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View Full Version : The RAW Truth *Backlash Spoilers*


Mr. Nerfect
04-19-2004, 03:26 AM
OK, there doesn't seem to be too many topics that match what I'm thinking about this day in wrestling, so instead of making a thousand of little topics, I thought I'd make one here, featuring all my current thoughts in wrestling (mainly WWE). If you get bored easily I suggest you stop reading (This will just be for the RAW side of things, as I'm too tired to write one for SmackDown!.).

-I thought Backlash was a pretty good PPV from the WWE. Not great, but for an exlusive brand event, it did the job. Match of the Night (and maybe Match of the Year) easily went to Orton/Foley, in my honest and humble opinion. Orton is underrated for where he is, and Foley did a great job of keeping himself in the main event light, while making a little room for Orton. I definately think Orton should move into a feud with Shelton Benjamin for the now established, Intercontinetal Title. I'm going to enjoy seeing the reaction the Legend Kil..Legend gets on RAW. Props to WWE's newest 5 star talent (he was four and a half before) Randy Orton. :y: (Did anyone else enjoy Triple H upgrading Orton's status from Legend Killer to Legend? Like it or not, Triple H is great at promos.)

-The opening match was good. I got lucky guessing Benjamin/Flair was first on the card (as it needed no build-up). It would have been nice to see a little more psychological advantage in Flair's corner during this matcg. This should have been made weeks ago, as to give time for Flair to mess with SB's head. I might be dreaming here, but I think they really should have made Flair a MAJOR heel heading into this match (if that's possible). They should have given him the mic to let him rip into Edmonton. Flair gets the best cheap heat, IMO :y:. The match itself was good, but I would have loved to see Flair hire prostitutes pretending to be interested in Benjamin, only to have them walk off at the end of the night leaving a letter saying, "Gotcha. WOOOO!". It would have been cool to see Flair act extra tough simply because he's in Evolution.

-Coachman/Tajiri was interesting. I couldn't see Coach taking the Buzzsaw Kick in this match, so I was right there. The ending I saw featured Coach getting sprayed in the eyes with the Mist running off squealing and gettng counted out. I like what they've established here, Mark Jindrak got T.R. Long, so Cade gets The Coach. JC gets huge heat, too, so that can only help Cade. Good booking here, I'd expect Tajiri to pick up some wins heading into a feud with Cade, which should be interesting.

-How could I leave out the Heat match? I'm simply glad they gave the win to Val Venis. Both VI and VV are two of my favourite wrestlers, and both deserve better than Heat. I'm looking forward to seeing them both on RAW. I have a feeling I'm going to be disappointed, though.

-The Women's Title Match was a nice touch to the card. I can't help but feel Gail Kim makes a horrible heel female wrestler, though. I'd like to see Venis and her get together and compete seperately for the Women's and IC Championships (Gail Kim=Women's and VV=IC, in case you wanted to know).

-The Hurricane/Rosey vs. La Resistance was a big letdown, IMO. All four guys are better than what they let on here. I saw more botched moves than usual from these guys. I can't help but feel that this was due to the strange structure of the match. I think it would have been easier here to have a Roc Conway/Eugene match. Both are wrestling prodigees and both could deliver a ***** match. Shame they had to make it a match that would make an Edmontoner's skin crawl. BTW, love the new attire on La Resistance's part. They really should have gotten the win here, though.

-As far as the character Eugene goes, Nick seems to really be trying in this role. I actually feel sorry for the Eugene "character". It's the first time I've felt markish in ages. Go Eugene! Beat La Resistance up! I loved his little scene with Gail Kim and Molly Holly. William Regal is hilarious too. I can't help but think where they're going to take this character, though. Will he reveal he's not "special"? Will he become a wrestling genius? Will he end up being just like Regal and doing anything to get on RAW? I dunno, but at the moment it seems alright, but I just can't see Eugene winning the World Heavyweight Championship :-\.

-Christian/Trish Stratus vs. Chris Jericho was interesting. Not an excellent one, and the lowest standard Christian and Chris will ever go (B rating), but still very good. Kept Edmonton and Brizzy-Me interested. I can't help but feel that the heels needed the win here. That would have kept the feud going in the best possible way, Jericho [I]needing[I/] to stay after Trish & Christian. I hate to say this, but this feud is getting stale. I'd love to see a Ladder Match between the two one day, but right now, they need to go their seperate ways. I'd love to see a feud between Chris Jericho and Val Venis and a feud between Matt Hardy/Lita and Christian/Trish. BTW, I really hope Christian starts using the Texas Cloverleaf as his submission finishing move.

-Edge/Kane was a pretty strange match. it was quick, not done too well, and in the fans eyes, boring. I love both guys, but they really didn't click together in that match. I'd have had Edge beat Kane silly with his cast, egtting DQ'd, and hopefully getting a huge reaction from the crowd. But instead of having Kane look weak, I'd have Kane get up from everything Edge dished out to him in less than a second. Edge continues until the men in white (and black) shirts come out and seperate the two. Edge looks psychotic, while Kane just stands there looking at his own blood smiling as if he's just trained Edge to be his apprentice. Then on RAW, Edge comes out at the end of the show telling Benoit he's hungry for his title, then have Michaels take out Edge, and have Kane come out and take out Benoit. Then at Bad Blood you have Michaels/Edge (maybe in a Ladder Match with the #1 Contender for the World Heayweight Title contract at the top), and Kane vs. Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship. Then at Summerslam you have Benoit and Edge (and maybe Michaels, Foley Kane or The Rock) meet in a Ladder Match. Maybe an Elimination Chamber (Edge, Benoit, Michaels, Flair/Foley/Batista, Orton/Kane and Triple H)?

-The main event was way below what these guys did at WMXX, but still very good. I'd give it four stars. I didn't really like the ending, but it was a great tribute to Bret "The Hitman" Hart. I'd love to see Benoit with two submission finishing moves. Not much can really be said extra about that match. :y:

-OK, in other news, Rhyno and Lance Storm have been buried. We've seen Lance get his new gimmick, yet we haven't seen him do anything. And Rhyno is now a face, but instead of kicking keister, he's having a semi-permanent siesta. There is a lot more I could say about misused talent, but it's all been said.

-As far as NWA-TNA go, I'd love to see them pick up Steve Austin and Goldberg. Two big name talents. One made the WWE more successful, as did the other with WCW. If NWA produce their own big name star, they could really be HUGE. I think they need to establish this star by having them either taking Route Goldberg, Route Austin or Route Winning the NWA Championship on their debut. I think Jarrrett needs to lose the title soon. it's great he's establishing the title, but I think they need to build morale backstage by having a more mid-cardish taent take it, telling everyone backstage that politics aren't an issue in NWA. Speaking of politics. It wouldn't be good for the morale, but in the long run I think Kevin Nash and Scott Hall could do some good for the tag team division over there :y:.

I was going to go onto SmackDown!, but my wrists are hungry, so I'll leave this for you for now, and if I feel up to it, I'll do my SmackDown! Scandle update.

KingofOldSchool
04-19-2004, 03:43 AM
-As far as NWA-TNA go, I'd love to see them pick up Steve Austin and Goldberg.


Austin will NEVER work for a Jarrett as long as he is breathing.

End of story.

Mr. Nerfect
04-19-2004, 06:40 AM
I said I'd love to see them pick up Goldberg and Austin. I did't say the chances were good. :-\

Kind of a shame really.

The CyNick
04-19-2004, 05:03 PM
Going to see the show tonight at some point. Sounds like the top 3 matches delivered and the rest of the show was what it was.

Foley did his job it sounds like, but I wonder if they will do right with Orton post-Backlash. Going by house shows, it would seem that Orton is getting stuck with Benjamin, but I feel that will hurt him at this point. Orton just beat a legend, and IMO (just going by reports) he's now a main event level guy. As such, he should be programmed with main event level guys. The only two guys on SD that fit the bill are Benoit or HBK. If they go with HBK (which is logical) then what do they do with Benoit? HHH is leaving, Kane is dead, and Christian isn't ready. So it would seem to me that they will go to HBK-Benoit and Benjamin-Orton. Again, I feel this will hurt Orton, because even thought Benjamin got a couple of big wins, he's nowhere near main event level. If they do go with Orton-Benjamin, Orton had better kill Benjamin (which will hurt Shelton) in order to continue his push to the top.

With Hunter leaving, its probably not the worst idea to just go ahead and put the World Title on Orton in June. I dont think thats where they will go, but at this point Orton shouldn't go down a notch because then that would make what Foley did pointless. Orotn could then be programmed with HBK (for the World title) and then when HHH returns he would come back to Orton as the new World Champ, and that would lead to the Evolution split.

Mr. Nerfect
04-19-2004, 05:22 PM
I'd have Randy Orton get almost a new attitude and have him cockily say he'll defend the IC Title night in and night out, defending it against Chris Jericho in an open challenge that night, cleanly (maybe with a little distraction from Trish). Also that night there is a Battle Royal to decide the #1 Contender for the IC Title. It comes down to Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Batista and Rhyno. Evolution make a vowel that if Flair or Batista win, they'll forfeit the match against Orton. Rhyno and Benjamin start fighting back, with Rhyno chucking out Batista (or so he thought) and Flair being low bridged over the top. Batista attacks Rhyno, but Rhyno goes completely psychotic at Batista, only for Flair to come in illegally to low blow Rhyno, allowing Batista to chuck him out. Flair gets sent to the back while Batista controls Benjamin. Shelton fights back and eventually chucks out Batista, but the ref didn't see it (hopefully getting heat for Batista), but Benjamin eventually superkicks Batista over the top to win the match.

From that moment on, Randy Orton stops defending his IC Title, and gets his match postponed with Benjamin until Bad Blood (hopefully drawing MAJOR heat). Shelton and Randy are put in main event status in coming weeks, and pushed right to the top, before their match at Bad Blood is made into a Ladder Match. Shelton continues to be undefeated going into Bad Blood. At the PPV, Benjamin is about to grab the goal, while Orton is on the outside. During the match Benjamin defended against Flair, Batista, new Evolution member, Rhyno and Johnny Nitro, but Benjamin still starts climbing the ladder (hopefully making him look like a legend). Orton is on his feet on the outside and sees Benjamin climb up to the top and when he is about four rungs from the top, Orton just goes "Whatever." and walks to the back, making people think "Sour grapes!". Either that ot have Benjamin take a major bump after he takes the title, like falling through three tables stacked by Orton while he's hanging off the top, making it look like the title's worth that kind of pain. :y: