Let’s look at the good, the just O.K. and the bad of WWE RAW this week.
THE GOOD
- The Rock can send in a taped promo and still blow the roof off the place
The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) may have not been in front of the sold-out fans last night in Buffalo, yet he still had the hottest moment of the night on the mic. And this was a show dominated by talk segments with some of the biggest names on the current roster, but the Rock who even after his absence from WWE still stole the show. Plus the Rock got away with some things in his promo that some of the current WWE crop would not even think of saying. “Yaba daba b*tch” may not sound like it’s ok with RAW’s TV-PG rating but when the Great One said it, it sent electricity through the crowd. John Cena, the ball is in your court and your down 2-1.
- Triple H and The Undertaker : “The Last Outlaw(s)”
This opening promo segment by the HHH really set the tone for his upcoming Wrestlemania match with the legendary Undertaker. These two veterans have achieved almost everything in WWE, and beating the younger stars in the locker room for WWE Championships does not seem to be a challenge for them anymore. For Triple H the one last great challenge is the one challenge that Undertaker keeps coming back for: The Streak.
Tonight WWE reminded this Examiner why the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania undefeated streak is greatest unofficial championship title in all of wrestling. Greater than the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship which jump from wrestler to wrestler every few months, ‘The Streak’ is an institution that has been built up for almost two decades. Triple H said he was going to “die” trying to break the Streak, could this mean the rumored end of his wrestling career? We’ll have to wait and see.
- Steel Cage Tweeting!
The Miz poked fun tonight at all the buzz that the millions of the Rock's fans and Cena's Cenation made over the weekend on Facebook and Twitter. It's brilliant villainous geinus by the Miz to pull out his Blackberry to snap a photo of Cena's mashed into the mesh of the steel cage. The Steel Cage which has been in pro wrestling for many years was officially brought into the Internet Age with that evil Tweet. You can check out the Twit Pic from Miz at this link
- Did the Miz walk out of the shadow of the big talk from John Cena and The Rock?
That is one lurking question that hangs over the WWE Championship Match for Wrestlemania 27. The Rock who apparently is just ‘hosting’ seems to be stealing all of Miz’s heat and buzz with his trash-talking exchange with John Cena. Could the Miz who attracted mainstream attention when he captured the WWE Championship in November, be loosing steam to the epic war of words by the more established stars, John Cena and The Rock?
Check out the slide show : The Miz's Road to Awesome and the WWE Championship
Even with the beatdown of United States Champion Daniel Bryan, The Miz still seems to have a “look at me, I am over here” vibe to him and he’s the WWE Champion! Hopefully, The Miz can get his mean guy mojo going next week. WWE is still smart to insert Miz in this logical position, where he can preach about being disrespected.
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THE JUST O.K
DIVA BATTLE ROYAL
Are we getting the Bellas vs. Eve at Wrestlemania? It seems more talented ladies like Natalya and Beth Pheonix are more deserving of that prescious spot on the biggest show of the year. This could all change next week with a ruling from the anonymous RAW GM, because the Bellas used some ‘switicheroo’ to win the match to earn a Diva Championship match. It did not help that match was not all that thrilling or memorable beyond the ending.
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THE BAD
Lots a talking, little bit of wrestling
This may be a victim of it being Wrestlemania season, but last night’s RAW leaned heavily on talk segments and pre-taped segments which seemed to deflate the hot Buffalo crowd. Now the main event cage match brought the live fans back and the talk segments all delivered the goods, yet it felt like WWE was lacking some action last night. This nit-picking but if I was a paying customer in Buffalo at HSBC Arena last night, it may have felt a little cheated. Just a little.
DON’T BE QUIT, BE LOUD AND PROUD! Post your comments in the comment box below. How do you feel about the Road to Wrestlemania? Let us know what you think.
EXAMINER EXCLUSIVE: WHO SHOULD BE IN THE WWE HALL OF FAME?
The WWE Hall of Fame always creates debate about who should get those elite honors of being inducted as a legend in pro wrestling. Here is profile series from the Pro Wrestling Examiner that points out the Wrestling Stars that should be inducted in WWE Hall of Fame. Disagree with my picks, let me hear about it in the comments.
Comments
I think when Triple H said that he'll die trying, that could been that he tried to break Taker's streak? Why would HHH retire when he just came back?
Triple H has hinted in recent interview that since he went off TV to have another surgery and took on a backstage role as creative consultant, that he feels he has less challenges in the ring. This is contributing to his thought of maybe hanging up the boots.
There are so many wrestlers who should be in the HOF, it would be impossible to name them all. But all those you mention should be since this WM is supposed to be WCW theme because it's in ATL, but Sting has a contract with TNA now, Goldberg and WWE aren't exactly on the same page, and I'd be surprised if Luger would show up again.
These are some WCW-ers that should be in the HOF: Tully Blanchard- great worker, great talker, and a great heel. Ole Anderson- great heel psychologist, ran the Georgia territory, which was about the 5th biggest territory in the early 80s, and did I mention great performer? Barry Windham - terrific worker, very versatile in the ring, in addition to having some memorable matches. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash - enough said, legends to the business whether you love them or hate them. Steiner Brothers - amazing tag-team, understood the psychology of a tag-team match, knew how to stand out and understood all the other elements of being a great tag team. There's more but I'll stop there.
thanks for the feedback Kyle.
I totally agree with your picks for the HOF. I think the Road Warriors and Arn Anderson are close to confirmed for this year's HOF. I understand why Sting and Goldberg are now likely not going to be inducted, but I wrote this series over the last few months as rumors swirled about both men being involved with Wrestlemania.
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