"WWE RAW" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

The big news of the night is Shane McMahon is in the house after the chaos we have seen since Vince McMahon's accident. What will Shane-O-Mac do tonight as we begin a week with four WWE shows with Saturday Night's Main Event on (you guessed it) Saturday.

An End to the Mayhem?
July 28, 2008

When Raw convenes in Washington, D.C. on Monday night, Shane McMahon is scheduled to appear. In recent weeks, Shane and his sister, Executive Vice President Stephanie McMahon have implored the WWE Universe to maintain composure on the brand, which has recently been overrun with civil unrest. They've also requested that our fans allow their injured father, WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon, the privacy he desires. Could Shane be coming to Raw to name a new General Manager?

Last Monday night, World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk was battling Batista in a title match when all hell broke loose. The aftermath of the no-contest match saw John Cena rush the ring to tangle with longtime foe JBL, who had charged the ring moments earlier. During his tussle with JBL, Cena inadvertently leveled Batista with a right arm.

Accident or not, the already frustrated Animal was fit to be tied. He came up swinging and the two powerhouses traded blows to end the broadcast. The confrontation between Cena and Batista begs the question, how will the next meeting go between these two?

In no less disturbing Raw action, Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix shared what can best be described as the weirdest love/hate moment Raw has seen in ages.

As The Glamazon looked on from ringside, Marella lost a match to returning Superstar D-Lo Brown. After the match, Phoenix stepped into the ring and scuffled with the spicy Italian. As the two traded waist-lock holds, they suddenly, inexplicably … kissed.

Just as quickly, they pulled back, seemingly afraid of any amorous feelings their lip lock may have evoked. Hmmm. What might have sparked these feelings of amore? And how might a relationship between these two develop, if at all?

Finally, announcers Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler touched on rumors last Monday that, in the absence of a General Manager, Shane and Stephanie McMahon are searching for a new Raw GM. Will our fans soon see a new face as Raw GM? If so, who will take the reins?

To find out the answers to these questions and more, be sure to tune into Monday Night Raw, live at 9/8 CT, only on USA Network.

For more WWE action, don’t miss Saturday Night’s Main Event, Aug. 2 on NBC at 9 p.m. ET.

[Fifi Fanatic]

That sound you just heard was me laughing my head off when Cena said "John Cena vs. Batista should headline Wrestlemania."

[Freedom_Fighter]

That sound you just heard was me laughing my head off when Cena said "John Cena vs. Batista should headline Wrestlemania."

Funny, I'm not even watching the show and I heard ya :anime:

[VCXZX]

With all due respect to the In crowd and Priceless, the team of Beth and Santino are my new favorite tag team. I loved their antics tonight and glad Beth kissed Santino.

[Jin Kazama]

They brought in Adamle to do the announcing?

Time to watch Raw on mute.

I have to admit, as soon as I heard "Technically Sound Free Agent," the first thing I thought of was that Bryan Danielson really wowed 'em in his dark match. The sad thing is, I didn't know if that would be a good thing or not.

[VCXZX]

Great to see Regal return. But I thought he would be the new GM. Still can't complain when Punk and Regal have a great match. And adding to the great match was the best commentator today, JBL. His announcing proved how much I miss him alongside Michael Cole. at "A Man's man." Nice in-joke there.

[SirLemming]

I'm sorry, but the GTS just isn't cutting it as a finisher anymore. It's always been a questionable-looking move to me -- it's never looked very painful -- but seeing Regal get taken out by it after so much offense just didn't seem right. CM Punk will be a more convincing world champion if he figures out something better.

[BigBear]

Alright, JR's back. Too bad they still have to announce with Adamle.

edit: WHAAAAAT! THEY NAMED ADAMLE AS THE NEW GM?!

[RSNaco]

ADAMLE'S THE GM?! This won't end well...

[Majin_Megabyte]

Did we just got served?

[VCXZX]

So the ending uh. Very uh interesting. Didn't see that one coming. I would guess there's more to this that will be revealed soon, because I dont know if Adamle will last a week as GM. At least styles can call ECW again.

I would guess that Cena/Batista wont be the final match and it'll involve more wrestlers including Punk for the World title.

