Take up thy wrestling boots and walk - RAW is George
Submitted by Pt2 on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 1:23 PM EST





Welcome once again to the column that’s wined and dined with kings and queens, and slept in alleys and dined on pork and beans, Take up thy wrestling boots and walk. I’m the proprietor of Heartbreak Hotel and the man who wears the Blue Suede Shoes, Pt2, back once again to discuss the diamond in the rough that is professional wrestling.

RAW came from London, England the other night. St. George's day, to be precise. Since the show doesn’t roll into England all that often, I took advantage and went along; unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a ticket for the Smackdown! Taping tonight, so I’ve had to content myself with RAW.

Todd Grisham seemed to be the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, and attempted to warm up the crowd prior to Heat, and then during gaps in the taping. He seemed to do a pretty good job of it, but the crowd seemed hot and willing to go along with it, so it isn’t like he had to do too much.

Ric Flair opened with a message of thanks on behalf of the WWE, and was given a nice ovation and naturally, a chorus of woo’s. From there we were into the heat taping, and that opened up with a match between Kenny Dykstra and one half of the tag team champions, Jeff Hardy. This actually wasn’t bad. A little short, but featured some decent spots. Hardy won it with the Swanton Bomb.

Next up was a ladies match between Mickie James and Victoria. This seemed to be a cue for several people to go to the toilet. However, compared to some other matches tonight, this got a fair reaction from the people that stayed and despite the occasional bit of off timing was a pretty decent contest. The win went to Mickie James, and this has to be the right decision. If they are pushing Melina as the top heel, they are going to need a babyface that can work with her and pull something decent out of her. In ring, the best babyface they have is undoubtedly Mickie James. Having her lose would make zero sense.

Chris Masters would defeat Val Venis next up, but Val would get on the microphone, and call Masters back for another impromptu contest, which Val would win with the money shot. This was an odd one. Masters got heat as he entered, and Venis got a pop, but once the match itself started the audience was completely dead, and only came to life once Venis had challenged Masters at the end of the first match. It was pretty strange, it must be said. I remember the last time I saw Chris Masters in the flesh, I said that his stuff looked great in person. Well, he either had an off night yesterday, or sadly that is no longer true. He’d lost some of the impact and intensity, which when your repertoire is quite limited to begin with, is never a good thing.

Next up, in what looks like the Main Event for Heat, The World’s Greatest Tag Team took on Cryme Tyme. For the first time in the evening, there is evidence that the crowd were supporting the heels, as a substantial minority were chanting “Lets go Shelton” as the match commenced, and when he made a tag, following that up with “Let’s go Charlie.” Incidentally, even in the short span of time he got to show off his skills here, I can’t help but be reminded how fundamentally sound Charlie Haas is in the ring – at one point, he hit the best Suplex I have seen in a long, LONG time. Cryme Tyme gets the win to a mixed reaction, but predominantly cheers. Am I sure this is the right way to go here? I am uncertain. I actually thing TWGTT could be a main event level Tag Team, similar to the Steiners or LOD, if used correctly. But I think they are good enough in ring to be able to lose here and still attain that, if that were to be the plan. Cryme Tyme, on the other hand, need the momentum. I certainly won’t condemn the decision, but it does seem to be a case of putting a gimmick over quality wrestlers.

Todd Grisham suggests RAW is going to start, but in reality there is a test start, before what appears to be a Dark Match between Eugene and Johnny Nitro. Eugene gets mostly cheers, but again there is a mixed reaction. This is effectively a comedy bout, with Eugene hanging on to Nitro and “Hulking up”, etc, before finally succumbing to the former intercontinental champion. It’s amazing how Eugene has gone from “a story of one young man overcoming obstacles to his dream” to “a mentally challenged Jobber in the comedy match” over the last couple of years.

After that, we are ready to start RAW. Jim Ross enters the ringside area to a nice reaction, but Jerry Lawler gets a massive pop. Always good to see nice respect paid to living legends of the business. Technically, Lawler would get tribute two other times in the night – the impromptu “we want puppies” chants during the two ladies matches.

