No Mercy and Raw Thoughts

OK so let's start w/No Mercy. It was a strong PPV - there were some weak moments (Cryme Tyme's response to JBL's priceless promo, stealing his limo etc.; Priceless' contribution to the scene w/Randy Orton, MVP etc. - although CM Punk and Kofi Kingston feeding MVP to them was ... erm ... priceless). But the people who needed to be protected, were protected; there were at least three VERY strong matches, and while I wasn't pleased with two cheapish ref-stoppage/DQ endings (Mysterio-Kane, Undertaker-Big Show), they did make sense for the most part and made the perpetrators look strong. Ladder match was a STRONG match of the year candidate, and I expected nothing less from Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. Matt Hardy vs. Mark Henry was an awesome show opener, and Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H was excellent as well.

The two major title matches - Michaels-Jericho and Triple H-Hardy, were so strong, in fact, and such a great dynamic between the men, that while I saw both matches as sure things pretty much going in, I actually felt the results were in doubt at different parts of the match - they did a good job of making them close, and giving them an 'anything can happen' feel, which is a valuable commodity in the WWE these days. Good stuff.

Raw was a pretty stong followup too - Jericho was spot on in his promo at the start, and some matches I'm looking forward to were announced for CyberSunday. I'm excited about Santino Marella vs (a) Goldust, (b) Roddy Piper or (c) (and most likely) Honky Tonk Man, even though it kind of makes the IC belt jokish - it's a way of reminding us that some of the best 'entertainers' have held the title. And with Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and Randy Orton as possible guest refs for Chris Jericho vs. Batista, that should make for an interesting matchup and stip as well. So definitely an "A" for beginning a strong build for the next PPV right off the bat.

Some weak moments as always - disappointed in the follow-thru on the Glamarella tension from Sunday night, and I was aggravated after we spend $40 to see NM that they did a rematch the very next night of Batista JBL, with the exact same stip and the twist of a guest ref to boot. I was also disappointed they had Shawn Michaels defeat Lance Cade so handily when that could easily be a decent feud to keep Shawn distracted from Jericho for a few weeks or months, but I understood the need to get his victory back for him after losing to both Cade AND Jericho in the last couple weeks. But overall, it was a strong show which accomplished its biggest goals - entertaining for two hours while building to the next pay show.

For more detailed thoughts on both shows, as well as where we see the upcoming weeks going as we head into CyberSunday and the Survivor Series, please tune in tomorrow night around midnight Eastern (if not earlier) for In This Very Ring's podcast. Thanks as always for readin'.