July 6th marked, not only the finals of the night of champions tournament, to find out who would face Randy Orton at the upcoming PPV, but also a rubber match between HHH and John Cena, who each hold one victory a piece at a major WWE PPV event. The first match up between the two modern day Icons happened at Wrestlemania 22, where John Cena was able to make HHH tap out. About 2 years later in the spring of 2008 HHH defeated John Cena in a rematch at Night of the Champions. The WWE creative staff felt what better time and place to have a memorable match up than Monday Night Raw. Personally I think this is a matchup you should save for a Big 4 PPV. But that's just me.
The night kicks off with Ted Dibiase Sr. as the guest host, coming out to the stage with his son, Ted Jr. and his tag partner Cody Rhodes. This show, is a perfect example why the guest host, is not just a good idea, but probably one of the most creative, and best booking idea's the WWE has had since the draft and splitting the brands. Kicks off the creating 2 matchups, Cody Rhodes vs. Mark Henry, and Randy Orton vs. Ted Dibiase Jr. Those matches make perfect sense, and as MUCH as i hate ruining future PPV main events, Dibiase and Orton makes sense right now. It didn't split up legacy, it simply plants a seed for future happenings.
Next up is the injuried Edge (Who was in the ring more than Chris Jericho) + Y2J vs. The Colons. Edge pins Primo, and after the match, in typical WWE fashion Carlito turns on his brother for losing match. Can someone....anyone explain to me, why at this point in time they wanted to turn Carlito heel. Look what Matt Hardy did on Raw as a heel. Raw is stacked, and Carlito is going to be fueding with midcarders faster than a hicup.
Some backstage action with the legacy, and Randy and Ted talking and hyping up their upcoming match later in the night. Dibiase hits Orton where it hurts, and says his dad was better than Ortons dad, and he will beat him here tonight. In my opinion, this should have been the main event of Raw. No sense wasting HHH/Cena on Raw.
Next up in the Divas match, where generally i get a snack, and fall asleep shortly after. Maryse and Alicia Fox took on Gail Kim and Mickie James. I"m not going to lie, i think Maryse and Alicia Fox may be the hottest divas tag team of all time. I would say the result of the match, but does it really matter....no.
It time for Cody Rhodes to face the music, and defend Legacy taking on the much bigger Mark Henry. It seems like the WWE not only wants Henry to be a face, but almost like one Bill Goldberg. Not exactly sure i drew those two together, however i got that feeling for a breif moment watching. I thought this would be a good chance for Henry to get another big win, but the younger, Rhodes walks away.
Can Ted Dibiase Jr. defeat his stable leader Randy Orton. This could be a future Wrestlemania main event, and these guys were able to prove how much skill and potential they have. In the time they had they put on a hell of a match. There pyschology was really good, as well the storyline leading up to the match. Dibiase wanted to prove Orton was holding him down for himself and his father. Orton wanted to prove himself as the leader. Orton was able to get the pinfall, however it looked like Dibiase beat some respect into Orton in a very competitive match. It will be interesting to follow these two men's careers and clearly a fued down the line. I could see this match popping on some DVD's 5-10 years from now.
How about MVP and Jack Swagger. The crowd was eating up the VIP lounge with these, and Jack Swagger dug under MVP's skin, as they had MVP talk about his past, a little deeper than before in the past. Swagger came out basically calling MVP a Con, and Swagger walking away before the fight. Great promo here and really proved both these men have main event potential.
Just before the commercial Ted Jr. slaps his old man in the face, and tells him "thanks a lot dad" for booking him against Randy Orton. Perfectly booking, and was one of the most memorable slaps in Raw History.
Evan Bourne and Koffi Kingston put on a great mini match, and after Big Show threw them around.
Time for HHH and John Cena, and this match showcased why these are probably the two biggest stars the wwe has now. A very good match, before a horrible finish in Raw fashion. Double DQ so Orton faces neither, however Ted Dibiase Sr. makes his a triple threat match at Night of a Champions. (I was hoping for a 4 way, since i'm pretty sure we just a saw 3 way not too long ago)
Overall i thought this Raw, is what Raw is supposed to be about. Memorable moments, some good action in the ring, good storylines, and good promo's. Hyping the PPV. I'll use my old grading scale
Action: B+
Promo's A-
Storylines A
Overall Show A-
As of late, i've felt Raw has given us the same old stuff week in and week out, and Legacy was stale, before it was ever fresh. But with actions of last night it freshens things up a little bit. Makes you wonder who will be the guest host next week, and how they will have a impact on the show. I'd like to see Ted Sr. be on the show more. I thought he really opened the doors up for Legacy, and made them better. All three of them. (Even Cody, as hard as that is)
My only problem (Problems, actually) with Monday's show was the lack of Miz. He puts on a very good performance against Cena last week, and doesn't even show up in a backstage segment this week.
ReplyDeleteMy other gripe would be with the senseless break-up of The Colons (Even more now with Edge out, taking away yet ANOTHER tag-team).
Nice review.. And by the way, this is SP.
Good review and I just realized that the NOC main event is a Wrestlemania main event from less than two years ago. I think this is most likely the second biggest triple threat of this generation with the first being Orton/Cena/Edge that hasn't even happened but should.
ReplyDeleteThis week's Raw drew me in with the major Dibiase Jr. influence and your review of his match with Orton was spot on. I can really see this having a major spot on the Orton or Dibiase Jr. DVD in future years.