RAW Thoughts

So ... I thoroughly enjoyed Raw this week. It admittedly was low on wrestling, but what it DID do was highly entertaining. Above all, it definitely indicated that the change in direction we have been clamouring for for months is actually happening as a long-term plan, not just a one-week flash in the pan to keep us hooked before going back to business as usual. WWE is definitely taking some fresh new risks, and I'm excited about that - it's still an open question at this point whether this month-old experiment will succeed or fail, but it's at least continued beyond the one-week mark now, and it's been good so far. Granted, that doesn't preclude a breakdown along the way, especially since they haven't gotten it 100% right (now let's tell more stories through matches, instead of exposition-laden promos), but they at least have regained some respect from me for trying, and for thinking outside the 'Everything revolves around H, Cena, and the McMahons' box.

The opening segment was strong. I don't particularly feel the heat Vicki Guerrero gets is 'good' heat - she genuinely annoys me because she is not a strong performer, and that's not the kind of dislike heels should be looking for - but she at least has developed a somewhat defined character, and this provided a good explanation for Punk's actions from last week, taking advantage of a weakened Edge, which could otherwise make him look cowardly heelish, and his world title win flukey. The Fatal Four Way idea to determine Punk's #1 contender was strong, although given he already looked kind of weak in taking advantage of Edge and vanquising JBL with outside help, I wish he hadn't blown off JBL's rematch demand so easily.

But still - Punk is already an awesome wrestler and decent on the mic for a guy relatively new to the spotlight, and I see a lot of Bret Hart circa 15-16 or so years ago in him: a relative midcarder who management hadn't gotten behind, but with a strong crowd following, winning the title unexpectedly in a time the business has been struggling and management is desperate to try new things. And with that kind of precedent, big things can be expected from Punk's future (although a similar thing was done with Kevin Nash a few years later, and while still a respected individual in the industry, will he ever be mentioned in the same breath as your era-defining champs like Hart, or Hulk Hogan before him, or Austin/Rock after?).

Either way, no one can take the fact that Punk will forever have the 'World Champ' or 'Former World Champ' moniker behind him now - something many in the biz can only dream of. And all I've got to say about that is ... Jeff Hardy, it could have been you.

Anyway, back to Raw. As I touched on earlier, my only complaints about the new direction WWE is taking involve the limited amount of wrestling, and the quality of it. I'm sorry - CM Punk is not experienced enough yet to be able to carry Gene frickin' Snitsky to a decent match. Nor is Charlie Haas a real threat to Kofi Kingston's Intercontinental Title ... although that set up a nice little program for the talented Paul Burchill (again - direction change, new guys getting some spotlight - I like it). The women's match was crapitudinous, and what a throwaway for Rey Mysterio's return match (not to mention his first match as a Raw Superstar), as an unadvertised opening match offering on free television. I agree with Jason Powell to a degree - perhaps WWE's nervous about Mysterio's growing reputation for being injury-prone, and wants to keep his comings and goings a bit more quiet in future; but still, more could have been made of this.

Having said that though, and having mentioned the limited wrestling and low quality thereof a few times this post, I have decided ultimately to forgive it for the time being - I understand that WWE has started a rapid and sudden directional change, which can and will require some groundwork being laid which perhaps needs some verbiage, not just the silent but deadly stories told in the course of matches. I bring it up as something I hope changes as we become accustomed to the new reality, but for now the rest of the show is entertaining enough I can overlook the low in-ring action for now - especially since it's not like it's been strong on Raw the last few years or more anyway, so it isn't like it's something we're *missing*.

And speaking of entertaining, I did enjoy most of the 'skits' and 'angles' this week - Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho are always strong, and by far one of the best, if not THE best, things going on on Raw these days. Two performers who've been around long enough to be strong veterans, but still young enough to be able to 'GO!', are doing what they do best ... jawing, in preparation for what should be a stellar match. Beyond that though, John Cena and Cryme Tyme did an awesome number on JBL's limo; I really enjoyed this sketch, although agreeing again with Powell that I think Cena put a LOT of the street cred he might have built up in recent months on the line by spray-painting "JBL is poopy" on the car. I also enjoyed the technical and security issues over the show (the lamp falling during Punk's backstage promo, the fan running in front of Batista while he was prepping for his match on camera), especially since I know these are building up what could be a great angle - who's messing with Raw?

I also enjoyed Kane's breakdown in the ring, and look forward to finding out whose life or death he was questioning in the coming weeks. My assumption is he's referring to Vince McMahon, but could he perhaps mean his 'brother' the Undertaker? Could this signal the return of the 'murdered' Paul Bearer? It could mean any number of things, and was a great way of re-establishing Kane as a main event player, instead of the big fish/small pond player he was on ECW. He felt out of place on Raw, especially being inserted into last night's main event, but he definitely played his part and made me interested in what's coming up. Am I entirely sure Kane's been rebuilt enough to be worthy of being the last thing we see as Raw closes out? Not sure. Am I particularly excited about Kane-Jerry Lawler matches? Definitely not. Do I think longterm this could do the Kane character some good? Yes.

So overall, 4 stars out of 5 - good work, good job. Just a word of advice to Jerry Lawler though: stop defending your broadcast colleagues, hmm? I understood you looking after JR, as he was a longtime partner and friend, even though you consistently got your ass kicked. Michael Cole though? Hmmm ... :P. Nonetheless, as I said, overall an intriguing show that is hopefully followed by another one to make it a solid 4 in a row. Good job WWE!