"WWE RAW" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

RAW is already on the fast track to SummerSlam with the WWE Championship officially on the line. And tonight we will find out if Hulk Hogan will accept the challenge of Shawn Michaels.

Also tonight, Edge and Kane will eliminate all outside interference when they are locked inside the steel cage and the second elimination of the RAW Diva Search. TZer NozeNuggets tells me he will be in attendance tonight and is looking forward to checking in with any off-air happenings.


Will Hogan accept HBK's challenge?
July 18, 2005

Two weeks ago, Shawn Michaels laid out the Immortal Hulk Hogan with "Sweet Chin Music." Last week he was on Piper's Pit and told Hogan that there was a price to pay for immortality. Then, before laying out a second-straight Hall of Famer in Piper, he challenged Hogan to a one-on-one matchup for SummerSlam. It would be The Legend vs. The Icon. Will Hogan answer his challenge and give the fans "one more match?"

WWE.com has just learned that Edge and Kane will square off in a rematch from last week. This time, however, all outside interference will be eliminated, as both Superstars will compete inside a steel cage.

Plus, the 2005 RAW Diva Search is well underway, and with last week's talent competition, it has been kicked into high gear. Alexis was sent home last week. This week, one more girl gets eliminated.

Also, John Cena vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam was announced by RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff, who received Cena's FU finisher for his trouble. With his authority challenged in brash fashion, how will Bischoff respond on RAW? And now that the match has been made, will the two Superstars be able to stay apart until SummerSlam, or will their emotions overflow?

[SirLemming]

"BOOOO-RING"

Hahahaaaa! Yes. LISTEN TO YOUR FANS, WWE. This is the worst Diva Search segment yet, and that's saying something. It's super-typical reality show crap, with the "secret confessionals" saying who they would vote off -- and they PLAY this in front of a live audience, and expect them to stay interested? I mean, at least the other Diva Search segments were women getting sexy in front of the live audience. This segment, however, just has no value at all on a wrestling show. A bunch of girls who have nothing going for them but their looks in a TALKING segment. And what's with the buzzer, anyway? These are taped statements.

[James Bester]

How many more Benjamin/Carlito matches are we gonna have to go through? Yeah, it's a pretty good matchup, but it gets old the fifth time around.

[VCXZX]

That was the best promo Edge has ever given. Easily the best part of RAW so far.

[Jude Santos]

"BOOOO-RING"

Hahahaaaa! Yes. LISTEN TO YOUR FANS, WWE. This is the worst Diva Search segment yet, and that's saying something. It's super-typical reality show crap, with the "secret confessionals" saying who they would vote off -- and they PLAY this in front of a live audience, and expect them to stay interested? I mean, at least the other Diva Search segments were women getting sexy in front of the live audience. This segment, however, just has no value at all on a wrestling show. A bunch of girls who have nothing going for them but their looks in a TALKING segment. And what's with the buzzer, anyway? These are taped statements.

Tonight's might have sucked like no other, but the segments actually get good ratings (ratings > boring chants). I don't know about last week's, but the first two diva segments were the highest rated on that week's RAW. As much as we hate it, it's here to stay.

Regardless, awesome promo by Edge.

[Majin_Megabyte]

Matt Hardy Strikes again. I should suspect this to happend again. hehe.

[VCXZX]

I would've preferred to see him attack Edge from undereath the ring during the match. But that was just fine like everything else with this angle so far.

I liked Edge's Indies line.

Interesting that Matt ran away from the cops, hmmmm.

[Jude Santos]

what in the world is Angle doing in the group of Lumberjacks?

Poor Kurt.

[VCXZX]

I actually like Kerwin's segments this week. I like his catchphrase and his outfit. "High-5!"

Michaels still needs to get new music, and not act like a face during his entrance. Hopefully he changes his act. Also Michaels hopefully carries Hogan to a good match.

Well, perhaps it was for the best for the awesome Hardy angle to take place before the match. I predict next week, Hardy has some sort of effect on the Edge/Kane stretcher match.

I didn't care for Maria's stupidity that much this week. Cena seemed to channel the Rock.

I liked Angle and Kerwin discussing his outfit. First Raw appearance of Danny Basham, too.

Best part of the main-event was Jericho throwing an old-school WCW temper tantrum. I'm not looking forward to the Battle of the Bands next week.