Once RAW begins, Shane McMahon opens the show to massive heat. We recap last week, then Shane offers the chance to anyone in the London Crowd to face him in a match. He draws the attention of the arena to the manager of Chelsea Football Club, Jose Mourinho, sitting in the front row, which brings a mixed reaction out of the fans – a lot of Chelsea fans in, unsurprisingly considering we were in West London. Jose smiles and declines the offer of a match. Shane then introduces Robbie Brookside, formerly of the FWA. Shane hits the Coast to Coast on Brookside, then reveals that it’s a two on one handicap match, and introduces Umaga. Now the heat kicks in, and I’m sure I even heard a brief chant of “You Fat Bastard”. Once Brookside is suitably demolished, Shane introduces their THIRD partner, Vince McMahon, who struts to the ring to yet ANOTHER mixed reaction – mostly boo’s, but I am certain I saw some people at ringside bowing down to Vince, as the crowd often does to Flair. Vince pins for the win. One of the things that I am certainly glad to say I have seen is Vince McMahon’s strut as he walks to the ring. That thing has taken on a life of its own.

This was actually rather pointless, though. They squashed someone that the majority of the audience didn’t know, and didn’t really start RAW off all that well. People were booing, naturally, but it certainly didn’t make Vince or Umaga any MORE evil, or make any sense as regards to a feud with Bobby Lashley. Disappointing way to open RAW, once Shane put his microphone down.

Matt Hardy got a pretty huge pop as he entered the ring for his match with Murdoch. Murdoch got decent heat, though I think it was more down to his opposing Hardy than anything. Actually the second best match of the night – if you’ve seen it, take from that what you will. Murdoch wins with the Power Bomb, and Hardy is hurt. Jeff and a dozen referee’s enter the ring, and one of them (the lights were down, but I think it was Jack Doan) signalled to the back, holding one hand behind his neck. No stretcher is needed, and Hardy walks out with support from the referees and his brother. I think he’ll be fine, but more than a little sore today. I hope that he’ll not have to take time off, at any rate – since we’ve not heard anything today I imagine that will be the case.

Next up on the big screen was a promo for Orton vs. Edge. Well, we know this didn’t happen, but it looks like the WWE is going to try and bluff its way through it for the time being, and stick to the story of “There wasn’t time after Cena vs. Michaels.” From the way I heard people around me talking, I’m not sure even the live audience bought it – but then, from the reactions of the crowd, I’d wager that a substantial amount were “net fans”, and would have seen the rumours anyway.

Melina would take on Maria next. This match was pointless. Once Melina had done her entrance and Maria had got to the ring, the crowd died, and then the match lasted 3 minutes, tops. It wasn’t worth the time it took for them both to get to the ring, if I’m being honest. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now, a real women’s division would be a tremendous benefit to the WWE, but this shit isn’t a real division. When Melina is the senior worker in the match, you know you have problems.

Flair and Carlito promo on the ‘tron next, followed hard on the heels by a match between Carlito and the Great Khali. Want any proof that the Earls’ Court crowd were into the show? BIG heat for the Big Khali. How often do you actually see him get heat. The man is monstrously big when you see him in person, and Carlito gets next to no offence in before being pinned with a foot on the chest. Flair heads to the ring and is chastised by Carlito, furthering their storyline. Not the best match ever, but still an improvement on the Melina – Maria travesty.

Mick Foley and Edge promo on the ‘tron next – presumably to make up for Orton’s absence, this helps Edge continue the feud without him. Not bad, but not overly great. With the exception of Mick mocking his appearance, the cheap pop, and Edge finishing with “Good book, by the way”, I’m not sure I actually remember much else about what was said.

Michaels and Cena promo next. Michaels gets some cheers and some boo’s, Cena gets lots of cheers but even louder boo’s. Cena says he doesn’t mind, since it shows that Michaels has earned everyone’s respect – which is true, I would hope. The man is a legend, and oddly, seems to just get better and better. While most wrestlers lose a step as they get older, Michaels just seems to age like a fine wine.

