It's about time.
I've thought for awhile that Evan Bourne is the
best high-flyer to hit
the business since Rey Mysterio.
I'm glad to see his push beginning.
After watching Raw, I got to thinking Bourne might be from Austin, Texas, site of Raw.
But I was relieved to see he is
from St. Louis,
Missouri.
It seems like this is a sincere
and honest push Bourne is
starting to get.
Let's review.
Ashton Kutcher guest
hosts WWE
Raw:
I can't say I'm a huge fan of
Kutcher. He's OK.
1. "Killers" movie. REACT:
Strange segment, involving Zack
Ryder, Eve and The Miz, had several frequent TV zoom-ins and zoom-outs
that were
very annoying.
2. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz.
REACT: Good to see our guest host
make a match.
3. Ted DiBiase Jr. vs. Bret
Hart and the viewers. REACT: DiBiase was
smart when he asked to be general manager for next week's three-hour
Raw. I
guess we're to assume Bret has his "price," but Kutcher saved Bret by
pushing
the Viewer's Choice concept.
Kutcher
analysis: I
though he'd have more involvement. His segments seemed cheesy, but he
brings in
a huge fan base. Kutcher grade: B-.
The angles:
1. Edge vs. Evan Bourne. REACT: Refreshing to see a
9-time WWE Champion
slugging it out with an exciting young superstar. Edge followed it up
with a
strong promo.
2. Zack Ryder tries to find his hitman. REACT:
Bret Hart was a good first
guess. Orton was another good guess, leading to Edge injuring Orton's
shoulder.
Jerry Lawler was comical, The Great Khali was silly and Goldust was just
plain
stupid. I saw Alicia Fox coming from a mile away, but it's sad to see
these two
broken up so quickly. I do think it was smart to have Zack Ryder be the
one for
the Ashton-Twitter feud.
3. Memorial Day segment. REACT: Strange to see
this not leading off Raw
as usual, but great to see it included.
4. Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon. REACT: Hilarious
how I mentioned this in
Sunday's post. I marked out for being right about that. Interesting
admission by
Bret about "18 steel chair shots" and strong "you tapped out" chants to
Vince.
However, Vince really didn't explain why he allowed Bret to become
general
manager and Vince only wished Bret "good luck." Nothing was
answered.
5. The Usos and Tamina. REACT: Bret admitting he
OK'd The Usos and Tamina
to come into WWE was smart. The Usos acknowledging The Wild Samoans and
Tamina
acknowledging Jimmy Snuka as their wrestling heritage was also smart. I
didn't
hear them mention being Rikishi's twins, although Jerry Lawler smartly
mentioned
it. I liked their "dominate" promo, and I thought it was smart for them
to get
the best of The Hart Dynasty for the second straight
week.
6. Junk Yard Dog clips. REACT: WWE said it was
this week in 1998 when his
fatal car wreck happened. I remember that day with
sadness.
7. Batista. REACT: My DVR said Raw would answer
the question of whether
Batista actually quit WWE. Funny, it wasn't really
addressed.
The matches:
1. United States Champion R-Truth beats Chris
Jericho. REACT: Decent
match with a strong finish.
2. Santino Marella/Divas Champion Eve beat
Maryse/William Regal. REACT:
So much for PG when Santino asked about Eve making love to Kozlov. Eve
had a
nice run-in to break up a pin attempt, but I thought the Kozlov turn on
Regal
with a chokeslam was poorly executed.
3. Daniel Bryan beats The Miz. REACT: Sloppy with
punches and the
pinfall, but interesting aftermath with The Miz being thrown into
Michael Cole
by Daniel Bryan. Nothing seemed to be solved here with these
three.
4. WWE Champion John Cena/Evan Bourne beat
Edge/Sheamus. REACT: I was
stunned when Cena brought Bourne out, but it made sense based on the
opening
segment. Bourne had a very impressive showing before taking the
beatdown.
Outside of a weird spear miss by Edge, Cena and Bourne both got pops in
their
finishers.
Raw analysis: I really liked the
Bourne push and the
segment with The Usos and Tamina. The Bret-Vince segment was
disappointing.
There were also only four matches, and none of them were superb. Kutcher
didn't
"kill" the grade, pun intended, but he didn't bump it up by himself
either.
Raw grade: B.
Next week's Raw:
Three hours for this Viewer's Choice show. REACT: I
like this concept,
but really, how much say will the viewers have?
LATEST HEADLINES AND MY
REACTS
WWE
Undertaker hurt and may miss PPV. REACT:
No-compete clauses expire for Gregory Helms,
Charlie Haas, Paul Burchill
and Maria. REACT: I can see all but Burchill signing with TNA
Wrestling.
Maryse to have own line of make-up. REACT: Expect
some cheesy angles,
assuming its WWE-approved, which I would assume.
Chris
Jericho cuts New Orleans promo saying John Cena would go down like the
city did
after Hurricane Katrina. REACT: Out-of-line promo. I can understand a
fan
getting upset.
Victoria to
WWE? REACT: This would surprise me.
