"WWE RAW" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

RAW and all of World Wrestling Entertainment are on the road to SummerSlam as we head into the last WWE show of July. Tonight, Triple H is expected to be back for Shawn Michaels, but the McMahons are expected to be back as well. It should be an interesting night, especially after WWE headquarters was found vandalized (http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/hqvandalized) this morning with a big DX logo.


http://www.wwe.com/content/media/touts/feature/29062/3112186Will HBK be the one to stop Umaga?
July 31, 2006

What did Mr. McMahon say to his Executive Assistant Jonathan Coachman on the phone last week on RAW? While we know his plan was to have Shawn Michaels face Coachman in a singles match, what else did he have planned?

With Triple H absent from the arena, and the Chairman at his daughter’s bedside while she was in labor, the remaining half of D-Generation X suffered, no doubt pleasing Mr. McMahon whether he had planned it or not. Was Umaga part of the Chairman’s plan to destroy DX? How will HBK and The Game react to Umaga’s interference? We'll find out when the Showstopper tries to stop Umaga in a one-on-one match on RAW.

Also tonight on RAW, the Legend Killer Randy Orton will apparently debut his brand new show, Orton Knows Best. No one knows what the show entails, but considering Orton's recent actions towards Hulk Hogan and the name of Hogan's own television show (Hogan Knows Best), you can only imagine what the Legend Killer has up his sleeve.

Also, John Cena’s hunger for another opportunity at the WWE Championship keeps growing. He showed WWE Champion Edge that he won’t quit until he’s reclaimed WWE gold. The Rated R Superstar was distraught after Cena pinned his tag team partner Johnny Nitro on RAW. Did Cena finally turn the tides on his rival, or will Edge figure out a way to strike back?

The Diva Search saw another finalist get stricken from the list. Maryse Ouellete was the second Diva Search finalist to exit the competition. After the Diva Search Musical Chairs that took place at Friday Night SmackDown, the pool of finalists will be cut to five Monday on RAW. Who will make it one step closer to being crowned the winner of the 2006 $250,000 Diva Search?

Mick Foley will be on RAW to address Ric Flair’s obsession with getting a rematch. The Hardcore Legend has made it clear he has no plans to bother with the “Nature Boy,” so what will his announcement be about?

Also, there will be a Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship as Johnny Nitro defends his gold against Shelton Benjamin and Carlito.

Plus WWE.com has learned Monday night will be the debut of Orton Knows Best. What that will entail is a mystery at this point but with the blossoming rivalry between Orton and Hogan, it may not be pretty.

With SummerSlam rapidly approaching, the answers to these questions are crucial. RAW at 9/8 CT, live from the Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey, is the only place the answers will be revealed.

[email2003]

About the DX logo on the building, come on, so Photoshop.:shrug:

[VCXZX]

No mention of DX Tower? That's strange.

What an awful segment. Most of the laughter of that lame segment seemed very forced. And its stuff we've seen before. Photoshop pictures of wrestler superimposed on other bodies. I think Jericho did it the best.

Also, it appears many members of the Production truck seemed to have failed their wellness tests.

The I-c match was very fun. Good ending, good wrestling.

And I think I know why JR called Shelton Benjamin the TO of the WWE:
http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/sheltonbenjamin/topratedvideos/

The 4th one should do it.

[SirLemming]

Sweet triple-threat match, but it was over too soon. Also, I don't think I understood one thing JR said during the match. "This is like that song 'Hips Don't Lie' by Shakira!" What?

[Matt Hazuda]

I'm slowly finding myself liking this 3-way battle for the IC title more than I thought I would.

Jeers to WWE for once again cutting Randy Orton's opening from TV again :mad:

[email2003]

:lol: Rick "The Sign Guy" in NJ!? Where does he get the money for this stuff!?

[SirLemming]

These guys wouldn't know good pacing if it bit them in the butt (in a well-timed fashion). It was long talking, an average-length match, and then more long talking. This isn't helped by the fact that "Orton Knows Best" was a big waste of time. The best things about that segment were the title and the logo. Well, that and the Brooke Hogan stand-in who looked better than the real thing.