Then came the main event. Cena gets more Cheers than Michaels, but Michaels gets considerably less boo’s. Hate to say it, but my conclusion from that is people aren’t cheering Michaels but are booing the Champion. Match starts off well, with them teasing Cena hitting an FU or STFU early, and Michaels getting frustrated.

Unfortunately, once this early stage of the match finishes, the pace slows considerably, and for a time the match suffers – as does crowd reaction. Towards the middle of the match however, the pace picks back up again, and heading towards the end of the match everyone gets back into it. When Michaels kicks out of the FU, the place really comes alive. Towards the finish, with a prolonged STFU that Michaels breaks, a great leg drop from Cena, a Superkick that Michaels cannot capitalise on, and finally a missed FU and a Superkick that he can capitalise on, every one really got into it, and there was belief that we’ve seen the best televised match that we may see all year. The arena explodes when Michaels wins. First rate match for RAW, and it made up for what until then had been a pretty poor show.


John Cena is perhaps the man most on my mind at the moment. He hasn’t won over the bulk of several crowds, but he is the man of the moment, the chosen boy. Even though he doesn’t get the reaction of the top face and people love to boo him, his matches are getting better and better all the time, and I get the feeling that as often as not, Cena is the one they want to see, whether they are booing him or not. His matches have developed a “big fight” feel, that WWE matches have lacked for some time now. I don’t cheer him on, since his is not a character I like, but I cannot deny that there is definite interest in his matches now. He is, not to put too fine a point on it, now the genuine article. His matches against Edge and Shawn Michaels have been 8’s and 9’s, and although he is being led in those matches, you cannot have good matches on a consistent basis without being a good worker yourself. You get found out, in the end. Some people may want him out of the top spot, but I am not convinced that they have anyone that could bring what he brings to the show on the roster… and lets face it, he does also sell a shitload of merchandise.

I also have plenty to say on the topic of Randy Orton, but I’ll try and keep it fairly short here. I said in a column last year that the only thing standing in his way of being a real player in the WWE was “that the man seems to be a complete idiot”. It would seem, then, that although he’s been improving in the ring lately, he hasn’t improved mentally, and has gone and gotten himself sent home from the European tour. Lets put this into perspective – Orton has gotten himself sent home when he was advertised to appear. In short, the WWE have taken this rather seriously. The rumours are flying around now that he may be pulled from the Backlash card, or perhaps even released from the company. It will be a shame because he had the potential to be a WWE main event wrestler for years to come, but if he does find himself looking for work elsewhere, it looks like there will be no one else to blame. If he does get another chance, then it really is time for a professionalism check. There are thousands of wrestlers who’d love to have Randy Orton’s spot, and believe me, if he keeps on, one of them will take it. Incidentally, just before posting this column, this announcement was posted on the WWE’s official website: “WWE has taken action against Randy Orton for unprofessional conduct.”

I can’t help comparing this televised show with the house shows that I’ve previously been able to attend. Were it not for the quality of the main event, I would say without hesitation to any wrestling fans, that the House Shows are infinitely superior for in ring action. With the exception to the bumper-sized main event, there was little in ring action to rate on RAW, and the show really is similar to what you see on TV, while on a house show, you generally get around 3 hours of wrestling – between Heat and Raw, there was probably 2 hrs spent in the ring, Maximum – and much of it was shorter matches,

That said – I’ve never seen a House Show put on a match like Cena vs. Michaels. So I guess you have to take the rough with the smooth. They had one hell of a battle on St. George’s day 2007, and I for one am glad I was there to see it. You only normally see matches like that on PPV.

I don’t often do recaps of shows – but then, it is not often that I am there myself. I hope I’ve given a few opinions here and there so this isn’t just a recap and is more like what you’re used to getting from me. If you want to comment on this one you can reach me at the usual address, takeupthywrestlingboots@gmail.com, and I’ll get back to you when I get some free time.

I’ll be back soon. Until then, take care.

Pt2









*NEW GALLERY* Brooke Hogan BOUNCING AROUND With Her New Toys! MUST SEE!

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