[SirLemming]

Other than the Diva Search, this was a pretty good show. I liked how the good guys from earlier in the night came out at the end, it had a cool vibe to it.

[Zero Signal]

I don't know what the problem was, but the show seemed to just drag on forever tonight. Realy boring all the way through.

-I'm hoping that Shelton's constant tripping and almost falling is part of the storyline. Not a bad match, but Carlito is really bland in the ring. You knew the DQ was coming, so it was all by-the-numbers. Carlito is pretty good at being a cowardly heel, though.

-Matt Striker again? I respect the continuity, but I'm really ready for somebody to finally end the Angle Invitational (hopefully CM Punk). Kurt is way too talented to be drifting with no storyline or opponent. Give the man something for Summerslam.

-Still don't care about the Diva Search, and neither does the crowd. Ashley will end up winning, so just give it to her and let us get back to wrestling.

-I'm glad Michaels is a heel, but I can't stand Hogan. We needed to waste 15 minutes for him to say "Yes, I accept your challenge"? Shawn will carry the dinosaur to a watchable match, but Hogan is taking a PPV spot from a regular wrestler on the roster. Boo to him, pimp your dumb show somewhere else.

-Thankfully it looks like the end is in sight of the stupid masterlock Challenge. Come on Big Show, let's end it and get back to better wrestlers. Masters is in good shape, but he's terrible in the ring. Again, I have to wonder what's going on backstage that this clown gets to keep his job while more talented athetes are released.

-They kept the Matt Hardy run-in short this time. Edge is playing this really good, with an awesome promo on Matt and the general internet crowd. The cage match with Kane was pretty good, too. Both guys ended up looking strong, although Kane did look stupid trying to climb out with the cage door open. I can't believe there's another match next week, this just won't end.

-Not much to say about the main event. Lumberjack matches usually suck, so it's no surprise this one was no different. I can't stand when they do the storyline of the amazing, invincible babyface; it was dumb when the did it with Austin and Rock, and it's still really dumb. It's stuff like this, a paper champion in the ring while at least 2 more deserving people watch on from the sidelines, that are killing my intrest in the product lately. Thanks, John Cena, for making me miss Triple H.

[The Penguin]

I’m going to do my best not to rag on Lilian here but I don’t know if it will work. Why the heck did she start to introduce the Intercontinental Championship match when Bischoff came out? The entrance theme didn’t match up and the show hadn’t been introduced yet. Even if it was supposed to go that way it just didn’t make sense.

I don’t feel they come up that often, but I’m actually tired of lumberjack matches. They used to have a semi-point as a way to keep the wrestlers in the ring when they couldn’t seem to do it themselves, but now it’s just to “stack the deck” and it’s not a very impressive way to do it.

Almost before Lilian finished saying “count out” I knew Carlito was going to get himself DQed. Shelton just can’t seem to catch much of a break.

I don’t mind Matt Striker, but I find that I don’t really care that much about him either. A part of me feels like I shouldn’t want Angle to come out on top, but I do. No one should be winning his gold medal—that’s just too much.

Well the “who would you vote off” was far less interesting than it was the last time around. Almost everyone was so complimentary it was disgusting. Simona’s elimination doesn’t shock me one bit after her just odd “talent” display last week. I just don’t think the fans got her and that wasn’t the fans’ fault.

The more we see the Boogeyman, the more I think we’ve got a shot at having another Mordecai on our hands.

I must admit I did kind of like the little Kerwin White segment with Eric Bischoff. This could work, but I’m gonna have to warm up to the “If it’s not White, it’s not right” catchphrase.

A battle of the bands next week? Well it’s bound to be better than Cena’s “battle raps” from over on SmackDown!

The Master Lock Challenge has a graphic now?!! Things have officially gone too far. Now Rosey was a real test for Masters. When the music first hit I was afraid they were going to make Hurricane look like a tool, but Rosey held his own long enough to be respected. I was disappointed The Masterpiece didn’t come up with a better cop-out for Show’s challenge. I was expecting him to say he’d already had a challenge this week or something.

Well, Adam since you seem to be somewhat a slimeball I have no problem commenting on your personal life. Good promo though.

It’s a pleasure to watch two pros like Hogan and Michaels interact. This feud is going to be the match of SummerSlam regardless of what else is added to the card.