Next, on Cooking With Lawler: Jerry shows us how to whip respect into someone's ass!


AND after that... more incomprehensible commentary. JR seems to be trying to work more pop-culture references into his commentary, but unfortunately he's lost pretty much all sense of coherency. Not that he's making sense during his non-pop-culture related commentary either.

[VCXZX]

Orton Knows Best was very disappointing. It didn't sart off well thanks to them not showing Orton's entrance. They would've been better off doing a filmed skit spoofing the show, rather than lame impressions of the Hogan clan.

And now we know why we've seen Lawler and Orton having issues. Next week they fight in Lawler's hometown.

[MGFanJay]

Flair-Foley is the highlight of the show so far, because this has been crap until this bit.

[Mr.HeathBell]

Ric Flair is drunk

[SirLemming]

Pee-Wee's Playhouse newcomer: FLAIRY!


Man, I have no idea what Ric Flair said. But it sure was something to watch.

So far there's been way too much talking, though.

[VCXZX]

That was the best segment on RAW in weeks. Great stuff by Foley as he continued to bury Flair on the mic. I laughed at the Bush diss. Both were great here although Flair was very drunk. Foley's last part was very classic. This feud continues to be one-sided but entertaining nevertheless.

[halinar]

Good Lord, wrestling??? anytime, please?
I can't wait for football in the worst way.

[James Bester]

Wow, this is one of the worst wrestling shows I've ever seen. Can it get any worse?

Oh yeah, the diva search....:yawn:

AND Umaga in the main event. This show has reached the point where it's painful. And now the McMahons are coming out, and there's a commercial break at 10:54. I can't even express how much I've hated this show.

[Punisher]

This entire show is awful.

Wrestling please.

[bigddan11]

Last week's RAW was one of the best of the year, mostly because Vince wasn't involved. This weeks was one of the worst. The 3-way IC match was cool, but it should have been much longer. Foley/ Flair was also okay. The rest of the show has been utter crap, and it looks like Unlimited has been discontinued as this is the third week in a row without it.

[VCXZX]

Main event surved its purpose. Umaga continues his streak. And D-X finally get their comeuppance. And next week, I don;t see Umaga losing to the game.

Besides foley-Flair, for the most part, a medicore show.

[and2]

Oh my god that was bad.

Shawn Michaels was in true form here, burying Umaga as best as he could. I hate this guy more than anyone in the wrestling world right now, and I seriously hope he gets AIDS and his family is enslaved and become drug mules.

I don't get the Flair/Foley love, not only was it overly long, but Foley burried Flair.

[SirLemming]

If this were the first bad Raw in a long time I'd be furious. As it stands it's a big disappointment, especially compared to the decent show last week and the more-decent Smackdowns.

I think there have been shows with a worse wrestling-to-talking ratio, but I think this one was especially bad because of the sheer number of talking segments, their lack of much redeeming value, and also the generally poor quality of the wrestling (whenever it did happen to show up).

The first and last matches were good (though as mentioned above, the first one should've gone on a lot longer), but the middle three ranged from unspectacular to awful. The Highlander vs. Spirit Squad member match (don't expect me to know their names) was particularly dull; did you see the crowd? Wow.
And Cena vs. Striker was simply way too short, especially considering they brought out the Rated R Announce Table JUST FOR THAT MATCH. What was it, like, a minute? And nothing really happened. I don't think the segment had a lot of potential anyway, but sheesh, at least make it look like you're trying.
I didn't really bother paying attention to the women's match. From what I saw, it looked better than the other two middle matches but still pretty blah.


So this show was pretty much a train wreck. I suppose it was probably better than the ECW New Breed premiere, but only because of the sheer odds involved. If you throw crap at a wall for two hours rather than one, more of it is bound to stick.

At least it's kind of funny to listen to the rapidly disintegrating commentary, in a Batman & Robin sort of way.

