I am Cape Town’s very first WWE blogger, Brandon van Reenen and welcome ladies and gentlemen to the very first edition of TVSA's newest blog, the WWE Raw Rewind. So last week Thursday I attempted to upload the WWE SmackDown Rewind blog but due to some technical error, it just never materialised. I left some of you guys disappointed but now I feel that this report needs to be ten-times bigger and I might just do that.
WWE's Judgment Day aired yesterday (Sunday) and it was better than I expected to be quite honest. As usual SmackDown pulled through with 3 high-quality matches which saw John Morrison beat Shelton Benjamin, Umaga decimate CM Punk and Rey Mysterio and Edge both retaining their respective championships. The RAW brand again hit and missed on a WWE special. Cena overcame Big Show in a "shock" defeat and Randy Orton slithers away with another cheap disqualification. ECW as usual always delivers with Christian pulling the tights on Swagger to retain his ECW Championship. So, before we move onto the RAW Review, here's a little background information on WWE's flagship brand:
WWE RAW first aired on January 11, 1993 in the United States. It has aired over 800 episodes as of 2008 and no signs of slowing down. WWE RAW is the longest running weekly episodic show in television history. RAW is one of the highest-rated television shows in history, garnering close to 6 million US viewers weekly and beating out Monday night competition such as Fox's serial shows "24" and "Prison Break". The show's theme song is "...To Be Loved" by Papa Roach and has been used since October 2006. RAW is home to 34 of WWE's superstars and 4 championships being the WWE, United States, Unified Tag Team and Diva's championships. RAW is available in HD in most countries and HD episodes are already available in South Africa.
Okay, with that on the way, on to WWE Monday Night RAW.
The show opens with the theme and pyro. RAW is presented in WWE HD, ladies and gentlemen. First out, obviously, is WWE Champion Randy Orton. As Orton heads to the ring, we get a recap from the events of Judgment Day. In-ring segment up as Orton brags about beating Batista at Judgment Day and cementing his legacy, ultimately calling it an end to the 5-year old feud. Randy touts Flair's involvement and just as he said it... WOO! Out comes Ric Flair stylin' and profilin'. Flair tells Orton that he never beat Batista but intentionally got himself DQ'd to retain his title. Flair announces Randy Orton vs. Batista in a steel cage match at the next pay-per-view, Extreme Rules (June 28). Orton smacks Flair and Legacy come out of the woodwork. This just makes Orton appear weaker. Surely he can take out a 60-year old retiree single-handedly... clearly not, as Legacy pound away. Batista then hits the ring to a huge pop from the crowd and attempts to clean house, but the numbers game catches up to him. Then, for some unknown reason, John Cena comes and makes the save. Weird call for that to happen. Well, whatever makes the kids happy?
Back from the commercial as Santino Marella goes head to head with the GM's gopher.
Match #1: Santino Marella vs. Chavo Guerrero
Chavo controls the majority of the match with Santino "realising" his offensive abilities later on. Chavo attempts a frog splash but gets knocked down by Santino who follows up with the roll-up and pinfall.
Winner: Santino Marella
Post match sees Santino doing his funny victory dance and Chavo gets up and announces Santina Marella vs. Vickie Guerrero for the Miss WrestleMania crown later tonight. Er, this is why I prefer SmackDown - no corny matches on the blue brand.
We're back from the second commercial. I'm liking the new WWE warning as I think it's better than 4 different superstars repeating the same thing. Up next, currently the only reason for watching RAW. The Miz comes out to Cena's old Word Life music from the SmackDown days. The Miz rips apart the crowd with his jokes about Cena and quite frankly, I enjoyed it. He called out Cena - who again did not come out. Jerry Lawler, colour-commentator for the RAW brand, comes into the ring and explains to Miz that a wrestler who doesn't respond to a call-out hasn't really forfeited. The Big Shows music hits and heads to the ring. He announces that at Extreme Rules, he will face Cena in a match Cena can't really win - a Submission Match. The Miz pushes King into Show who then gets manhandled by the world's largest athlete. Pretty enjoyable segment, then again, it was The Miz.
