gail Kim and Alicia Fox in the coming weeks. The female wrestlers of WWE don’t seem to get the respect they deserve. The Divas on Raw are talented wrestlers.

Smackdown’s Presence

Raw has also made use of Smackdown’s most talented wrestlers. Some people might complain that such cross-over hurts the credibility of the brand split. But it is in fact mutually beneficial for Raw and Smackdown. Raw gets an injection of superb workrate when Smackdown stars appear. Smackdown benefits by seeing its top grapplers get exposure. Sure, wrestlers like Edge, Jericho, Punk, and Hardy need no introduction to the WWE fans. But since Smackdown has consistently drawn low ratings… it is important that Smackdown’s top stars appear on Raw to stay visible and relevant.

This Past Raw…Batista Was “All Business”

June 29th’s Raw continued the trend of quality programming.

It was good to see Batista as the “Guest Host” on Raw. He actually played the role quite well. While he’ll never be Chris Jericho on the mike, he still held his own. His decision to put Randy Orton in a Gauntlet Match was reasonable and logical. Orton likes to deliver three-on-one beatdowns; it would only be fair in the mind of Batista that Orton gets a taste of his own medicine. Batista’s “booking” was simple and effective. The fans seemed to enjoy it… and the main event drew in viewers.

But before we talk about the main event, the rest of the show deserves some props. I know, Triple H “squashed” MVP. But come on IWC… lighten up! Do you really believe MVP is at a level where he deserves to be defeating Triple H and headlining pay-per-view title matches? He’s not over enough. Maybe he’ll reach that level in time, but he’s not yet ready. I know, some members of the IWC will object that the match shouldn’t have ended so quickly. But to that I ask… what are you kidding me?

Triple H was involved in some pretty violent brawls on June 22nd and June 28th. He worked a draining Last Man Standing match with Randy Orton during the commercial-free Raw. Six days later, he fought Orton in Three Stages of Hell. By the end of that match, both competitors were visibly spent. Wrestlers are human beings… and their bodies can only take so much.

So the next night, yeah, Triple H won a quick match over MVP. What did the IWC expect, a twenty minute classic? Triple H still had to go out later that night and face John Cena. Triple H had to win a quick match to have something left in the tank for Cena. As far as Cena’s victory over the Miz… what was the problem with that? Who honestly believes the Miz is worthy of pinning WWE’s biggest star? The outcome of the match was academic… the way it was supposed to be. But that’s okay. The Miz got a somewhat lengthy match with Cena, and in the process got in-ring time with WWE’s top dog. And John Cena got the win to set up this coming week’s Raw main event.

And because of the outcome of that match, Raw will feature John Cena vs. Triple H in a #1 Contender’s match. That was a good decision on WWE’s part. It’s a “dream” match of sorts for the WWE Universe, and it gives curious fans a reason to tune in this Monday after the Fourth of July weekend. Raw has delivered a string of abnormally high ratings. It makes perfect sense that they would hype such a dynamic main event on a taped edition that many fans otherwise wouldn’t watch.

Gauntlet Match, Mystery Wrestlers, Shocking Upset

What made this past week’s Raw so commendable was the Gauntlet match. The first opponent was ECW’s resident high flier, Evan Bourne.

Yeah, okay, he lost to Orton. But that’s no big deal. Monday was an important night for Bourne because he became a member of the Raw roster. That’s a great professional accomplishment for any wrestler. Bourne has a bright future, and now he’ll have the opportunity to display his talents before a broad wrestling audience.

Next out was Jack Swagger. It was a smart decision on WWE’s part to put Swagger on Raw. For starters, Swagger and Bourne are good antidotes to the notion that Raw lacks workrate talent. But more importantly, Swagger is a potential cornerstone main eventer. He deserves a chance to shine on the franchise show.

Swagger made good use of his time. He didn’t wrestle, but he did leave fans scratching their heads. Why did he allow himself to be intentionally counted out? What are his motives? Does he want to join Legacy? Swagger became relevant upon arrival. That’s the mark of a great debut.

Finally, we got Mark Henry as the final wrestler in the Gauntlet. I happen to enjoy Mark Henry’s style and character. I thought he was an interesting addition to Raw.

I also think Henry surprised a lot of people. Rather than going to the ring and jobbing quickly, Henry displayed charisma, pounded Orton, and scored a shocking pinfall.

We don’t see upsets often in wrestling. Fortunately, WWE has given the fans TWO upsets in two shows. Over on Smackdown, John Morrison defeated CM Punk cleanly. And on Raw, Henry beat Orton. Two world champions were defeated cleanly in the same week. We don’t see those kinds of upsets too often.

The Gauntlet Match was unpredictable and riddled with surprises. And that’s why Raw is the premiere show. Smackdown, Superstars, and ECW are entertaining broadcasts in their own rights. But Raw is still the place where anything can happen… and the ratings bear that out.

Raw is still a great program. The IWC should give it credit when it’s due.

Moving On

Well that’s it for this week. Want a little nostalgia on this most patriotic of weekends? Here’s Lex Luger bodyslamming Yokozuna:

The Slam Heard Round the… Intrepid