RAW Report

So I'm not going to go into my usual detail about Raw last night - I've been fairly happy w/how up to date I've kept my blog since getting back online, and I owe my apartment, my husband and some schoolwork a little time at this point. Basically, the show was actually overall very strong. I enjoyed the introduction of Ted Dibiase Jr. and am interested to see who his tag team partner will be to go up against Cody Rhodes and Bob Holly - I also wonder if this will lead to bringing in Dusty Rhodes in a battle of the dads.

Shawn Michaels-Chris Jericho was great, although I wish such an A-calibre match had been given some hype ahead of the broadcast - Jericho's interaction with Vince McMahon, and in fact a lot of the interaction with Vince McMahon through the night with advice on providing appreciation to the fans was really great. Especially when it played on feuds - such as JBL bashing John Cena to Mickie James - who is currently 'seeing' the former Champ. And I mean, Jericho and Vince are two of the best promo guys in the biz (both renowned for those subtle, understated details ... :P), so their interaction was great (DOY!)

All in all it was a great show - and while some might complain about the lack of hype for One Night Stand at the expense of hyping Vince's big announcement - I don't personally mind this myself though because ... 1. the PPV is a bunch of rematches from the last few months with specialty stips attached; it's either going to fly on the merit of being the blowoff to a bunch of A-list feuds, or fail because it's a bunch of retread matches ... 2. there were only two weeks to build it anyway, I didn't expect much in that sense ... and 3. one of Vince's big announcements was regarding the WWE draft lottery; while that is an offering on free TV, when the purpose should be to hype the events fans are blowing $40 on, it is still a happening with widespread ramifications for the year ahead in WWE-land, and which ONS might tease and build into, hinting at the feuds to come in the near-future; so a build to the draft = a build to ONS, and to Vengeance 3 weeks after that. Basically, don't complain about the lack of build to the PPV - complain about the fact that there are 3 PPVs in a 6 week period in May and June. That's the bigger problem, not the setup of one particular show in that buildup.

Now I will complain about Vince's announcement in itself though - while I'm happy for whichever fan(s) wins his money, how is that supposed to interest the rest of us? What are the details? Will the $$$ be given to someone in the arena? To someone at home? Both? Either? How is this incentive to tune in REALLY? Perhaps it will be more exciting as the details get fleshed out but right now it feels like naked bribery, and I'm not into that - not when an entire 2 hours of my life was built around building up to that moment. The big 'appreciation' for fans should have been the draft, and stopped there. Vince was right - we want new, exciting, shakeups and some interesting action, which the draft provides. Why take the extra step into pandering?

Nonetheless, all that does is make it an A- show instead of an A+ show; well done and I will be purchasing ONS on Sunday ... which must mean the show did its job. :) Till next time - be well.