It's about time.
I've thought for awhile that Evan Bourne is the
best high-flyer to hit
the business since Rey Mysterio.
I'm glad to see his push beginning.
After watching Raw, I got to thinking Bourne might be from Austin, Texas, site of Raw.
But I was relieved to see he is
from St. Louis,
Missouri.
It seems like this is a sincere
and honest push Bourne is
starting to get.
Let's review.
Ashton Kutcher guest
hosts WWE
Raw:
I can't say I'm a huge fan of
Kutcher. He's OK.
1. "Killers" movie. REACT:
Strange segment, involving Zack
Ryder, Eve and The Miz, had several frequent TV zoom-ins and zoom-outs
that were
very annoying.
2. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz.
REACT: Good to see our guest host
make a match.
3. Ted DiBiase Jr. vs. Bret
Hart and the viewers. REACT: DiBiase was
smart when he asked to be general manager for next week's three-hour
Raw. I
guess we're to assume Bret has his "price," but Kutcher saved Bret by
pushing
the Viewer's Choice concept.
Kutcher
analysis: I
though he'd have more involvement. His segments seemed cheesy, but he
brings in
a huge fan base. Kutcher grade: B-.
The angles:
1. Edge vs. Evan Bourne. REACT: Refreshing to see a
9-time WWE Champion
slugging it out with an exciting young superstar. Edge followed it up
with a
strong promo.
2. Zack Ryder tries to find his hitman. REACT:
Bret Hart was a good first
guess. Orton was another good guess, leading to Edge injuring Orton's
shoulder.
Jerry Lawler was comical, The Great Khali was silly and Goldust was just
plain
stupid. I saw Alicia Fox coming from a mile away, but it's sad to see
these two
broken up so quickly. I do think it was smart to have Zack Ryder be the
one for
the Ashton-Twitter feud.
3. Memorial Day segment. REACT: Strange to see
this not leading off Raw
as usual, but great to see it included.
4. Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon. REACT: Hilarious
how I mentioned this in
Sunday's post. I marked out for being right about that. Interesting
admission by
Bret about "18 steel chair shots" and strong "you tapped out" chants to
Vince.
However, Vince really didn't explain why he allowed Bret to become
general
manager and Vince only wished Bret "good luck." Nothing was
answered.
5. The Usos and Tamina. REACT: Bret admitting he
OK'd The Usos and Tamina
to come into WWE was smart. The Usos acknowledging The Wild Samoans and
Tamina
acknowledging Jimmy Snuka as their wrestling heritage was also smart. I
didn't
hear them mention being Rikishi's twins, although Jerry Lawler smartly
mentioned
it. I liked their "dominate" promo, and I thought it was smart for them
to get
the best of The Hart Dynasty for the second straight
week.
6. Junk Yard Dog clips. REACT: WWE said it was
this week in 1998 when his
fatal car wreck happened. I remember that day with
sadness.
7. Batista. REACT: My DVR said Raw would answer
the question of whether
Batista actually quit WWE. Funny, it wasn't really
addressed.
The matches:
1. United States Champion R-Truth beats Chris
Jericho. REACT: Decent
match with a strong finish.
2. Santino Marella/Divas Champion Eve beat
Maryse/William Regal. REACT:
So much for PG when Santino asked about Eve making love to Kozlov. Eve
had a
nice run-in to break up a pin attempt, but I thought the Kozlov turn on
Regal
with a chokeslam was poorly executed.
3. Daniel Bryan beats The Miz. REACT: Sloppy with
punches and the
pinfall, but interesting aftermath with The Miz being thrown into
Michael Cole
by Daniel Bryan. Nothing seemed to be solved here with these
three.
4. WWE Champion John Cena/Evan Bourne beat
Edge/Sheamus. REACT: I was
stunned when Cena brought Bourne out, but it made sense based on the
opening
segment. Bourne had a very impressive showing before taking the
beatdown.
Outside of a weird spear miss by Edge, Cena and Bourne both got pops in
their
finishers.
Raw analysis: I really liked the
Bourne push and the
segment with The Usos and Tamina. The Bret-Vince segment was
disappointing.
There were also only four matches, and none of them were superb. Kutcher
didn't
"kill" the grade, pun intended, but he didn't bump it up by himself
either.
Raw grade: B.
Next week's Raw:
Three hours for this Viewer's Choice show. REACT: I
like this concept,
but really, how much say will the viewers have?
LATEST HEADLINES AND MY
REACTS
WWE
Undertaker hurt and may miss PPV. REACT:
No-compete clauses expire for Gregory Helms,
Charlie Haas, Paul Burchill
and Maria. REACT: I can see all but Burchill signing with TNA
Wrestling.
Maryse to have own line of make-up. REACT: Expect
some cheesy angles,
assuming its WWE-approved, which I would assume.
Chris
Jericho cuts New Orleans promo saying John Cena would go down like the
city did
after Hurricane Katrina. REACT: Out-of-line promo. I can understand a
fan
getting upset.
Victoria to
WWE? REACT: This would surprise me.