[Spike Mcdougal]

Oh my god that was bad.

Shawn Michaels was in true form here, burying Umaga as best as he could. I hate this guy more than anyone in the wrestling world right now, and I seriously hope he gets AIDS and his family is enslaved and become drug mules.

That's not right

[SirLemming]

That's not right Then let's add an RVD joke to it and make it right.

[James Bester]

And thus ends one of the worst episodes in RAW history. Seriously, in my time as a wrestling fan I have never seen a show more boring, grating, and lackluster than this. Even the ECW premiere episode was better than this crap.

First we start with the average DX promo. Seriously, it's gotten old. No one cares that Triple H is the father, no one cares that WWE can use photoshop, and no one cares about the McMahons.

And the triple threat match was the only decent match of the night. Benjamin and Carlito can put on a show. It's just too bad Nitro was involved. Horrible expected finish.

The Orton Knows Best segment was just a freaking waste of time. It just wasn't funny at all. I guess the point of the segment was for Orton to slap Lawler. What's funny is that no one cares about Lawler either. Wasn't he a heel just a couple of weeks ago anyway?

The Divas match was also bad. I could care less about Torrie Wilson. I don't want to see a photoshoot of a middle-aged woman in lingerie. And then we had to watch Candice "wrestle". How does this woman still have a job in the company? She gets no reaction, she can't wrestle, she sounds like a monkey on the mic....I just see no point to her being on the show. It's just too bad that Mickie couldn't carry her to a good match. And then Trish botches the Stratusfaction at the end. Wonderful:shrug:

Now to the only good part of the show. The Ric Flair/Foley feud is the only good thing going for this show right now. Every week, Foley completely owns Flair and Flair just goes crazy like only the nature boy can. I really hope it ends up being a Hardcore Match at Summerslam. That would be one of the top matches on the show.

I wonder why the McMahons and DX get around a half-hour on the show, while Cena and Edge only get three minutes. What kind of logic is that? Anyway, a boring squash match and no development in the feud. I know these two could put on a decent feud if WWE would actually give them a chance. Too bad, I guess Umaga, DX, and the McMahons are the only things that matter on this waste of time show.

And oh boy, the Highlanders/Spirit Squad feud continues. Horrible promo followed by a horrible match. I can't believe the Highlanders are already the number one contenders. Of course, I also can't believe that Umaga is in the main event. Whatever, I think uncreative needs to take a drug test more than any of the wrestlers need to.

The diva search was the same crap we've been subjected to for weeks now. And The Miz somehow managed to screw up for the fourth week in a row.

And please, get that piece of crap Umaga off my TV. He isn't even worthy of going on HEAT. This man has no business being in the main event. Hey, maybe I could get my neighbor into the main event. Maybe since he's big enough and can use his thumb to stab people, he'll earn a main event spot. I can't believe they made HBK job to him. And then we got to see the McMahons do the same crap that they've done to him since January. I guess I can't use RAW and variety in the same sentence.

I guess the only reason last week's RAW was decent was because Vince didn't show up. How can you produce such a bad show?

[PTurkey]

Opening segment was horrible. The 'baby pictures' were of a Fark noob-level quality and came uncomfortably close to murdering kayfabe. DX can't break up soon enough.

As was Orton Knows Best. The concept had so much potential if they had put some creativity into it, but they just had to go with the lousy impostor route. WWE seriously needs better comedy writers. And Randy totally making out with fake Brooke as if she were the real Brooke seemed too weird and creepy, even for him.

The Divas' tag match was okay for a Divas' match, but I seriously wanted to punch JR for stupid comments. "This will be the most TiVo's match of the year by WNBA fans and Rosie O'Donnell, not that there's anything wrong with that," he says. Who the hell tells him to say this crap?

I am so proud of my home state for not HOO-RAH~!ing.

Uuuuuuuuuuumaga is a lot less fun without Arrrmando Alejandro Estrrrada doing his mic work. But at least he's an okay big man worker.

IC Triple Threat and Foley's promo were the good.