Short vignette for Extreme Rules pap-per-view and we're back at the announce table as SmackDown's Jim Ross takes over for the King. Up next, the WWE United States Championship gets defended.
Match #2: WWE United States Champion MVP vs. Matt Hardy
JR tells us that it's probably no coincidence that Matt got a title shot tonight after attacking Jeff at Judgment Day in favour of Edge's victory. This match is quite the opposite of last year as it was Matt Hardy the good guy and MVP the bad (known as the face and the heel in pro-wrestling lingo). Back and forth action as Matt begins to work on the knee of MVP. Again, a similar tactic employed by MVP last year. Matt Hardy utilises the steel post to wrap MVP's leg around and create considerable damage. Side effect and Hardy gets 2. MVP regains momentum with the ballin' elbow drop. I swear I shout out "ballin" everytime he does that. MVP delivers a hard player's boot to Matt at the turnbuckle and follows up with Playmaker and a one, two, three.
Winner: MVP retains the US Championship
Very good TV match here. MVP and Matt Hardy had a storied rivalry last year and it was great to see it in a whole new light here on RAW. This was my match of the night.
Match #3: Miss Wrestlemania Santina Marella vs. GM Vickie Guerrero
Oh, god. I'm really getting sick of RAW. General Managers can still be left effective without having to be in competition. Do you mind if I skip the play-by-play? Ag, there wasn't much anyways. Santina gets on the mic and says Vickie is jealous of her body. The GM retaliates with a smack. Chavo gets in Santina's face and says the match is now no disqualification. The bell goes and Vickie is hesitant to start off and before you know it Chavo interferes. Back and forth action between Santino and Chavo. Santino manages to throw Chavo out of the ring, only to be mauled by William Regal. Santina is out and Vickie covers for the three. Here's your winner and... ag, who cares?
Winner: GM Vickie Guerrero (new Miss Wrestlemania)
We're back from the commercial and it's 5:48pm. Great, 12 minutes of wrestling and there's sure to be an ad-break there somewhere. SmackDown dedicates a lot of time to deserving matches. What? Legacy is up next? 12 minutes sounds suitable then.
Match #4: Batista and John Cena vs. The Legacy
Superman heads to the ring. Say what you like about Cena. The man may not have gifted wrestling abilities, but he sure can pull a response. He's huge in South Africa here, no doubt. Focusing our attention back onto RAW now.Cody starts out with Cena. Conventional elbow tie-up and Cody is pushed into the corner. Cody is whipped into the opposite turnbuckle and counters Cena's attack, tagging in the WWE Champion Randy Orton. Cena escapes Orton's 20 seconds of domination and in comes Batista. DiBiase is now in. Batista attempts a powerslam but DiBiase slides off. Rhodes runs in at Batista who dodges and delivers a double shoulder tackle to Rhodes and DiBiase. Batista and Cena clear the ring and we're off to a predictable ad-break.
Back from the commercial and Orton is in control of Cena. Cena gets momentum which is then broken by Orton once more. Neck vise on Cena. Remember Cena's surgically repaired neck which was broken at Summerslam 2008 by the same man he's teaming with tonight. Cena reaches out and after a minute of stretching Batista gets the tag and clears house. Big Show appears and lures Cena to the back. Batista is left alone and Ric Flair comes out to assist. Batista connects with a spear on Orton for the victory.
Winners: Batista and John Cena
Well that blows. Cena abandoned his partner. Legacy including Orton looked weak again and RAW is becoming completely monotonous. This week's RAW was below average. Santino match was entertaining and the US Title match was the only one worth watching. This week's RAW scores a poor, in my estimation, 5 out of 10. Really looking forward to see SmackDown top this. Remember, if you've missed all the RAW action, watch WWE Bottom Line tonight at 8pm on etv or watch the RAW repeat on Wednesday at 1.30pm. WWE Extreme Rules 2009 will be broadcast on etv on Sunday 28 June at 12.50pm. Thanks for participating in this week's RAW Rewind. I'll see you on Thursday for SmackDown. Enjoy!