Well a rather unheralded RAW debut for Danny Basham in the back of the lumberjacks group. Same type of thing happened to the last guys RAW got in a trade, A-Train and Chuck Palumbo and you don’t see them around anymore.

Matt Hardy strikes again! Man, security was right on top of him this week, although it appears he did make his escape. I want to point out that while they do break up fights, WWE agents Johnny Ace and Steve “Skinner” Keirn don’t work event security and yet they were there holding Matt back.

The cage and now a stretcher match seem to imply that the Kane-Edge conflict is nearing its end. The finish to the cage was well-done with the briefcase to the head. Kane’s evil grin was just punctuated by the blood flowing down his face.

Ah Cena and Maria, what a cute couple they make. The Champ may not always score points with me, but the way he interacts with Maria is priceless. I bet she was still looking for the lumberjack shirt come match time.

Wow, I take back what I said about the Bischoff segment at the top of the show. That was quite possibly the best lumberjack match I’ve ever seen (not like that says much, but still). Jericho’s reactions to things not going his way were priceless and he seemed to have a good command of Snitsky and the other eleven guys at ringside, which is important for the challenger to the Championship. I loved the “replacement” lumberjacks running down and taking out the ones Jericho picked out. It was just cool to see for some reason. I think Show and Vis had a bit too much fun with Romeo and Antonio though.

Thanks, John Cena, for making me miss Triple H.

Shhhh! They might hear you!

[SirLemming]

I wonder if WWE is telling Edge to just swear all he wants and let the censors worry about it (to make the angle seem more real or something), because he sure doesn't seem to be holding back. I was pretty sure I heard a WTF last week, but I'm definitely sure I heard two S-words tonight.

-Thankfully it looks like the end is in sight of the stupid masterlock Challenge. Come on Big Show, let's end it and get back to better wrestlers. Masters is in good shape, but he's terrible in the ring. Again, I have to wonder what's going on backstage that this clown gets to keep his job while more talented athetes are released.

I don't like the Masterlock Challenge either, but how can you say he's terrible in the ring? Hasn't he only had one match? Maybe two? Have you seen him in another federation or a dark match?

Michaels still needs to get new music, and not act like a face during his entrance. Hopefully he changes his act. Also Michaels hopefully carries Hogan to a good match.

I think it's cool, actually, how he's this unique type of heel where he really seems to have good intentions but he screws it up a little.

[NozeNuggets]

What happened after they left the airwaves? We got not a Batisita-Cena vs. HHH-JBL tag match, that they advertised, but a Batista-Cena-Hogan vs HHH-JBL-HBK six-man tag match! Shaun's pants were torn, and when they were shown on the big screen, the crowd roared! Why? He wasn't wearing any underwear. Also, Cena got a leg up on HHH's, er, inheiritance for the lack of a better word, and I believe it was about a minute before he walked forward and fell flat on his face as JBL was egging him on to go forward. In the end, Hogan finished off the big tall Texas Traitor with his patented leg drop for the pin.

[Zero Signal]

I don't like the Masterlock Challenge either, but how can you say he's terrible in the ring? Hasn't he only had one match? Maybe two? Have you seen him in another federation or a dark match?

I just don't think Masters is all that great in the ring. When he debuted on Raw back on 2/21, he injured Steven Richards. I'm sorry, but how does being clumsy entitle you to a push? After that he mostly did Masterlock Challenges on Heat, but he did have some matches against "jobbers" (Caprice Coleman on 3/13, Jimmy Rave on 3/20, Sean Evans on 4/10, etc.) that weren't very good. Then when Richards returned from injury on Raw May 23, they had a terrible match. Some would blame that on Richards, but I think Stevie is a decent enough wrestler. Masters has even had bad matches with Val Venis, who's a veteran and a guy who I would have thought couldn't have a bad match (just bad gimmicks ). Different tastes, I suppose, but I personally think Masters should improve in the ring and not be blown up after 5 minutes. That being said, the gimmick seems to be working and I can't really fault the guy for that.

[Condiment King]

Diva search? Waste of time. Masterlock challenge? I'm done with this. I really don't care for either Chris Masters or Big Show but at least it looks like his gimmick is almost over.

Wow, I thought that Shelton winning by countout was enough to go ahead and get the greenlight for the Summerslam match but apparently that either wasn't enough or Summerslam is too far away to book a midcard match already. Regardless, this match served as more build-up for a Summerslam match but unfortunately, the more this match shows up, the less of an attraction it will be at the summer event.

