"WWE RAW" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

With less than week out from the Royal Rumble, RAW will be pulling out all stops. With Triple H set to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels matched up against Edge on Sunday what will those four men do to gain the upper hand before heading to Fresno?

With Shelton Benjamin, Edge, Chris Jericho, Christian, Shawn Michaels, Kane, The Hurricane, Chris Benoit, Gene Snitsky and Simon Dean all officially entered in the Rumble match, there are still 5 spots still to be set. What other lucky RAW Superstars will find themselves with a shot to main event Wrestlemania 21? Tune in at the top of the hour to find out!


http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/raw/images/20050120_raw_legendkiller_000.jpg
ORTON VS. FLAIR
Jan. 24, 2005

Both Kane and Gene Snitsky were motionless as Monday Night RAW went off the air last week. The destruction happened as a result of a Kane chokeslam onto Snitsky from the top of the RAW stage onto the arena floor. What is the condition of these two RAW Superstars? Will either one of them ever be the same again? Tune in to RAW to find out.

Also, former Evolution teammates Randy Orton and the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair will square off in one-on-one action. Undoubtedly, Flair will be looking to soften Orton up for Triple H, as RAW is just days before the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble.

Will Batista attempt to qualify for the Royal Rumble on Monday Night RAW? The offer is there if he wants it. However, the big man of Evolution is thinking it over first, as Triple H asked him not to act selfish by attempting to be in the Royal Rumble. Rather, Triple H claims, Evolution should focus all of their attention on walking out of the pay-per-view with the same World Heavyweight Championship they are walking in with.

And with a number of RAW Superstars still to be named to the Royal Rumble Match, who else will get a chance to qualify and potentially headline WrestleMania?

Tune in to Monday Night RAW on Spike TV (9/8 CT) to find out.

[VCXZX]

Dave Batista continues to be the best in the WWE today, with his match against La Resistance, and his verbiage with various folks today. I really like what he did after his match (no offense to the Canadian folk). He's a man of his word. He's my pick for the Rumble this year.

That Maria really has to go. A 4-year old would do a better job of interviewing than her.

I'm all for people with microphones at ringside, but Davari annoyed me with his comments.

Another Smackdown diss as Lawler mentioned that Benoit jumped after he won the Rumble last year.

Why did Edge mention Angle in his spiel about how no one can stop him at the Rumble? Doesn't he know that Angle isn't in the Rumble match?

Main event was alright.

[email2003]

I hate it when Tazz disses RAW when he knows RAW stands on top of SmackDown! anyday of the week.

Oh yes, Stacy Keibler graces RAW once again. Goota love her.

Also, I missed RAW from 8:30 - 9:30. Fell asleep and the stupid remote changed the channel and taped some other channel.

[Kasumi]

How come I had to miss Batista sticking flag poles up La Frenchie's butts? God, I always miss the good stuff :mad:.

Main event was okay. Flair Flops always cheer me up. And I didn't know wrestlers bladed at house shows. Randy must have cut too deep to get stitches.

And Taz and Cole dissing RAW? RAW has been kicking SmackDown ass as of late. And good comeback by Lawler.

So like, what happened? I watched from the Hassan v Val Venis match to the end. I had band practice.

[email2003]

So like, what happened? I watched from the Hassan v Val Venis match to the end. I had band practice.He, he, me too!:D

[Spike Mcdougal]

Two years ago Kane is kicked into a burning dumpster and returns the next week with scars or marks,

Last week Kane chokeslams Snitsky and himself through a table and returns with half of his body mangled

Does that make any sense? I think a burning trash recepticle would cash more damage than a table.

[Tapout]

Almost every match stunk, but it was a fantastic show anyway.

Batista officially became my favorite wrestler last night. His interaction with both HHH/Naitch and La Resistance was classic. Conway: "Typical arrogant American." Batista: "That's right." :D

Tajiri/Viscera seems like a complete and utter waste of time right now, but I'm willing to wait and see where the angle with Regal trying to screw Bischoff goes. Regal and Tajiri were awesome together when Tajiri debuted in the WWF and if those two get another go it should be great.

I actually liked Kane/Snitsky/Maven. Snitsky starting the match by smacking Kane in the shoulder was hilarious. I'm not a big fan of Maven, but his attempts to dodge the two larger men were pretty funny.

The battle of guys wearing towels was a borefest, and Davari's loud blathering was unnecessary and annoying. I did like the "Hassan stole my tablecloth" sign however.

Main event included Ric Flair, so of course it was good.

I really wish I had access to Pay-Per-View because I'd definately buy this Sunday's Royal Rumble. I'm going to be shocked if Batista doesn't win.

[Kippy]

I thought RAW was only okay this week. There were six matches, but only one of them was really entertaining for me. They did a decent job of building up the matches for the Royal Rumble. The feud between Michaels and Edge has been great and Triple H and Orton's feud has been okay, but the build up for the actual Royal Rumble match has been lacking. Batista's recent development has been great, but it seems to have come at the expense of the other wrestlers in the match. There are 15 wrestlers from RAW in the match, but Batista's the only one who seems to have any chance of winning it.

The opening six man tag match was a little short but probably the best match of the night. I guess that's not very surprising considering who was involved here. Even Tomko didn't look that bad in this match. I liked how they just casually mentioned that Benoit qualified for the Rumble. You'd think they'd make a bigger deal out of that considering he went the distance to win it last year.

Viscera versus Tajiri wasn't even a match. Viscera shouldn't be on any pay-per-view. He's lost almost all of his matches since coming back to RAW, but he gets to be in the Rumble just because they need another big guy.

I didn't care for the match between Batista and La Résistance. La Résistance has been stale for a long, long time, but the tag team champions shouldn't be so easily defeated in a handicap match. The fans already like Batista, there was no reason to get him some cheap pops by beating up some foreigners.

Hassan versus Venis was better than I expected it to be. I thought it wouldn't last long, but Venis was able to get in some offense. I wonder who they're going to have Hassan feud with after the Rumble.

The triple threat match between Kane, Maven, and Snitsky was another short bout that didn't amount to much. I don't know why Maven had to lose again. He finally has a somewhat interesting character, but he can't win a single match. They need to do something with him quick while the crowds still hate him.

Orton versus Flair was an okay main event. Things should be more interesting next week when there's a new challenger for Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship.