Welcome to the second week of my weekly coverage of Raw, with “Raw Bits!” With Summerslam seriously looming overhead, this threatened to be a very good episode indeed, with last week’s solid (in general) edition, and the intriguing use of Mike Adamle hinting at a few changes.

On with the show….

Tender Cuts
(The tasty parts)

Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho received quite the pop for interrupting the segment between JBL and Adamle, earning himself a “Y2J” chant. I would like to think that this response is down to two things- the fact that JBL/Punk may be necessary, but is rather mundane, and Jericho’s involvement turns it up a notch, and secondly, Jericho is now recognized once again, as a top tier player.

This guy remains the most watch able aspect of pro-wrestling right now. His promo near the beginning was very good, and he just carries himself with an awareness, and a confidence that I haven’t seen out of him for a long time.

And now, we have heel-style pants. Beware if you haven’t seen the debut of the thigh exposing trunks, they’re seriously uncool (worse than the Jack Bauer haircut), but that’s the whole point. The former “Y2J” doesn’t want you to find anything in his act to cheer about.

His work in the ring was first-rate too, as he injected a real degree of urgency, as well as a lot of variety to an excellent handicap match.. He was the glue that held together the three man bout, and in fact, he was the clear centre-piece of this whole evening, playing a key role in much of the highlights.

Main Event
This was a quality piece of work. Just as significantly, it felt fresh, new and exciting. As a result of course, the crowd were absolutely on fire.

Crucially, the heels didn’t look like complete tools (as often happens when two singles wrestlers face a tag-team, because Teams are inferior acts in Vince McMahon Land), and enjoyed their fair share of offence. Then Batista’s stubble came to life (see Scraps), but the Cena/Dave feud did not completely overwhelm the champions, as gargantuan a feud as it is. IN fact, despite losing, the champions were fairly well looked after here.

Santino & Beth Phoenix Relationship
These two make a fantastic combination, with both carrying themselves believably in their ridiculous, but convincing story. Hopefully, and I think it’s very likely, that neither of the belts change hands at Summerslam, in the “winner takes all match”. Although, I must say, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility for Santino to bag the IC and Women’s titles.

Ordinarily, I’m pretty much opposed to these zany, mixed tag bouts. However this one is fairly exciting, and adds a little to the status of Kingston, while giving him a storyline over the next few weeks.

Plus, Mike “Adamalay”… awesome.

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho & JBL
This week, the fans really responded to, and got behind the dubious champion. By the end of the handicap match, the noise was tremendous, as they rallied behind him. I’m not convinced by the ending at all, although it was hokey enough that it just about works. Match of the night.

Chewy Bits
(Intriguing, and with potential, but not quite sure…)Shawn Michaels
ON the downside, Shawn Michaels’ return promo was shorter than expected, especially considering it was a taped segment. However, it did further the storyline, and promise something for Summerslam, without giving away the big rematch with Chris Jericho, saving it as one of the biggies for Unforgiven in September.

 

I’m guessing at the PPV we’re going to have a prolonged segment, that leads to some sort of crazy brawl. Then again, this rivalry continues to be absolutely stunning, so putting down anything on paper, is rather unwise…

Mike Adamle
The worst announcer in the history of… (okay, in memory, and my head’s sore, and I’m guzzling Corona), and for the second week running, he remains a figure of interest.

Ol’ Mikey stumbled and fumbled his way through the opening promo, but in spite of the errors, it was still pretty damn well performed. I quite like his new demeanour, and the fact that as a heel, he has a good, old-fashioned sensible motivation for doing what he does. Plus, if Kelly Kelly is added as an assistant perhaps, it does nothing but add a little interest to his odd, self-aware, stilted act.

Kofi Kingston vs. Paul Burchill
The fact that Kingston is regularly being seen in one-on-one encounters, and going over guys like Burchill harks back to the days of IC Champs as fighting champs.

This wasn’t a great match by any means, or even memorable, and could have gone three minutes or so longer, but it drifted by pleasantly, and was a solid, simple tale that put over the young babyface. Fans are really getting behind this guy, and I’m certainly happy to leap on the band-wagon. And really, it did Burchill no harm, as the guy isn’t going to Do or Die in his current role. I’d like to see much more be done with him. Perhaps a reunion with William Regal could help.

Scraps & Crap
(The stuff that was particularly bad)

Tag Titles Changing Hands
Bleurghhhehahieeughh…ugg….beleuauggh….(cough). That’s the unmistakeable sound of vomit dribbling from the edges of my weary eyes.

Cena and Batista winning the belts was soooo obvious, I was actually convinced it wouldn’t happen. It’s happened COUNTLESS times before. The stage is set though for perhaps Randy Orton to return and help the bad guys regain them after the PPV, and start out the long-rumoured uh, “youth faction”.

But still, unless they have a previously unheard-of-in-WWE-development coming up for these two as long term partners, this is lazy, lazy booking. Dibiase and Rhodes deserve better.

Michael Cole
He’s an abomination. Having formed a tangible bond with Tazz, and finding a great foil in JBL, his work in Smackdown became pretty damn solid, but now, he’s exposed alongside the slumbering Lawler.

“Pound and Ground…” Enough already Cole- F**K off! If such a term existed, it certainly wouldn’t apply to Mr Thuganomics.

Batista’s Heel Stubble
Yes, Dave Batista is growing the stereotypical Heel stubble, a sure sign of an up-coming turn (except when it comes to the man of the perennial 5o‘Clock stubble, Shawn Michaels to whom this rule doesn‘t apply) . That’s cheap heat Dave! Especially considering that he generally looks more effeminate than Adrian Adonis, with his tarty pink shirts and bling-bling shades.

Expect the chest wig to sprout in due course.

Lack of Invention in Outfits
A trivial bunch of scraps this week you may say. But still, how much effort does it take to find another pair of trunks? JBL, Punk, and Jericho all squared off in one bout, and they all donned black pants! Argh! In the top-line contest, the heel tag champions also sported the generic dark look, which is supported also by Big Baps Dave! Bah.

Overall?
My… this was a fast paced episode of Raw. It really did zip along faster than Rey Mysterio’s title reign. The main players for Summerslam were heavily involved, in generally positive matches and segments (JBL, Cena, Batista, Jericho, and Punk), whilst other, mid-card feuds were established (William Regal versus Jamie Noble, and Kofi/Mickie versus Santino/Beth).

The best thing about these were, that both lower card rivalries have possibilities, are different, and NEW. The jury’s still out on Adamle, but once more, he coped pretty well, and the WWE is smart to play off on the smart fan response to his acting skills. A very good show indeed, but with some flaws that could add up in the weeks to come, if not played right.

Thanks for taking the time to check this out. I welcome any and all feedback and I can be contacted at www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc or simply by emailing me at michael@wwepreview.com I look forward to hearing from you, and will be back soon!