Overall, a decent raw.

[Aces 21]

What in the world just happened? Adamle is Raw's Newest GM?! This could be either good or bad depending on who you are. I would like to see how this plays out. Also, does this mean that Joey Styles is back on the ECW announce team? My head is spinning.

[bigddan11]

Adamle as the new GM could be great for ECW. With Heat having been cancelled, it means they need a spot for Josh Matthews- a spot which ECW now has. Matthews and Tazz could be the best of the three broadcast teams if that's what happens tomorrow night.

JR, we all know you were there to do SNME before the show, so I really couldn't help but roll my eyes everytime he said he didn't know why he was there.

As far as the matches go, I didn't get home until 9:30 PM CT, so I only saw Mickie James (which I predicted accuartely with the ending) and the four man tag match.

Batista vs. Cena at Summerslam should be interesting, but I would prefer having that 6-man championship match.

[Condiment King]

This is really bad. Grant it, it was surprising and hilarious. And Adamle will probably be funny as a heel and authority figure. But no, this is bad. What a pisspoor decision. The only great thing about this is they are doing Cena vs Batista at Summerslam and not the rumored four-way or elimination chamber. Actually, they still could do a four-way with Punk vs Kane vs JBL vs Jericho but hopefully they don't. Hopefully, it's Punk vs JBL and Michaels vs Jericho. And Kane is off doing whatever at Summerslam.

There really were a bunch of better candidates for Raw GM. The best candidate was no GM because the last Raws had been really refreshing by not having one. Does this mean Styles takes back over on ECW PBP? Does this mean Adamle might insert himself with Cole and Lawler on the Raw team?

Also they built up this GM decision all night long, and while it was surprising, it certainly didn't live up to any hype. I'm sure the crowd hated it.

It would be great if Cena and Batista didn't have to start every freaking Raw these days by talking for like twenty minutes and cutting really boring promos.

Jericho cut a great promo, as usual. I love how he incorporates such ancient history into this storyline. The man is great.

I was glad they did the switch by having it be Lawler and Cole because Rhodes & Dibiase should do the feud with Duggan & Lawler for a little while. I'm glad they didn't go ahead and give away the match.

Santino & Beth was good stuff as usual, a great comedy duo. I gotta say, this was the most bizarre inter-gender match ever. D'lo Brown & Kelly Kelly as a team?

CM Punk vs William Regal was an excellent match, though I was surprised that Punk bled as much as he did. Great stiff shots from both sides. Good match. I gotta wonder though, how Regal will be used as strictly a wrestler. Hopefully, he's not underused.

Cena & Batista vs Kane & JBL. Yawn.

[Condiment King]

I'm sorry, but the GTS just isn't cutting it as a finisher anymore. It's always been a questionable-looking move to me -- it's never looked very painful -- but seeing Regal get taken out by it after so much offense just didn't seem right. CM Punk will be a more convincing world champion if he figures out something better.

I always completely buy CM Punk's knee in the corner and then the GTS. In fact, they look and sound like they are actually too stiff to me. I love it, but there's definitely a problem if Punk can't get big guys up to do the GTS or if the big guys can't land right. Regal looked fine to me.

[hobbyfan]

My head is still spinning.

Before I go anywhere else, congratulations to HHH & Stephanie. It's another girl.

Having Cole wrestle---if you can call it that---was a stunt worthy of Eric Bischoff, but there was no way, not with Celebrity Wrestling coming up, that Sleazy E would be back. Now, with the revelation that Mike Adamle is leaving ECW to be the new Raw GM (after 3 months-plus on ECW)---we think---it can be said that he might've been bucking for the Raw announcer's job from the go, and erasing Cole from the equation seemed like a means to an end.

What likely happens: 1 of 3 things:

1. Cole is booted from Raw and moves to ECW, reuniting with Tazz.
2. Joey Styles returns after 3, nearly 4 months, off TV, despite announcing his retirement from broadcasting.
3. Josh Mathews finally---FINALLY---gets back on TV, also reuniting with his mentor Tazz.

At least now we know why Cole won't be on SNME this week.

Women's match was okay, but sloppy. Intergender tag--not so much. At least they got the crap out of the way early.

