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MIKE JOHNSON CHECKS IN WITH THOUGHTS ON LAST NIGHT'S RAW, THE MCMAHON FAMILY AND JIM ROSS

RAW THOUGHTS

Wow, Jim Ross sure sounded morose when Raw started, eh?

How sad and ironic is it that when WWE finally let someone cut loose and go off like a true old school heel at the open of the show, it ended up being a family member? I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised. That said, McMahon’s promo was awesome and full of venom and exactly the type of thing WWE heels should have been doing for a long time now. I would have preferred if it wasn’t a McMahon family member personally, but I thought the segment accomplished it’s goal. I enjoyed her comment about how hated she is on the Internet. A good first segment to tease the firing.

Is wrestling the only sport where the main lure of an event is the tease of someone being fired? Oh well, I guess it goes with teasing that people who aren’t going to appear will be on PPVs.

Does anyone really think of Doink when you use the term WWE Legend?

I don’t have a problem wit the Rob Conway angle, but it is a little similar to Randy Orton’s persona of the last several years. I can totally see them involving Dusty Rhodes in this storyline at some point. At least they are finally doing something with undercard talent like Conway and Eugene.

Former WCW ref Mickey Jay/Henson has lost a ton of weight. I did a doubletake this week when I realized he was in the ring.

That Ric Flair-HHH video package was awesome, just plain awesome. Whoever was responsible for putting that together should be commended.

Wasn’t it something to see WWE’s announcers acknowledging the Jim Ross stories on the Internet?

Didn’t it make perfect sense for Carlito to try and kiss the McMahon family’s rear by saying he would have saved them last week “if he knew what was going on?”. The Carlito Cabana segment did a good job setting the stage for Taboo Tuesday with everyone jockeying for title shots. Big Show needed to show more fire if he’s going to be an angry giant who doesn’t want to take a back seat. If that’s the case, he certainly needs to carry himself as massive as is physically. I got a kick out of everyone turning on Edge, with the idea that he’s such a jerk who’s out for himself, that the other heels want nothing to do with him. Cena’s rap was exactly what the crowd wanted to hear.

Tajiri attacking Masters during his entrance was a smart idea as it gave the idea that anything could happen. They had a short but decent match, too. I am probably in the minority here but Masters looked decent in his last few appearances.

The entire backstage segment with HHH was great, with him running the full gambit of emotions from his assault last week, from being a smirking jerk laughing at everyone being annoyed at him, being scared of an angry Big Show and warning Cena not to cross him. Great stuff with lots of characters crossing paths to tease future storylines. This was exactly how Big Show should be used.

The HHH promo (and was there any doubt we were getting one?) told the reasoning of the attack on Ric Flair through HHH’s eyes – Flair had turned pathetic by being an aging babyface cheered on by the fans. Of course, the truth is that HHH had to lay him out because Flair was “succeeding” without HHH, which is what Flair should respond with when he returns to TV. Chances are this will be Ric Flair’s last major feud so I expect some good matches here based on what little they did a few years ago.

Doesn’t it seem like The Rock has moved light years away from WWE whenever he appears on WWE programming now?

The women’s match was what you would expect, but how great was the spot where Victoria came down with a Boston Crab after catching Trish in the corner?

Were TNA fans surprised by the enhanced Alexis Laree? Doesn’t she look a lot different from her time in “The Gathering?”

Are we looking at a “Single White Female” storyline with Mickie James and Trish or a recreation of The Sable storyline with her “biggest fan” Tori?

Does anyone even remember Nicole Bass was involved in that deal at Wrestlemania 14 between those two?

The six man tag main event was entertaining with the highlight being the exchanges between Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels. I hope someone puts together a complilation of all their angles and matches, because it’s always excellent stuff. They are turning into the 2005 version of Ric Flair vs. Rick Steamboat. You could also really see some improvement in Carlito. He’s always had the mic work and charisma part of his job down but his work in the ring is getting way better. Michaels is still the best guy in the company in terms of pulling fans into the match and getting them emotionally involved.

Didn’t it make perfect sense for Angle to know how to get out of his own finisher and catch Cena with a pinfall?

Wasn’t it nice to see a heel get a clean pinfall, especially since he’s in line for a title shot down the line?

The Jim Ross firing segment is exactly what the company shouldn’t have done. Mike Goldberg turned them down and the entire wrestling world was unison in decrying this as a bad idea, so what do they do? Go ahead with it anyway. So, we had an episode that started with Steph, had HHH in the middle, and closed off with a heel turn no one ever cared to see and the entire McMahon family standing triumphant. Well, unless those same McMahons are going on the road every week to help turn around those horribly drawing house shows, this was a waste of time. They need to put heat on heels that can draw, not just family members, but of course, what do I know?

Of course, WWE removed Jim Ross in the worst way possible. It's not horrible that WWE wanted to remove him - that's business. To remove him in a way that totally tears down all that Ross has given to the company over the last 12 years is a sad, pathetic reminder of why things don't click for WWE today. In a moment that could have been used to maximize emotion and do something classy, The McMahon family instead used it as a vehicle to put themselves over at Ross' expense...exactly the type of behavior that likely led to Mike Goldberg turning down the offer. Ross deserved better - this was a guy who broadcast a live PPV after learning of his mother's death AND having an attack of bells palsy - he deserved better, storyline or not.

Overall, I enjoyed Raw for the most part but the last segment left a really bad taste in my mouth, simply because it was something that shouldn’t have and didn’t need to happen. That said, I still don’t think it will be the last time Jim Ross is the host of Raw – time has shown in the past that Ross always returns despite his enemies, because he’s the best at what he does, invoking the emotion that comes with a good wrestling match.

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