WWE Raw Report

By: Todd Martin

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Blog: toddwmartin.blogspot.com

Date: 08/17/09 from St. Louis, MO.

The Big News: Raw was much better this week. Hallelujah.

Show Analysis:

Freddie Prinze Jr. came out to start the show. He put over being a lifelong WWE fan, referencing action figures, Coliseum Home Video and ice cream bars. That made him more likeable. He announced title matches on Raw and the return of DX. Santino came out dressed like the man with the hook from I Know What You Did Last Summer. He said he wanted to be in a movie and made references to She’s All That and 24.

This wasn’t really funny and the movies are decade old genre films, but it was light hearted and fine in my book. Randy Orton came out and refused to team with John Cena or even compete at all. Prinze said he wouldn’t be bullied and that the match was on. Orton gave him a back breaker and the fans chanted RKO.

Kofi Kingston beat Carlito to retain the United States Title. Rosa Mendes was in Carlito’s corner. All her mannerisms seemed geared towards getting attention towards her and away from Carlito, which is not what a valet or manager ought to be doing. Carlito worked over Kofi. Kofi came back with chops, a dropkick and a high double leg drop. Kofi hit a crossbody off the top but Carlito rolled through for two. Kofi missed trouble in paradise and Carlito hit the roll of the dice for two. Carlito went for the back stabber but Kofi avoided it and hit trouble in paradise for the pin. This was a good match.

Miz came out and said that he is a new man with a new attitude and new look. He announced that he would embark on a remarkable turnaround, culminating in his taking the United States Title from Kofi Kingston. If that’s what constitutes a remarkable turnaround for you, you’re in really bad shape. It’s like announcing you have a goal to make a movie that doesn’t go straight to DVD.

Miz beat Evan Bourne. Miz hit a clothesline and used a bow and arrow submission. Bourne came back with a dropkick, standing moonsault and flying knee. He went for the shooting star press but Miz got up. Bourne got on his shoulders but Miz finished him with the “skull crushing finale.” This was a good short match. Bourne is always fun to watch even when losing quickly.

DX returned to Raw. Backstage they made fun of Jillian Hall and Carlito. They went to the ring and soaked up the reaction from the crowd. As they were starting to speak, Legacy came out and jumped them. They beat up and laid out DX and hit HHH repeatedly with Michaels’ boot. This was exactly what they needed to do to give Legacy some credibility heading into SummerSlam.

Mickie James beat Gail Kim to retain the women’s title. Things started out well. They went for a series of rollups. Each went for a clothesline at the same time. Gail hit a huracanrana and missile dropkick off the top. Each woman went for her finisher but the other escaped. Then everything fell apart.

Mickie went for the implant DDT. It was apparently supposed to be blocked but wasn’t. So Gail took the bump in slow motion and then just got right back up. Mickie then went for a spinning kick that missed horribly but Gail sold it anyway. Mickie then used a simple forearm to knock her down. Mickie stood in the ring for a while looking perturbed then just decided to cover and the referee counted three. Mickie looked so unbelievably disgusted after this match to the point I felt really bad for her.

John Cena backstage cut another of his obnoxious, cutesy, comedy promos directed at Randy Orton. They should show this to wrestling school students as the antithesis of a money promo for a pay-per-view event. Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be the guest host on Raw next week.

MVP beat Jack Swagger via DQ. Swagger used some wrestling early and smacked around MVP. It then broke down into a brawl. The finish was that new WWE favorite: Swagger was disqualified for punching in the corner about a minute in. Why even do a match if this is what was planned? The time would have been better invested just giving another match 2 minutes.

Hornswoggle beat Chavo Guerrero in a falls count anywhere match. WILL THIS FEUD NOT END?! Chavo pursued Hornswoggle under the ring. Something happened there but it was unclear what because it was under the ring. Chavo chased Hornswoggle to the back, where he was eventually knocked out by a paint can over the door trap, ala Home Alone. Hornswoggle pinned him. Chavo accused Mark Henry of setting the trap, but then Macauley Culkin appeared. Yes, Raw is now at the point where Macauley Culkin is doing cameos in angles.

John Cena and Randy Orton beat Big Show and Chris Jericho. Freddie Prinze Jr. announced this would be a lumberjack match and selected a bunch of face lumberjacks. Show and Cena worked over Cena and then worked over Orton. Orton made the tag. Cena came in with shoulder blocks and the Cena slam on Jericho. He went for the five knuckle but Show grabbed him by the throat. Cena knocked Show off the apron and hit the FU on Jericho for the pin. Orton gave Cena the RKO after the match.

Final Thoughts:

As stated at the beginning, this show was a substantial improvement over the past two weeks of Raw. There was some good wrestling and the booking was better than usual. I thought Freddie Prinze Jr. did a good job overall, although it’s disconcerting that the guest host concept has degenerated into a simple ego directive for WWE to feel more accepted in the entertainment world. SummerSlam has incredibly little momentum, but hopefully it will do okay just based on the name and the history. After SummerSlam, Raw would greatly benefit from a fresh face in the top program.