I give Beth & Santino to Survivor Series before Buffalo's Finest gets tired of this Italian Stallion wannabe from Joisey. I'd rather see Beth with Jamie Noble. Ah, skip that idea.

I had envisioned a 6-pack challenge for the title, and Jericho seemed to make me look like a genius when he threw his hat in the ring. Instead, we get Cena-Batista in their first WWE singles meeting (they never fought each other on Smackdown in 2002), leaving them out of the picture. That still leaves JBL & Kane & Jericho in what may now be a fatal 4-way. Goofwitz blew it big time.

After that pause, I thought Shane might appoint himself, but the joke is going to be on us unless there's a miracle in the next month.

[sag_2002]

Wow. Just... wow. Never in a million years did I expect Mike Smurfin' Adamle to be RAW's new GM. But, hey... it worked for Jonathan Coachman when he turned heel and went from commentator to authority figure. If they do this right, this could end up being very good.

Other thoughts:

*Y2J+8 continues to rock the mic. The "Final Highlight Reel" was another epic promo.

*Santino and Beth also continue to rock the proverbial casbah. That was a hell of a kiss the Glamazon laid on Santy.

*Cole wrestling was bizarre, but seemed to make sense at the end. Plus it gave us the return of Good Ol' JR on RAW.

*Welcome back William Regal. Although... WTF was up with his outfit tonight?

Solid RAW tonight, and I look forward to seeing how the Adamle Era plays out.

[zoombie]

I was hoping the new GM would be Flair, but as soon as they announced Michael Cole, my excitement just ended because I knew it was another heel GM, and wasn't going to be Flair or Austin.

So it is Mike Adamle, ah whatever. I hope this is a setup for someone to take power from Adamle down the line.

[Nygma]

That sound you just heard was me laughing my head off when Cena said "John Cena vs. Batista should headline Wrestlemania."

And why is that? Personally I thought that match should've been held off till Wrestlemania.

I'm sorry, but the GTS just isn't cutting it as a finisher anymore. It's always been a questionable-looking move to me -- it's never looked very painful -- but seeing Regal get taken out by it after so much offense just didn't seem right. CM Punk will be a more convincing world champion if he figures out something better.

Dude, the moves designed to look like he drops your head right on his knee. How is that not painful? Especially considering lesser finishers like Cena's FU or JBL's Clothesline from Hell.

Did we just got served?

get not got, grammer is our best friend.

It would be great if Cena and Batista didn't have to start every freaking Raw these days by talking for like twenty minutes and cutting really boring promos.

Remember those days when HHH cut boring 20 minute promos? Comparing now to then is a blessing.

I was hoping the new GM would be Flair, but as soon as they announced Michael Cole, my excitement just ended because I knew it was another heel GM, and wasn't going to be Flair or Austin.

So it is Mike Adamle, ah whatever. I hope this is a setup for someone to take power from Adamle down the line.

Personally I was hoping that JBL would be the next GM since it's been reported that's he's having back problems. He would've been perfect in the role.

BUT Mike Admale??? Note to WWE, this isn't like the Vickie Guerrero situation. Vickie at least has a degree of knowledge on Wrestling. Mike "Jeff Harvey" Admale, doesn't have any knowledge on the wrestling business that we've seen so far.

They need to get Beth away from Santino fast. The longer she stays associated with Santino, the less people will take her character seriously.
(On another note, I don't think we've had a relationship associated with wrestling, where the guy is treated as the b*%#h in the relationship since Sean Waltmen and Joanie Lauer.)

Giving away Cena & Batista with little buildup at Summerslam, instead of Wrestlemania. Did I fall asleep and wake up watching TNA?

[hobbyfan]

More thoughts:

I agree with Nygma that they need to keep Santino-Beth a short term deal. He's just looking to leech off her heel heat, and it will ultimately end up with her as a face, IMPO.

Adamle is a puppet as GM, and short-term at best. It's Vince's last chance, IMPO, to justify his investment. Speaking of investments, I've a feeling that despite his remarks to Adamle at the desk, J-Me-L may actually be the one behind all this, given his friendship with Vince. I don't think Shane & Steph made the decision by themselves (obviously), and are being played.