Again, Kerwin White could go either way. It could be one of the worst gimmicks ever or actually pull something out of its hat. Regardless, at least they are doing something with Chavo Guerrero rather than just shipping him down to main event status of Sunday Night Heat. But yeah, its not looking promising at this point.

I am not feeling the Shawn Michaels/Hulk Hogan feud at all. The segment was not good this week. Michaels just keeps saying that he "wanted to come up with something new for the fans". This is such a terrible angle to play. I just don't get it. I really can't stand Hulk Hogan's last nostalgia tour so his face to Michaels' heel is even more annoying. Also, its easily predictable that Hogan will pull out the Summerslam matchup.

I actually liked the lumberjack match and the nice execution that should bring more to the Cena/Jericho feud. Can't help but agree that its sad that Kurt Angle is just another one of the heels in Jericho's group. Angle has really fallen already on RAW which is stunning in how short of time he's been there. I like Angle's feud with Matt Stryker but with :30 left, he could have at least held on for awhile before tapping. I'm guessing that since he was hooked up away from the TitanTron, he couldn't see to make sure he still had time. Either that or he was just told to oversell the angle lock as much as possible.

Another wrestler that is about to go down is Kane. Edge's feud with Kane is all but over and Kane has no other bad blood with anyone but Gene Snitsky. That feud isn't fresh and honestly, who wants to see a rematch of these two wrestlers? Bleh. Regardless, I absolutely loved Edge's promo and the entire Edge/Hardy angle. The cage match was good too.

[halinar]

Benjamin vs Carlito and the rest holds of doom round 3. I guess next week we'll get a no count out, no DQ match.

Lordy... someone get Hogan off my TV. I just don't care. It's the same speech we've had to sit though for the last 15 years now. We get it "brotha"

For the whole lumberjack thing to work... every once in a while the good guy has to actually loose the match because of it not overcome the odds yet again to win the match

[Djm912]

I-Matt Striker again? I respect the continuity, but I'm really ready for somebody to finally end the Angle Invitational (hopefully CM Punk). Kurt is way too talented to be drifting with no storyline or opponent. Give the man something for Summerslam.

You and me both are hoping for Punk to take on Angle in the Invitational.

Anyway, this Raw was pretty substandard. There were a few moments that I enjoyed, and one of them crazy enough came from John Cena. Well, actually. It was Maria. She plays the dumb gimmick incredibly well, and she makes John Cena's interviews watchable. Good for her.

Also, it was great seeing Matt Hardy again. With as much as WWE hates 'internet wrestlings fans', it's nice to see them giving "smarks" a little taste of what they've been chanting for. Edge is doing great. Some of the lines like "Go back to the indies." were gold. For a worked shoot, he's doing great. And Matt, well. . .just keep on doing what you're doing, and you'll become bigger than Brian Pillman's story.

Matrix Revolutions was on during the diva segment. . . .that's how uninterested I was in. And I guess the Philly crowd felt the same way, from what I've been reading.

HBK and Hogan isn't interesting me at all. I hope HBK superkicks Hogan's bandana right off of his head, though. Hogan can plug his reality show somewhere else.

[NozeNuggets]

Well, there were almost 14,000 people there for the show on Monday (7/18), including this reporter. In the dark match, I can tell you that Garrison Cade and Trevor Rhodes are doing a new Texan Cowboy gimmick calling themselves "TNT" and wearing western gear to the ring. Of course in Philadelphia, that doesn't carry over too easy, especially when the members of the NFC Champs Are HERE! For the full dark match, International Heat (as the show here in the States goes live this week for The Great American Bash) as well as that match I told you about, I have a link for you:

http://www.pwtorch.com/artman/publis...le_14055.shtml

[Punisher]

This Raw was pretty boring. Hogan and HBK took entirely too long, I watch wrestling for WRESTLING, believe it or not. Which brings to how much of a waste of time the diva search segment is. They all complemented each other instead of just saying who they wanted out. I wish WWE would listen to the crowds.

I'm starting to like Chris Masters a little, if just becasue they finally gave him somewhat of a challange this week, though I thought Rosey could've lasted a little longer. And I knew Big Show would come out, anytime someone says how they beat somebody "big" Show just comes out. Though Masters could've turned him down better.