It’s been, one week since you came to this column, to read a review about last week’s RAW. Five days since SmackDown! aired, featuring my favourite match of the week between Rey and Finlay. Three days it took me to give up, looking for a copy of SmackDown! to watch, hence why there was no GB&U for it, so sit back and welcome to a RAW review again…

For anyone interested, that was set to the song “One Week” by Barenaked Ladies. Well I tried to anyway.

Don’t forget, now its separate GB&Us for separate shows, giving you a complete overhaul of both RAW and SmackDown!. But also, mainly for filler space, I’ll be going through some news items and giving them a Good, Bad or Ugly rating as well.

And now it’s time for The Newsreel.

THE NEWSREEL

News taken from wrestling websites around the globe.

“Joey Styles has been dealt a huge blow as he will not be calling the Raw matches for Wrestlemania even though he is the lead Raw announcer. The announcer taking Joey Styles place as the lead Raw announcer at Wrestlemania will be none other than Jim Ross. They were both informed of this news on Monday.

As late as two days ago, Jim Ross assumed his role during Wrestlemania weekend would be to host the Hall of Fame banquet. It was announced on Raw last night that Jerry "The King" Lawler will be hosting the Hall of Fame banquet..”

I like Joey a lot, but I probably like JR that little bit more. It’s obviously disappointing that Joey won’t get to call WrestleMania this year, but there’s always next year, and several more WrestleMania’s to come. Anything he learns from JR will be a bonus.

Verdict: Good

“Smackdown finished with a 2.8 rating last week which is up slightly from recent weeks.”

And so it keeps on climbing. Of course, it’s still not at the 3.0 rating that I want it to regularly be at, but it’s a start. Hopefully the WrestleMania build up will be enough to boost it to that level this week.

Verdict: Good

“WWE officials originally asked Rocky Johnson if he could induct his former tag team partner Tony Atlas into the Hall of Fame. Johnson turned them down. WWE then asked SD Jones and he accepted the request.”

I myself wondered on Monday why they had chosen SD Jones ahead of Rocky, and I have absolutely no idea why Rocky would turn down the request. If it’s because he doesn’t like the WWE, then he should take note of the fact that it made his son into one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood, and if it’s because he doesn’t like Atlas, then this would’ve been a perfect time to make up. Either way, SD Jones is a bizarre choice as a replacement.

Verdict: Good

“Former WWE & WCW superstar Sean O'Haire is in Omaha today for a tryout with World Wrestling Entertainment. O'Haire was last seen on WWE TV as part of the whole Vince McMahon/Rowdy Piper/Mr. America feud.”

Another likely re-hiring (his dark match included new music and a new entrance video) that gains my approval. O’Haire dug his own grave on his last attempted push, mainly by laughing during house show promos, and generally not living up to the hype of his vignettes. Hopefully he can recover this time around.

Verdict: Good

“Ken Doane, who is one of the Spirit Squad members, has an incredible amount of heat down in Ohio Valley Wrestling among the wrestlers. The OVW wrestlers do things like let the air out of his tires, even in front of him. Recently, several wrestlers confronted him to shape up because he has all the talent in the world, and they're tired of dealing with him. His reaction to the wrestlers confronting him was, "Yeah, whatever." That reply got him even more heat.”

Oh Kenny, why must you be a jerk? When people said he was the new Randy Orton I didn’t think the comparisons went THIS far. As mentioned, he has so much talent, but he seems to act like my worst kind of person, a high school jock who’s so arrogant he makes Rick Martel look like Spike Dudley. I really am annoyed about this, because I fear his talent will be wasted if he acts like a jerk. I suggest setting FINLAY and JBL on him.

Verdict: Bad

And after that, we’ll move on to the show.

WWE RAW
March 27th, 2006
Omaha, Nebraska

No YANS this week, he’s having a rest.

Edge/Foley

This had good idea written all over it from the start, mainly because it saved us from the usual McMahon borefest to start the show. Instead we got another intense promo from Foley, another good piece of build up for the WrestleMania match that I may well be looking forward to most, and another taste of what we can expect at Mania in regards to weapons. This feud has had very little time for build-up, almost the same amount as HHH/Cena, and yet I’m ten times more interested in this match than the WWE Title match. Strange, huh?

Verdict: Good

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Carlito vs. Kane

First match for the second week in a row, but this match let me down considering what we’d seen the previous week. Several negative things included some repetitive spots, no clear winner, and Carlito being made to look weak AGAIN. It’s just bizarre to me that they push Masters over Carlito when it comes to this feud, making Masters look like the strong link and Carlito the weak.

Verdict: Bad

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Kane/Show/Forklift segment

The forklift in front of a door routine is so old, I was shaking my head at this initially. But then it happened, Kane appeared behind Show, and the other door was revealed. The reaction of Show was great, and the whole concept of twisting the routine was brilliant. Of course, it makes Masters look like a moron, but he is anyway.

Verdict: Good

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Masterlock Challenge

I’ve never been much of a fan of the Masterlock Challenge, mainly due to its high predictability, and it’s time spent with Masters standing there trying to apply the hold. Again, this was given another little twist with Masters not being able to apply the hold, but Show chokeslamming Masters and Carlito running away from Kane made the challengers look so weak. Even if they win the titles this Sunday, they still won’t look too good to the casual fan.

Verdict: Bad

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Tony Atlas induction

As I mentioned in the Newsreel, I’m disappointed that Rocky Johnson isn’t inducting Atlas. But whilst so many seem to doubt Atlas’ credentials for induction, it’s fine by me. You can’t just induct every wrestling headliner in one go, and Atlas is a perfectly good “filler” induction.

Verdict: Good

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Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels

I was gobsmacked when this appeared so early in the show, and even moreso when it turned out that they were going to have a proper match instead of three minutes of feud-building. It was a pretty solid match, further solidifying my theory that HHH tends to work better with his friends rather than people he fears might get more over than he is. Not that I’m cynical or anything. For a TV match the in-ring stuff was great, but I didn’t need the Vince interruption, the non-finish, and the compulsory Cena save. I really didn’t.

Verdict: Good

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Flair/Shelton/RVD segment

Nice to see some actual talking being done in regards to the MITB match. Last year we had the AWESOME segment involving Jericho, Benoit, Shelton, Edge, Christian and Kane, and I’m guessing this was their attempt to reproduce that. It didn’t quite work, mainly because there were only the three RAW competitors, but also because RVD and Shelton didn’t quite convey the same enthusiasm as Flair. Still, an enjoyable segment, but I feel that a segment involving all six men at SNME would have been better.

Verdict: Good

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Spirit Squad (Mikey, Kenny and Johnny) vs. Eugene, Val Venis and Viscera

When I saw Spirit Squad taking on two of my favourite guys and Eugene, I thought it would be an instantaneous good. But then I realised something. What has this got to do with WrestleMania? A: Absolutely nothing, so why have it on the last RAW before ‘Mania? And why is it always poor Val Venis that gets beaten down the most? Why can’t he be given some kind of push? As awesome as the Spirit Squad are, I just couldn’t let go of those lingering negative feelings.

Verdict: Bad

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William ‘Refrigerator’ Perry to be inducted

I don’t have much of a problem with the Celebrity Wing of the Hall of Fame, certainly much less than a significant amount of people seem to. His appearance will please the Chicago crowd, and as an NFL fan, I certainly can value his contribution to that, even if his contribution to wrestling isn’t as great.

Verdict: Average

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Mickie James promo

Oh Mickie, you so psycho, you so psycho you blow mind, hey Mickie. Hey Mickie. Nicely done segment to further remind us that this Mickie James has got a screw or twenty loose up there, and a reminder to Trish that she’s dealing with the anger of a woman scorned, and that won’t be pretty. I did find it strange that they had gone to so much trouble for the shrine, then only used it for about a minute’s worth of promo.

Verdict: Good

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Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson vs. Victoria and Candice Michelle

I really do think the women can do better than this. The state of the matches involving divas has gone downhill like crazy since New Year’s Revolution, and it’s going to rely on Mickie v Trish at Mania to resolve it. I also think they need a new diva or two, the matches are starting to come repetitive and there’s nothing new to see in Trish vs. Victoria.

Verdict: Bad

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John Cena vs. Vince McMahon

Forgive me if I’ve said this before, but I hate the Cena/HHH feud, and it’s dragging down the HBK/Vince feud as well. Not that HBK/Vince is a good feud, but it’s certainly better than HHH/Cena’s borefest. This match involved lost of strength testing and fingerlocks, before a kick to the nuts. It reminded me of JBL vs. Cena, with the kick in the nuts replacing the feeling of dread I got when Cena won the title. And then we had the silly after-show stuff, which reminded us in case we had forgotten that Vince and HHH were the most important people in the company. With the HHH/Cena feud scheduled to run long past WrestleMania, I’m almost crying at the prospect of being bored for the next three months.

Verdict: Ugly

So, overall we have:

Very Good: 0
Good: 6
Average: 1
Bad: 4
Ugly: 1 (x2 = 2)

And again, that is RIGHT in the middle. Looking at it again, the first hour really did outshine the second by a long way, with a good match, three good segments, and no Ugly ending. I wish all RAWs at least had a good first hour to keep my spirits up.

So that was the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of this week’s RAW. Got an opinion on anything? Let me know right here:

[chris@wrestling101.com]

And I will see you later this week for SmackDown!.

Chris Dewing