Before I get started, I just wanted to note that in the blog I posted Saturday Night (August 2) I expressed my displeasure of not seeing Triple H heavily involved in his title feud with Khali. However, it did not cross my brain waves until Monday that Triple H was spending time with his wife Stephanie and their new child. I have the memory of a 90 year old.Now that I think of it, it would be horrible if WWE decided to put the title on Khali to give Triple H time off with his new kid. That’s sickening to think about, I still believe that Big Show should be the challenger at SummerSlam. At least he can compete and speak clear English.
Now you can almost guarantee that I will post a new blog the day after RAW airs and this is no different. I think RAW was excellent this week. Not perfect, but excellent. I think Mike Adamle is doing reasonably well in his new position. Granted, he had to read off of a card in the opening segment and lacks any emotion or acting ability and I’m fairly certain he looked into the camera during a backstage segment that was supposed to be one of those “hidden camera” type pieces. He certainly does better as RAW GM than he does as an announcer that’s for sure. The idea of calling Adamle’s ideas “Adamle Originals” is a nice touch.
The #1 Contender’s Handicap Match was the top match of the night, in my mind. Though contested more like a Triple Threat Match. Adamle adding the 10 Minute Time Limit made things interesting and more exciting. It seems like anytime (no pun intended) you put a time limit on a certain match, it always ups the excitement for it. Not to mention that if it’s a 10 minute limit then there may be no commercial interruptions for it. It’s got to be done right, in other words. JBL as #1 Contender for the World Title at SummerSlam does not interest me in the slightest. How is a match that happened on RAW just over a month ago now a pay-per-view match? I think something has got to happen with this match. I understand that the pay-per-view is all about the return of The Undertaker to face Edge in Hell in a Cell and, to a lesser degree, Cena Vs. Batista, but I still think every match should be booked as if those matches weren’t the biggest attractions. I would rather have seen Punk Vs. Jericho or Punk Vs. Kane. In any case, I hope Punk wins against JBL. There’s so many reasons against JBL becoming World Champion. He’s obviously not in good physical shape, not to mention the fact that the match happened before and JBL got pinned relatively clean. I just hope Punk can obtain an untainted victory at SummerSlam. It shows a lack of faith by WWE in Punk’s abilities if all his wins are achieved by DQ’s or interference.
A very interesting championship match was added to the card on RAW. It’s a “Winners Take All” Match for both the Intercontinental & Women’s Titles. I had a strong feeling this exact type of match would be happening at SummerSlam. I’ve had that prediction for about two weeks now. Except I expected it to be Paul & Katie Lea Burchill challenging for the belts instead of Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix. Marella winning the Women’s Title would be a very interesting concept, as would Phoenix winning the Intercontinental Title. Marella winning the Intercontinental Title again would be a mistake, without a doubt. At any rate, I’m predicting that Kofi & Mickie retain their titles at SummerSlam.
Now, of course the biggest thing to happen on RAW is that we have new World Tag Team Champions, as the team of John Cena & Batista (also SummerSlam opponents) beat Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase to win the tag titles (Cena’s second reign as World Tag Team Champion; he won his first one in January of last year with Shawn Michaels and Batista’s third reign as World Tag Team Champion, but fourth reign as a tag champion overall; he won the World Tag Titles twice with Ric Flair while part of Evolution and won the WWE Tag Titles with Rey Mysterio a few years back). As I probably mentioned before, I’m not a fan of Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase’s in-ring work as a team, much less as tag team champions. They’re good on the stick, but just seem to lack something in their look and in-ring abilities. Apparently, someone on the WWE staff though likewise since they took the belts off the two and gave them to Cena & Batista. I kind of had a feeling that they would win the World Tag Titles. I pretty much saw it going down the same two ways that Cena mentioned on RAW- 1) they would win the tag titles or 2) they would fight each other and lose. I am actually in favor of them holding the tag team titles going into SummerSlam (which they may lose them next week, who knows?), as it adds an interesting element to the feud. I expect to see Cena/Michaels revisited after SummerSlam with Batista turning on Cena (yes, it is my prediction that it will be Batista turning, not Cena) and costing them the tag titles. I would love to see Cryme Tyme win the titles from them. I know Cena & Cryme Tyme (CTC) are a team, but it could be another “Adamle Original” or something. I could see Cryme Tyme holding the belts for awhile and then having Rhodes & DiBiase win them back down the line. I guess only time will tell. Having two former World Champions win tag team gold together is always big, no matter who it is. Pretty much every pairing of former World Champions has been a “big deal” to pretty much everyone. For example, Triple H & Stone Cold Steve Austin’s run as World Tag Team Champions (with Triple H holding the Intercontinental Title and Stone Cold holding the WWE Title) or John Cena & Shawn Michaels or Big Show & The Undertaker or The Undertaker & Kane. It’s always a fool-proof move to put the tag titles on a team that have both of it’s members in the main event picture. It seems to revitalize the titles whenever they get stale and let’s face it- the tag titles are way beyond stale and are in need of a revitalization.
Something that bothered me on RAW was the fact that Cena said that his match with Batista at SummerSlam was “the biggest match in history” or a “fantasy match” or something. Cena Vs. Batista is a big match, but not the biggest match ever. I could think of several matches that would be bigger than that and most of them are matches that have happened or are scheduled to happen.
For those of you that are uninformed, Ric Flair and the WWE opted to “part ways” this past Sunday. Since WrestleMania XXIV, Flair has been working behind-the-scenes and around the world as a WWE “Ambassador”. Well, WWE.com announced on Sunday that Flair and WWE mutually parted ways allegedly due to Flair having some personal problems. To me, it’s not a big deal that Flair left. It’s like when a writer or agent or something leaves- do you really care too much? I don’t. Now, if Flair was still wrestling or making appearances on TV, I may have been inclined to care more. I was still a little taken aback by it, but not overly shocked. I was more shocked when Murdoch was released. The truth is- when isn’t Flair having personal problems? When you are dating and marrying women that are half your age, there’s going to be some “personal problems” (they have little blue pills for that if you catch my drift). Speaking of age, Flair is a little too old to be traveling around that much anyways.
Speaking of Flair and getting old, Shawn Michaels made an appearance (via satellite) on RAW and stated that he would be going to the doctor on the 15’th; two days before SummerSlam (how convenient) and that he would make a career decision at SummerSlam- to “walk away” or keep wrestling. The unfortunate part is that Michaels’ detached retina is the only fake injury he has. HBK has been wrestling with broken ribs since WrestleMania (remember the springboard spot where he landed hard on the edge of the announce position?) and that his knees have had multiple surgeries and that his back is still bad, despite surgery over 10 years ago. I read back in September or October that Michaels was enjoying his home life and had no interest in returning to wrestling, but then Cena goes down with his injury on October 1 and boom, Michaels comes back the night after No Mercy. Michaels has had a stellar career in the WWE and there’s no shame in hanging up your boots (cliche, I know). I would rather see Michaels retire now (or “walk away” as he put it) than see him in the shape that Flair was in for the past few years. Not to mention the fact that he could spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. You could tell that Michaels was really speaking from the heart on RAW. His decision at SummerSlam is pretty much the only thing I can not put a solid prediction on, but I’ll be happy either way for different reasons.
Hate to end this blog on a downer like that, but that’s all I got to say for now. My next blog will probably be after SmackDown this Friday or after RAW next week. Either way, until next time…