[Hyper Shadow X]

Was an ok show tonight

[MGFanJay]

Orton Knows Best peaked with the graphic, but Umaga was fantastic tonight, as were Flair and Foley. The IC title feud is okay, but these two have been going at it for too long in lackluster matches for either the feud or the title to really mean anything. The opening stuff wth DX was horrible, but I expected that going in. The Flair and Foley stuff saved this show, since it was incredibly emotional, and even gave me chills at times.

[The Myst]

Worst Raw since the Katie Vick episodes.

[Wing Zero]

Opening segment was meh, oh the heck with it RAW was just uninteresting tonight. I kept the TV on but was always distracted by something else. The main event featured out of all people, Umaga?? This guy still gets no reaction after months of being on TV. I don't think pushing him as undefeated is going to suddenly spark Goldberg levels of popularity on the guy. I will say his Samoan drop is good.

IC title match was decent but its getting to be the same thing every week, and I just realized I can say that about RAW.

Also something I remembered about the botched ending to the divas match. I believe that's the second time Mickie botched the Stratusfaction. I think both times she had the same problem of not being able to lift up Trish high enough.

[Fifi Fanatic]

I'll just chime in here too. Except for Foley and the triple threat match, it was a rather poor show. I eventually tuned out and popped in my Animaniacs DVD. :p

[MGFanJay]

I forgot to mention how great Matt Striker was tonight. It started off with his sarcastic reading of "homies", then continued to "let's consult the dictionary, don't worry, I HAVE IT MEMORIZED!", and then went on with him giving the Hit Squad hand signal when mentioning "homicide". It's a shame he'll never get pushed as a wrestler, but he'd make a great manager for a main eventer. Compared to recent Raws, this one was pretty decent. It certainly wasn't the worst show recently, as Raw has been God-awful for about six months now.

[hobbyfan]

The photoshop bits haven't been truly great since Chris Jericho's famous parody of "Green Eggs & Ham", starring Chris Benoit, way back in the day. Let's just skip to the ending. I have an idea for Summerslam:

McMahons v. DX. Crazy Vinnie, of course, makes it No-DQ. Umaga and the Spirit Squad get involved. Linda & Stephanie come down, seeing that Vince is hurt. Stephanie adds to the pain with a low blow, enabling HHH (who else?) to finish off the insane chairman. It's anticlimatic, I know, but the next night, the ladies decide that Vince has long been unfit to run Raw, so he's out, and Dusty Rhodes is named GM to take his place. The McMahon family won't be seen again until Christmas, although it's finally acknowledged that HHH is in fact Aurora's father, but they'll try to claim it's out of wedlock, and Crazy Vinnie will try to say Hunter's taking after Ric Flair or something.

Umaga's 1st loss was a DQ vs. HBK, so in a way he gets a win back, but this is not the way I wanted to do it. Foley-Flair saved the show from being totally wasted.

[Condiment King]

I'll agree with the sentiment that this was a surprisingly bad RAW. Outside of the triple threat Intercontinental title match and Foley's part of the Foley/Flair promo, there really wasn't anything good. Even "Orton Knows Best" turned out to be a huge disappointment.

The Divas segments are still terrible and are beginning to resemble a mini-reality show than just a contest with these interview bits. John Cena didn't even let Matt Striker get any offense in. Reminds me of a Hulk Hogan/midcarder match from the early 90's. DX/McMahons comedy is still unfunny. I also don't know what's more odd: the fact that the Squad never truly won against DX or the fact that DX (as well as Cena) are going to job to Umaga. Ugh.

[The Penguin]

The McMahons-DX opening was okay. It was probably good to establish that the three missing last week were in the house at the top of the show. We’ve seen the doctored pictures before and they have to be really good to be funny. This was not one of those times.

After both men won a number one contender match, I expected Carlito and Benjamin to fight again, but I suppose another title match also makes sense to some extent. Good to see Nitro get the win by hook or by crook.

I enjoyed the ‘Orton Knows Best’ segment. Hulk Hogan is ripe for parody and this group didn’t do bad of a job. Somehow, I don’t think the real version will appreciate it. I didn’t know what Randy was doing after he kissed ‘Brooke’—he seemed to be going the wrong way. The King may live to regret his challenge.

Here’s a thought, maybe the way to end the ‘controversial’ finishes to the Diva tag matches is to have a regular referee in the match! Torrie’s a lot (and I mean a lot) nicer to look at than Jack Doan, but seriously.

Wow, for all of Ric Flair’s crazy intensity, it took Mick Foley less than two minutes to completely re-school him on the mic. Foley is taking his barbed wire baseball bat and just hacking away at Space Mountain.

“This company needs a staff psychologist! What the hell is going on?!” Congratulations to JR for the quote of the night.

Striker ended up being a minor footnote in the Cena-Edge story, but at least he was given the opportunity to talk first. Otherwise, our teacher just got schooled.

Okay, JR, The Highlanders lost one and won three!! Cripes, it’s not that special. Just about everybody wins their first few matches. They lost one, three wins is not an undefeated streak. I don’t even wanna talk about the match, I just don’t want to hear JR brag about Rory and Robbie’s three wins again!! :mad:

YES!!! Good-bye Rebecca you arrogant :ack:! I can now breath easy. She would have been the worst choice and that even counts the overly fragile, charismaless Erica. The wannabe ‘Diva hate’ didn’t do it for me this time. It just didn’t find it interesting. Two did pick Rebecca though. Nice work, Erica and JT.

So Triple H gets arrested for having the McMahons’ Cuban cigars and Estrada’s got four in his pocket every single week. I don’t imagine it’s okay for Cubans to have Cuban cigars. He doesn’t have diplomatic immunity or anything. (And yes JR, the Cuban has Cuban cigars in his pocket. Why the hell else would he have cigars unless they were Cubans?! Jim, usted suena como un moron.)

It would have been stupid, but for a minute there, I kinda thought HBK had a shot. If the McMahons hadn’t been out there with their new buddy Estrada, it would have gone the other way. The running Samoan Spike added something extra to the move.

[Spike Mcdougal]

Wow, for all of Ric Flair’s crazy intensity, it took Mick Foley less than two minutes to completely re-school him on the mic. Foley is taking his barbed wire baseball bat and just hacking away at Space Mountain.



Thanks for the very unnecessary mental image

[SirLemming]

Thanks for the very unnecessary mental image
?
Does the idea really disturb you that much?

[Spike Mcdougal]

?
Does the idea really disturb you that much?

Isnt Flair refering to a certain part of himself when mentioning Space Mountain or is he refering to himself all together?

[SirLemming]

That'd be a pretty odd description. I think he just refers to his overall sexual prowess as Space Mountain. Taking girls on a ride and all that.

[Tapout]

Flair has lost his mind. He's had the outbursts of insanity his entire career, but Monday night was ten minutes of the most inconprehensible promo I've ever seen come out of the mouth of anyone not named Scott Steiner or Sid. And not only is Flair out of it, but it's almost uncomfortable how badly Foley's owning him. I never thought I'd have to say this, but Ric Flair needs to go away. BTW, Space Mountain = the oldest ride in the park, but it still has the longest line.


Other than Foley and the IC title match, the whole show was pretty bad. I highly enjoy Nitro's 360 monkey flip spot.

[The Penguin]

Thanks for the very unnecessary mental imageWell you're welcome. ;) To follow what others have said, I usually think of "Space Mountain" as Ric Flair himself rather than the other choice.

[email2003]

Foley and Flair was good!
John Cena showed you why he sucks in the ring by using his 4 moves of doom in 3 minutes.
The Diva search still sux but though now I have a favorite now and I'm going for Jen.

[SirLemming]

WWE.com has a link to the trailer for the new John Cena movie, The Marine. I'd say be prepared for a whole new marketing blitz every week on Raw, but it's already begun with Cena's increasing use of military gestures and terminology.