Monday Wrap-Up for 11.08.04

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Monday Wrap-Up. It used to be a regular Tuesday thing for me, lets see if I can transition back into it.

This one will be a little different from my previous reports. I used to review both shows, Raw and Nitro and only list the high points of each since Raw was really good and Nitro was really bad and I didn’t want to turn it into a bash WCW session. Since Raw is the only show now I will not only list the high points, but criticize the law. So here it is...

After last week I was really looking forward to this weeks Raw. A super show last week, and I’m not just saying that because Triple H wasn’t on it (because he was for a 5 minute promo). I think everything just feel together well, unlike this week.

We started out with Orton going over on Batista. You could see this coming the way they’ve been cramming Orton down our throats lately. It looked like it was a pretty good match, too bad we didn’t get to see too much of it because of all the commercials during it. What is up with that. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer a good 20 match over a bad 3 minute one any day of the week, but when all the action takes place while we’re watch Spicy battle T.C. to see who’s the king of chicken sandwiches something is wrong. Is it just me, or is Batista being used totally wrong? Anyway, bad ending to a poorly timed match.

Speaking of people being used wrong, what about Tyson Tomko? I like the idea of him being a tough guy problem solver, but why have him loose all the time? They made such a big point of it being a non-title match, so if he’s guaranteed not to win the title let Tomko win the match. He’s lost to everyone and he looks a lot better in the ring than Snitsky. Someone needs to rethink the angles for these big guys. I do like Benjamin getting a push, but the heels have to win occasionally to keep it interesting.

Trips and Tajiri to a no contest thanks to Snitsky, the worst wrestler on the roster. This was just to set up the entire dissention in the ranks angle with Evolution, Edge and Snitsky, which was probably the highlight of the show. It was also a big lead in to next weeks show were it looks like Triple H’s team will prevail at Survivor Series.

The main event was a joke. Why hype a match so much if you are going to have it end this way? Edge and Benoit were putting on a hell of a match and the ending just ruined the entire thing. I hope Survivor Series is better than the lead in to it.

I don’t know yet if I’ll get to watch Smackdown! on Thursday. If I do I’ll try to get my Wrap-Up on Friday. And I also don’t know if I’ll get to see the PPV, but it does look interesting so I’ll probably try. I want to get my column up about the recent WWE releases up Saturday so look for that. Until then...

I Want My Smash TV!

It so sad that back in October we knew who was going to win the Royal Rumble this year. It’s the same thing every year. A Superstar is some how forbidden from getting a title shot just to come back and win the Royal Rumble and get it. Yes, sad but true, 6 months before Wrestle Mania we know that the main event will be Triple H defending the World Championship again Randy Orton.

The WWE has become so predictable over the past few years. Gone are the days of surprises and Smash TV. The things that brought new viewers in and old viewers back. How did we loose this magic? I don’t know for sure. I could list a number of things that could be part of it, but nothing is for certain. I’m still convinced that viewers like surprises, and we haven’t seen anything big in recent memory. Oh, the 10 Superstars released this past week was a surprise, but that wasn’t on TV and won’t do much to increase the rating or bring back viewers because most casual fans won’t even notice those guys and gals are gone. More on this topic later.

Bringing Paul Heyman back into the creative team is a step in the right direction. In case you don’t remember, after the brand extension Smackdown! had higher ratings than Raw, largely in part to Heyman being one of the show’s head writers. A lot of the innovative ideas you saw used in WCW and the WWE during the Monday Night War were complete rip offs of things Heyman was doing in ECW. This guy is a creative genius in this business and can come up with storylines that your former soap opera writers can’t even fathom.

We may be in store for one surprise at Survivor Series. This isn’t a recent rumor or anything (of course most of those so called rumors are internet reporters pulling things out of their asses to get visitors to their shitty web sites or newsletters like the torch), but there was a rumor a while back that Maven may turn heel and getting a big push because some in the WWE feel that we can cut a good promo. It never went through due to Maven's injury and taking time off to care for his dieing mother. Now may be the time for that to happen. I mean look, you’ve seen Maven getting his push the past couple weeks on Raw, but if you’re like me you just aren’t feeling it. It kind of reminds me of the debut of Rocky Miavia, who didn’t get over until he was made a heel which lead to him becoming the most electrifying star in all of entertainment. I’m not saying that Maven’s the next Rock or anything, but I do feel that he can get over as a heel.

So in my opinion, I’m picking Triple H’s team to go over at Survivor Series, thanks to the newest member of Evolution, Maven.

This is an idea that only a genius like Paul Heyman could come up with and I think it may work. If this does happen it will surprise most viewers because there have so far been no rumors of Maven turning on his teammates. Come on, you really don’t expect Randy Orton team to win do you? How interesting would that be watching Orton, Benoit, Jericho and Maven run Raw for the 4 weeks afterward? Not interesting at all and that’s the truth and the truth hurts!