PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

LOOKING AT AN "IT'S A BOY!" EPISODE OF RAW

Last night's Raw was all about one thing, delivering Mr. McMahon's new not-so-baby boy.  Yes, they did push Unforgiven a bit too, but it was very clear what the bigger issue was last night.  When you open and close the show with one storyline, it's the focal point of the show.  It's that simple.

As for the choice of Hornswoggle, I like it.  They can play this one for a ton of comedy and that is something that has been missing from the show for a while now.  Vince McMahon is much more effective on-screen when he is playing the butt of the joke than when he is playing the tough guy bad ass.  I know some people would have preferred a wrestler to get "elevated" by playing off of Vince, but far too many times the old guy gloms all the thunder anyway so I think it makes more sense to go in this direction.  It should make for some good TV. 

The down side of the show was the complete lack of wrestling.  I don't mind the new formula of short matches as long as we get that one good longer bout.  We didn't get that this week.

The Angles:

• The opening angle was pretty eh, just as I expected to to be.  WWE is pretty formulaic in situations like these.  I thought that they would talk about Vince's kid a lot, do some kind of swerve angle and then make us wait until the end of the show to find out who it was.  It was WWE booking 101. 
• This isn't an angle so much as a comment but in case you didn't notice, yes Triple H is truly invincible.
• Randy Orton isn't my favorite interview in the world but the John Cena face off put some more heat on Sunday's bout.  Orton is playing the tough guy well and he did so here.  Cena's face off with Vince had a pretty realistic feeling to it as well.  I think Unforgiven is going to be a tough sell, no matter what they did but at least they tried to get us interested.
• Along those lines, even though they had Batista lay out Khali, I still have no desire to see that match for free, let alone pay forty bucks for it on Sunday.
• While it was totally implausible and defied logic at every turn, I still liked the final segment of the show.  It's always fun to see Vince get set up to be a dope.  As mentioned above, I also like the end result of making Hornswoggle Vince's son.  It should make for some really funny moments on TV going forward.

The Matches:

• Brian London vs. Lance Cade was fine for what it was, a short match whose purpose was to put heat on Sunday's PPV.  The teams should have a good bout at Unforgiven.
• What we saw of Triple H vs. Shelton Benjamin came across as fun and solid, though not great and since it was the one match on the show given time, I wanted more from it.  I can't say I was shocked at all by the booking.  Can you?
• I was with the fans.  I didn't really care about the Jillian Hall-Mickie James match either.  
• Like the rest of the show, Santino vs. Sandman was short and not much more than just there.  I did like that in addition to being funny, they actually gave him some depth as a wrestler too.   He now has a mean streak to go with his attitude.  I liked that.
• Boy, they give us an inter-promotional match and it has to feature Great Khali?  That is just cruel.  Ugh, I felt bad for Jeff Hardy.  It was like putting perfume on a pig since Khali is so wretched.

What to watch if you DVR'd the Show:

•  You can skip the matches and just watch the McAngle.  Hell, creative skipped them so why shouldn't you?

Rhetorical and Unanswered Questions:

• Was anyone shocked to see Vince open Raw?
• Or, for him to start the show-long tease about his kid?
• Did you hear Vince forget the name of his own company and call it "WWO"?
• When is Vince ever going to go back to his old hairdo?
• Isn't it funny that the only way Mr. Kennedy will get on Raw over the next few weeks is via a magazine cover?
• What the hell is Vince thinking making a joke about Kennedy being suspended at this point in time?
• Isn't one of the funniest things on WWE programming Great Khali promos?
• What is the point of announcer like JBL crapping on, oh I don't know, a guy that actually wrestles and is a champion?
• Wow, was anyone else shocked to hear that Jeff Hardy could actually do a promo?
• Was Vince getting paid every time he said the words "bastard son"?
• Did anyone else wonder if they aired the lawyer via the Tron because he was so bad live last week?
• Aren't you glad they started the diva search by sending us to WWE.com?
• Don't you wish that the whole thing would run there?
• And, did anyone else fast forward through the video they showed of the wannabes?
• What the hell is Triple H's new shirt supposed to be anyway?
• When Coach said Willie Regal was nowhere near ready to come back, didn't you know he would be in about a month or so?
• Can you blame Vince for laughing at Stevie Richards placement in the voting?
• Is anyone else's entrance even close to as long as HHH's?
• When Lawler said that Carlito was blocking people in the front row's view, didn't he not notice the haircut the guy recently got?
• Do you think Triple H really cares if he can't use weapons at the PPV?
• Why didn't Orton immediately realize when the fans were cheering that John Cena was rushing the ring?
• Were those pins I heard dropping during the Mickie James-Jillian Hall match?
• Wow, did Santino really shoot on the failure of Steve Austin's movie and then attack Ron Simmons?
• When did Santino suddenly grow a spine?
• Was anyone else shocked that they let Khali wrestle on live TV?
• And man, is Khali hideous or what?
• Was JR shooting when he said "Thank God it's over" at the end of the Khali debacle, er match?
• If he wasn't coached from the back, would Lawler ever say "is he here" when Batista's music was playing and everyone knew he was about to come out?
• I mean, why the hell else would it be playing?
• Uh, wouldn't Vince actually WAIT to see if HHH was his son before actually thinking he was, especially after being fooled by Kennedy?

 

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet