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WWE Raw

Raw Redux – August 04, 2008

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This week on Raw: Mickie James defeated Katie Lea once again, only to be attacked by Beth Phoenix. Layla and Kelly Kelly also made appearances.

Thoughts & Reactions
If WWE were a man, he’d be a premature ejaculator. When it comes to the ladies, WWE likes to rush into things with little to no impact and last night might have been the single most “blink and you’ll miss it” moment in Diva history. As my good friend *cough* Heidi Klum would say, one day you’re in and the next you’re out. That’s exactly what happened on Raw as Katie was out and Beth was in, in a matter of seconds. Say goodbye to the long drawn programme that has taken place between Katie and Mickie over the past couple of months and say hello to a tag team match at SummerSlam between Kofi Kingston and Mickie  taking on Beth and Santino.

Last week, I was full of hope and optimism… that was lost the second Mike Adamle announced there would be three title defences on Raw. I immediately knew we’d get Katie vs Mickie on Raw instead of at SummerSlam. My hope was deflated as I knew that we wouldn’t get the build-up I had so excitedly written about last week, instead we would get another lackluster match relegated to Raw. Did WWE not learn a few weeks ago how stale and boring this match was? They really needed the next few weeks to get fans interested again and pay us off at SummerSlam, after last week they incited some excitement in us fans but this week instead of continuing that booking, like any premature ejaculator… they peaked too soon. It was far too soon for this rematch and did nothing for either Diva, especially Katie Lea. We’ve been saying for weeks now, what is the point of a rematch unless Katie finally wins the title? I thought even though it’s not SummerSlam like I had hoped, they could redeem themselves by giving Katie the title. Instead, we got Mickie defeating Katie for the third straight time, which leaves one to wonder… what is the point? What point does it serve to have Mickie go over each and every time? Honestly, they continue to book the programme but have Katie lose every time, that’s not a storyline, that’s a waste of time. But to be honest, I don’t think last night’s match was worthy of a title change at all… it was a dark night in the career of Mickie James and to a lesser extent, Katie Lea. This was one of the worst matches I’ve seen two experienced wrestlers compete in, in quite some time. The whole match was uncomfortable and plodded along. Katie is continuously unexciting in the ring, given the push she has received and the skills she has – why is her wrestling so bland?! This match was really awkward to watch.

Match Ratings: PASS / FAIL
Comments: Third time lucky? No chance!

Next up we have Beth Phoenix officially in the title race again, attacking Mickie after the match. Am I the only one to let out a really big groan? The last thing I want to see is Beth vs Mickie again! Their feud was less than stellar the first time round but if they share more chemistry in the ring than Katie and Mickie obviously had, I guess I can learn to deal. I’m not too excited for the SummerSlam tag team match, but I would prefer it to a singles match between the two.

Layla also appeared on Raw, doing what she does best… dancing the night away! Is it just me or was William Regal about to say, “Every King needs a Queen” when he was interrupted by Jamie Noble?! Could you imagine Queen Layla?! Eek, if only he had been able to finish the sentence =(

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Raw Redux – July 28, 2008

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I apologise once again for the delay with the Redux, there must be something in the water! I would do something like blame it on that darn earthquake in LA but alas, I live in London…

This week on Raw: Beth Phoenix and Santino continued their odd couple act, managing to beat Kelly Kelly in the process. Jillian made her Raw return in a competetive match with Mickie James, who was then attacked by the vicious Katie Lea. Oh and Layla too!

Thoughts & Reactions
Someone call it. It’s a record… all our Raw Divas managed to get some screen time this week. Perhaps there’s something in the water over at WWE too, because this is unprecedented. A far cry from the days of Ashley and Maria, all our girls were on the show and played a useful role on the programme. From the comedy routine with Beth and Santino, to Mickie’s victory over Jillian and then beatdown from Katie and Layla’s ongoing plot with Jamie – it seems Raw really has turned a corner and for the better. Where to start? The Women’s Championship, methinks! Last week, I gave Katie Lea an open challenge to excite me and boy did she ever! Here’s exactly what I wrote:

To tell you the truth, the Mickie-Katie feud has waned in recent weeks and I’m just not that excited to see another match between these two unless Katie pulls off the big one and becomes the Women’s Champion. I don’t really see this rematch as SummerSlam worthy unless the title were to change hands. The mixed tag was on par with the mixed tag team match we saw a month or so back with Mr Kennedy in Kofi Kingston’s place, both of these matches were good. But it did leave me wondering “What will they do next?” Because like I say, I feel this feud has lost it’s steam. And I hate to say that because I have been championing this feud and hoping it would really take off, but as of yet we’ve not seen anything too exciting happen between Katie and Mickie. Katie is a very capable wrestler, but as the weeks pass I’m beginning to wonder what flare she has in the ring – because so far, she has been pretty average. I would love to see Katie more confident in the ring and really show us a move set that sets her apart from the other Divas, Beth Phoenix and Mickie James have their unique signature moves that they can turn to in every match but Katie so far, has only displayed the basic moves. Katie, I dare you to excite me in the ring! Come on, I know you have it in you…

A week later, I think there’s someone on WWE Creative that’s clued into Diva Dirt. Not only did they inject some life and passion into this stale feud, they made me want to see a rematch between these two. Katie finally it took to the next level in her devillish ways, attacking Mickie and blowing her daddy a kiss in the process. I felt this was a really cool touch, I love the addition of Mickie’s dad being at ringside and the little blowing of the kiss; it makes this more personal and raw (no pun intended) – hopefully Mickie’s dad will continue to pop up between now and SummerSlam when I believe, this match will take place. I asked last week, “What will they do next?” And this week, they planted the seeds to what could be a really intense feud leading to SummerSlam. Having Mickie’s dad involved, they could really push the buttons on this feud – this is something we rarely see happen in the women’s division where Divas automatically have to be jealous of each other to ignite a feud. In my head, this could be great… maybe have Katie and Paul Burchill attack her dad next week in the ring, maybe even have Paul hold Mickie and make her watch while Katie slaps him around. From there, you could have Mickie go a little bit psycho (an ode to her old character) and really take the fight to Katie. If they follow up on this, we have ourselves a great match at SummerSlam. Katie showed a lot of flare and personality in this segment and really did excite me… now please let that translate into your match with Mickie. As I wrote last week, you cannot have this rematch once again only for Katie to lose. Katie has to finally go over and become Women’s Champion. The next few weeks will be pivotal to see if she’s really worth the title or not, because so far her matches have been simply average. The right storyline combined with the perfect match at SummerSlam and Katie as champion, is not so far fetched. Since my plea was answered last week, it couldn’t hurt to plead once again right? WWE, I dare you to follow up on this feud in the correct manner (i.e. as written above).

Okay next up, we have a segment that just about everyone loved… Beth Phoenix and Santino teaming up against Kelly Kelly and the returning D-Lo Brown. Not much to write home about was this match, it was fine for what it was – to set up a comedy act between Beth and Santino. I don’t know where this is going but it adds a nice dynamic to the Glamazon. Great work from both Divas involved. Speaking of, great work from Mickie and Jillian later in the night – compared to their singles match a few weeks ago, this was a lot more competetive and back and forth with Jillian looking really good in the ring. It was surprising to see Jillian get as much offense as she did, but this was a really good match.

Match Ratings: PASS / FAIL
Comments: Both matches were fine.

Last but not least, Layla continues her storyline with Jamie Noble. I don’t think WWE even knows what they’re doing here, I really like the idea of Layla and Kofi Kingston so I was happy to see them in the ring together… make it happen, WWE!

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Raw Redux – July 21, 2008

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This week on Raw: Beth Phoenix decimated Kelly Kelly before locking lips with Santino. Meanwhile, Katie Lea and Mickie James continued their feud with a mixed tag team match everyone saw coming.

Thoughts & Reactions
It is with great pain that I write this week’s Raw Redux, because for the first time ever – I feel as though I don’t have much to write. Last night’s Raw wasn’t neither bad nor good, it was just average. There was a sufficient use of the Divas, which I applaud – they kept that going from last week’s all time high of Diva usage; but I felt this week’s show wasn’t much to write home about and that’s not to say it was at all bad.

The mixed tag team match, I saw coming a mile off and it was just fine. To tell you the truth, the Mickie-Katie feud has waned in recent weeks and I’m just not that excited to see another match between these two unless Katie pulls off the big one and becomes the Women’s Champion. I don’t really see this rematch as SummerSlam worthy unless the title were to change hands. The mixed tag was on par with the mixed tag team match we saw a month or so back with Mr Kennedy in Kofi Kingston’s place, both of these matches were good. But it did leave me wondering “What will they do next?” Because like I say, I feel this feud has lost it’s steam. And I hate to say that because I have been championing this feud and hoping it would really take off, but as of yet we’ve not seen anything too exciting happen between Katie and Mickie. Katie is a very capable wrestler, but as the weeks pass I’m beginning to wonder what flare she has in the ring – because so far, she has been pretty average. I would love to see Katie more confident in the ring and really show us a move set that sets her apart from the other Divas, Beth Phoenix and Mickie James have their unique signature moves that they can turn to in every match but Katie so far, has only displayed the basic moves. Katie, I dare you to excite me in the ring! Come on, I know you have it in you…

The second (well actually it aired earlier) match on Raw was Beth Phoenix taking on Kelly Kelly, I was left a little disappointed because I had hoped Santino would come down to the ring but as the night progressed, we did get to see that storyline be addressed. This match was again, just fine… actually, it was a little more than just fine. Kelly and Beth shared some chemistry in the ring and that’s something I wasn’t expecting, Kelly worked well with Beth – again, something I wasn’t expecting. If anything can be said for this match, it’s that it was very vocal. I almost felt embarassed watching because it really did sound like a barrage of orgasms from Kelly more so than Beth. Fun match, I loved the high impact face plant that Beth used to finish Kelly off (hence why I used it in the image above), hopefully she’ll retire the boring suplex thing and use this more often.

Continuing on the Beth front, she turned up later for Santino’s match and a part of me figured out where this was going but that was surpressed by the thoughts of, “WWE wouldn’t actually do this, would they?” Lo and behold, they did! I have to say, Beth and Santino straddling each other with Beth screaming “Get off me!” just seemed awkward, I guess that was the desired effect but it felt awkward as in the acting was bad. I wonder where they’ll go with this? It seems the sour Glamazon is sweetening up a little, and I don’t like it! I would have prefered to have seen Santino challenge Beth to a rematch and see these two feud rather than go for a love story. This seemed a little like Stockholm Syndrome, I wonder if that’s how they’ll play it out? I can totally see the Glamazon being the bunny boiler girlfriend, that could be fun to watch!

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Raw Redux – July 14, 2008

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This week on Raw: Katie Lea got another shot at Mickie James, Beth Phoenix returned to Raw in sensationalistic fashion and Kelly Kelly and Layla got some airtime too!

Thoughts & Reactions
The verdict is in… I am pleased to report I absolutely loved Raw last night! Last week in Redux, I wrote:

Raw’s women’s division is a holding pattern right now, I do think Creative will finally turn their attention to the Divas after the post-Draft honeymoon period is over. Right now they’re working so diligently on making the rest of the product “must see”, the Divas aren’t their top priority.

Well it seems like the honeymoon is over and Creative have finally turned their attention to Raw. And boy, have they! Not only did they finally step up their game with the women’s division but they went one further – they booked the Divas so strongly, making them really part of the Raw mythos. Having them integrate with the Superstars gives a real sense of importance to our beloved Divas and shows that they too can be a pivotal part of Raw rather than just throwing a couple of Divas out there to fill the ‘Diva match quota’ for the week. From top to bottom, I thought this week’s Raw was fantastic and it’s really made the show ‘must watch’ television again. Since the Draft, all the focus has been on the rest of the show that the Divas were only used to fill a quota, that was my only grievance with Raw. However this week, the whole show was solid.

The big, big story coming out of Raw was the fantastic re-introduction of the Glamazon, Beth Phoenix! Beth really was dealt a blow when Melina was injured as it meant WWE had to throw away all their plans for this feud and resulted in Beth not appearing on Raw in a month. After Melina was injured, I was even left wondering just how WWE could bring Beth back at this point; it seemed the only option was to have her challenge Mickie and that’s something I don’t think any of us want to see again anytime soon. Instead, last night, WWE found a fun, interesting and truly creative way to bring back Beth Phoenix and it worked a treat! If you didn’t jump out of your chair or scream out loud when Beth’s music hit last night on Raw, you got issues! The crowd was not at all expecting Beth to rock up and damn, did she receive a hell of a pop or what?! Just when you thought there was no one left to beat Santino, out comes a Diva and not just any Diva at that! I don’t know where they’re going with this but it was interesting while it lasted. It was something new and interesting and you could tell the crowd was so into it, because it was so fresh to the current WWE product. Of course, we’ve seen Chyna come and go but in this day and age, this was something new and I think that’s why we all got so into it. Great job by WWE!

It will be interesting to see where this goes; I don’t think Beth will now become a face as some have suggested. I just don’t think Diva-wise, she could be a face but I would love to see her continue to work with Santino, maybe make this into a short feud while the Mickie-Katie programme is going on or until Candice is ready to come back. Beth is in a unique position, we loved seeing her against Santino last night but we’re designed to hate her when she’s wrestling Candice and Mickie; this could be cool. I think in this programme with Santino (if they follow through) she could be a face but when it comes to the Divas, she just has to be a heel! Hopefully they have her continue to work with Santino, it could be fun – maybe have him demand a rematch next week! This will keep Beth booked up until she’s ready to engage in a programme with another Diva. Even if it was a one off, it was fantastic.

In the opening contest of Raw, we had a rematch from Night of Champions with Mickie vs Katie. I thought this match was a lot better than their match at the pay per view, i got into it and I really wanted to see Katie pick up the win. If Katie and Paul are meant to be heels, wouldn’t it be logical to have Paul try to interfere? Instead, we had a post-match assault which worked well. I like that they are keeping the feud between Mickie and Katie going, even if we have had a two week gap (some things never change)! But yeah, this was great and then the interaction during the Intercontinental Championship match only set this feud up further, I definitely see them continuing to feud for a while with another title match on the cards! I’m suspecting a mixed tag match next week, as I wrote before – having the Divas get involved in storylines with the Superstars really gives them a sense of importance on the show. I’m all for it!

After we got Katie vs Mickie and Beth beating Santino, we got a shot of Kelly freakin’ Kelly! My first thought was “Oh my god, more Divas? This is too good to be true!” and it was unfortunately. Seems like they teased another Divas match simply as a ploy to get Kelly some screentime and further push that Raw has a new, improved flavour with 100% unpredictability. I would have loved another Divas match though! Well I guess what we got later was just as good… Layla! The backstage segment with Jamie Noble and Layla was nicely done, I hope they don’t pair them up though but at least it got Layla on TV!

Overall, I was very pleased with all the appearances of the Divas that we got! I really hope they keep this momentum going into next week, don’t let us down now!

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Raw Redux – July 07, 2008

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This week on Raw: Divas tag team action when Women’s Champion Mickie James teamed up with Raw’s newest Diva, Kelly Kelly to take on Jillian and Raw’s other newest Diva, Layla.

Thoughts & Reactions
“Raw stuck on bore.” Says it all really. While I am thoroughly enjoying Raw post-Draft, the women’s division – not so much. The quality of the product as a whole has shot up since the Draft show two weeks ago but it seems that all the emphasis on the other aspects of the show have led to a loss in quality and less attentiveness to the women’s division on Creative’s behalf. Last week’s Raw match between Mickie and Jillian was simply average and this week was more of the same – the Divas were only utilised to fill the weekly “Diva quota”, no storyline advancement here nor anything too interesting.

There is quite a lot to talk about this week though, first up is Kelly Kelly jumping from ECW to Raw. I believe this is solely due to the lack of faces on Raw at the moment, I guess it’s a wise move to make bringing in another face but why not call up a developmental Diva? I think that would have been much wiser, because let’s face it – moving someone two weeks after the Draft who wasn’t even drafted in the first place calls the point of the Draft into question! I much prefer Kelly as part of SmackDown, I think she was really developing and coming along great. This is a Diva that needs to be nurtured, I think she does have the potential to become the next Trish Stratus but she needs to be nurtured and cannot be thrown into impossible situations too soon. WWE rushed into giving Trish and Candice huge pushes but I had hoped they’d do things right with Kelly, only move her to Raw when she was truly ready. Alas, she is not. The perils of live television – all your flaws are exposed and Kelly was sloppy on Raw and it couldn’t be edited out. Kelly is best suited to SmackDown right now, where she can continue to grow. I had a little idea of my own for Kelly, I think she’s come a long way and I’m 90% certain she will be our 2009 Playboy covergirl; Kelly could be the first Diva to actually be worthy of a Playboy push. It’s a long time between now and WrestleMania, Kelly could have grown a lot more on SmackDown and then possibly challenge Natalya at WrestleMania for the Divas Championship and win. Unfortunately that won’t be happening now, still could but doubt it. Instead, Kelly is thrown into an environment I don’t think she’s ready for and I fear she will go the same way as Maria and Ashley before her, not improve anymore and be just another waste. Maria has potential but being on Raw for so long, she wasn’t able to realise it. Kelly has a lot of potential still but being on Raw hinders that, it’s not exactly a great environment for developing wrestlers. I did quite like the whole explanation for her moving to Raw, the line “We have contracts?” can be interpreted as, “We’re not bothered to think of a logical explanation.”

The other focus is Jillian. Are they just delivering us average matches to fill a Diva quota or are they actually planning on pushing Jillian? Because using her on Raw for two weeks in a row is something that seldom occurs. I do believe it’s the former, I don’t think WWE is putting any attention into the Raw women’s division and is simply filling a quota. There’s no big push for Jillian and in fact, while she is getting on TV more, it’s for the wrong reasons rather than the right reasons. Let’sface it, WWE doesn’t care about Jillian and will never really give her character a refresher or give her a chance to be a top Diva. She is a laughing stock.

As for the match, it was average again. Sloppy in-ring work for Kelly, not much else that’s memorable. All the focus was on Kelly that they nearly forgot that Layla, too is new to Raw. Poor Layla, she had finally escaped from underneath Kelly’s shadow only to have the shadow follow her. Layla was unceremoniously ignored on Raw, she didn’t even get any ring time. Even Michael Cole forgot to mention that she was new on Raw too after the “explaining” of Kelly’s move from ECW, Cole added that Layla joined Raw during the Supplemental Draft merely as an afterthought.

Raw’s women’s division is a holding pattern right now, I do think Creative will finally turn their attention to the Divas after the post-Draft honeymoon period is over. Right now they’re working so diligently on making the rest of the product “must see”, the Divas aren’t their top priority. Whatever happened to the Katie-Mickie feud? Where is Beth Phoenix? Is there any use asking? Poor Beth is probably on the shelf until WWE find something to do with her since Melina’s injured, kudos to them for not just giving us “Mickie-Beth: To Infinity and Beyond”, which would have been the easy option given there’s only a handful of Divas on Raw right now.

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Raw Redux – June 30, 2008

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This week on Raw: Mickie James continued her roll, pinning Jillian in singles action. Meanwhile, Katie Lea continues to cause trouble.

Thoughts & Reactions
With Raw more eventful and more exciting that it has ever been in the past few years, why was the women’s action so average last night?! I have been left underwhelmed for the second night in a row, after the match at Night of Champions and then the match last night on Raw. While it was nice to see Jillian get some ring time, what was the point when it’s clear what WWE thinks of her? How can the fans be interested in Jillian when WWE beats a dead horse with her gimmick and has her job 24/7? Needless to say, I don’t think there’s much point to Jillian’s career at this point in time and I don’t think WWE are at all interested in rejuvenating it. When Jillian came out, didn’t you just know Mickie was going to win this easy match? The only thing that got me through was the fact that I thought Katie might hit the ring after the match, attacking Mickie to continue to their feud. That didn’t happen either…

So what we’re left with is an average night for the Divas… again. Is it just me or has the Raw women’s division lost some of it’s steam in recent weeks? Are the Creative team focussing so much on making the rest of Raw more interesting that they’ve forgotten about the women’s division? Last night felt like just a token Divas match to fill a quota. For many weeks, the women’s division was one of the highlights of Raw but while the rest of the product improved last night, the women’s division digressed. The match itself wasn’t bad, it was just average.

Later in the evening, we did get a hint that WWE will continue the Mickie-Katie feud in a backstage segment with Katie Lea and Paul Burchill, this was well done. I really like the idea of Katie being a trouble maker and Paul can’t leave her alone for five minutes without her causing more trouble! Her character is a lot of fun, I just want to see that translate into the women’s division and not in random skits putting over other Superstars. I was pretty disappointed with the lack of Layla too, I don’t think they’ve come up with anything for her, go figure.

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Raw Redux – June 23, 2008

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This week on Raw: It was time for the annual WWE Draft, Raw’s Mickie James and Melina competed in a match with SmackDown’s Natalya and Victoria. Melina suffered an injury and Kelly Kelly danced like a little ho.

Thoughts & Reactions
Has anyone else noticed that the Divas seem to get even less time during the big three-hour shows than they usually do? It seemed last night’s Divas match was the shortest segment of the night – though it’s implications, one could argue, are the most shocking. These four Divas will forever be known as the girls who made JR move to SmackDown! Honestly, when they announced this was an “announcers only match” I was thinking, “Great WWE, tell us what you really think of the Divas”, I thought it’d probably end up being freakin’ Todd Grisham moving to SmackDown instead we were served with one of the biggest drafts in WWE history which we are all feeling the effects of today.

This was for me, a dream match, I love the prospect of Melina/Mickie vs Natalya/Victoria but obviously, this match was cut short with Melina’s injury and the whole segment didn’t last too long. Maybe, just maybe, we will get to see this match further down the line – it could be huge! The big story of course, is Melina’s injury and actually I’ve flip-flopped on this. At first, while watching it live, I thought it was legit but then when the referee announced the double count-out it all made sense – of course they need to move two announcers. And as I found out this morning, it was in fact legit. Looking back, I do think there was meant to be some controversial finish resulting in the double count-out leading to JR and Cole moving, but this wasn’t it. I guess WWE lucked out with a realistic finish to the match allowing that to happen, but at the expense of Melina. Hopefully she’ll be back in action soon, Raw will definitely be different without her.

I wonder if the original finish they had planned involved Beth Phoenix coming out and beating up Melina and then Mickie, Natalya and Victoria just for good measure? Probably just pure speculation on my part, but I’m trying to think what controversial finish WWE originally had planned and that could work as it would advance the Beth-Melina feud. Beth has been noticeably absent from Raw for two whole weeks, what gives?

All in all, there wasn’t too much to write home about except Melina’s injury, though I’m not really all that bitter to be honest. There were bigger stories to be told last night on Raw than the women’s division. They did plug Natalya contending for the Divas Championship and Mickie vs Katie at Night of Champions, so I guess they did what they could given the time they were given.

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Raw Live Blog: Tag Team Action

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This is a random post by Melanie at 3am, so it may not be too coherent. I am watching the WWE Draft and a few Diva related notes below: – The Divas match of the night (hopefully not the only one) was enough to make any true Diva fan squeal like a little girl! I … Read more

RAW Redux – June 16, 2008

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This week on RAW: Divas from all three brands competed in a Summer Bikini Blowout bikini contest. Meanwhile, Mickie James evened the odds teaming up with Mr. Kennedy in his feud with the Burchills, Paul and Katie Lea.

Thoughts & Reactions
This week’s RAW was about as fucked up as it gets… a freakin’ bikini contest?! Are you kidding me?! Here I thought the women’s division was on the up and just as I was looking forward to RAW each week, they throw us a curveball. Hey WWE, why don’t you just come out and say what you really think?! This week’s RAW was like, “Here’s your weekly dose of slop, eat it up you pigs.” It really was a demeaning, counter-productive and totally shitty segment. I honestly don’t have a clue why Melina was involved in this pile of garbage, it really hurt her character and the momentum she’s gained over the past few weeks. This did nothing for storyline development in her feud with Beth Phoenix, in fact it hindered it. If freakin’ Maria can get more cheers than Melina, it kinda hurts Melina’s growth and transition to a face in her feud with Beth. There was absolutely no logic to this stupid bikini contest and it’s just unfathomable how WWE can actually go backwards rather than forwards.

Do you think WWE’s creative team are masochists? They create a hot feud that the crowd are so into, which actually gets viewers tuning into RAW each week – and then they pull crap like this. It’s like they enjoy fucking things up, they enjoy taking their good work and turning it into shit. Fucking retards.

There was nothing decent about the bikini contest, it was all boring and cliche. Charlie Haas is apparently the new Val Venis, Eve thinks it’s cool to wear sunglasses in-doors and Maria was probably happy to just be relevant again… even if it was a bikini contest. That’s right Maria, take your victories where you can find them.

As for the mixed tag team match, finally we get back to decent action. I’d like to say it made up for the shiteous bikini contest but it wasn’t nearly enough. I loved Mickie and Katie totally beating the crap out of each other, it was very physical and a lot of fun to watch. Maybe Katie can add some fire into Mickie’s character that has really been lacking during her feud with Beth Phoenix. I’m already enjoying this feud and they haven’t even had a singles match yet. In comparison, the Beth-Mickie feud was stale before it even started. I think this is the logical match-up to go into Night of Champions, but it hasn’t had much build up. WWE has teased this feud for the past month or so, stopping and starting the feud and only now are taking it off pause. This is what really pisses me off about WWE, they stop and start feuds at their whim and think they can just continue it up a few weeks later like nothing’s happened. Given a continuous storyline over the past few weeks, Mickie vs Katie could have been a great “must-see” match at Night of Champions. They’ve done the same with Michelle and Natalya, it started out very, very strong and many of us were anticipating a match-up between them… then they stopped having them appear on SmackDown! and it all kinda got less exciting. Of course, now they’re looking to restart the feud but that initial excitement is gone. We now have the same thing with Beth-Melina, they haven’t followed through this week and it’s dampened the investment, we as viewers, have in this feud.

The RAW women’s division is really in a precarious position at the moment, because someone thought it was logical to start up a feud between Beth Phoenix and Melina, a feud not associated with the Women’s Championship, in the run-up to Night of Champions. Don’t get me wrong, I really love this feud but at the same time, they should’ve developed the Mickie vs Katie feud rather than dump it on us now. The Beth-Melina feud should be reserved for RAW and Mickie-Katie should extend to the pay per view. WWE has no one but themselves to blame for poor ratings, their booking is horrible. I have no doubt that the end product will be great i.e. the eventual Mickie-Katie match and the eventual Michelle-Natalya match, but the booking leading to it has been so all over the place I can’t get as excited as I would if they had a continuous feud.

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RAW Redux – June 09, 2008

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This week on RAW: Beth Phoenix had a rough night, being worked over by both Mickie James and Melina. Katie Lea and Paul Burchill’s feud with Mr. Kennedy continued and Jillian and Maria managed to make random appearances too.

Thoughts & Reactions
It was a well rounded night for the women’s division on RAW, this week. Not too much went down but just enough to pass us into next week. There was storyline development in the Beth-Melina feud, with Melina coming out to an amazing pop when she attacked Beth. Prior to this, we had a decent match between Mickie and Beth, I have to say I don’t enjoy their singles matches and this was simply more of the same. This was an anti-climax compared to Beth vs Melina at One Night Stand, I guess some Divas work better with some and not others. The match as a whole, was fine, there wasn’t too much sloppy ring-work but like I say, it lacked the flare and intensity of the Beth/Melina match and I think we have seen this match far too many times also. However, what the fuck was up with Mickie beating Beth cleanly?! How does this help anything?! I think this was the wrong match to do and especially the end was weak. So Melina can’t beat her in an aggressive “I Quit” match and Mickie gets an upset with a fucking Thesz press?

The highlight of the night was Melina coming out and attacking Beth, which got one of the best crowd reactions I’ve heard for a Diva in a long while. The way that the fans have taken to Melina’s character and this feud has really astounded me, it really has been great television. I really loved the spot Melina used, with the hair drag smash from the top rope – it really seemed to do a number on Beth and in my eyes, it was a more believable spot than some of the stuff Beth has to job to from Mickie’s arsenal, afterall Beth is the Glamazon. However, after the spot I do feel Beth should have sold it for longer, she seemed to get up almost immediately – she should have been taken out for a few moments, to show the effects of Melina’s attack, that here is a Diva that is on the verge of taking out Beth Phoenix.

As for the other Divas, Katie Lea and Paul Burchill’s feud with Mr. Kennedy continued and what I like about this is that Katie isn’t just a manager, she’s just as involved as the guys. I really think this is Burchill’s big break and from here he could go onto the Intercontinental Championship or something, this is also good news for Katie as it keeps her relevant and on television. We had random spots from Maria and Jillian, as part of the Million Dollar Mania. I don’t think it requires too much analysis, it was what it was.

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YouTube Classics: Lita vs. Stephanie McMahon

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Welcome to the YouTube Classics! This week, with last week’s announcement of a new SmackDown Diva’s Championship, our theme is “Golden Girls”, matches in which the Women’s Title is at stake. Today, we have Lita vs. Stephanie McMahon from the August 21st, 2000 edition of RAW. This match was RAW’s first ever all-female main event … Read more

RAW Redux – June 02, 2008

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This week, with a new improved formula! We have photos and a match video after the cut!

This week on RAW: Coming off the heels of One Night Stand, Melina was all eyes on Beth Phoenix in the next chapter of this epic feud. Elsewhere, the women’s division evolved with Mickie James back in the fold and the official women’s division introduction to Katie Lea! Later, Mickie was involved in a backstage rendezvous with John Cena.

Thoughts & Reactions
WWE sent a message loud and clear last night: a new direction for the women’s division, one based on real wrestling. After One Night Stand, I was left speechless. An amazing match from Beth and Melina. There were so many question marks going into last night’s RAW, because for the first time in a long time I had no idea what WWE was going to do next. Where can this go next? Will the feud continue? Will Beth just simply go back into the title hunt? The predictable booking just wasn’t there, it was honestly a guessing game. I was so eager to watch RAW and found out what would happen next and I can tell you this: I was not disappointed. They didn’t just drop Melina and revert back to Beth-Mickie, as I had an inkling they would, instead they followed through logically and actually set up another dimension to this feud that could be exciting to see develop over the next few weeks and that is the set-up of Melina being so embroiled by Beth Phoenix. And I’m going to admit it… I popped so hard when Katie’s music hit. Note to self: Never eat breakfast while watching RAW.

Needless to say, I thought last night’s Diva action was the perfect follow-through from the amazing night before. I had worried that I’d be left underwhelmed after a stellar “I Quit” match, but if anything I was overwhelmed because I was not expecting Katie Lea to be added to the mix… what a fabulous addition! Although, I feel a little bad for Jillian, it says a lot when they bring in a Diva who has never been involved in the women’s division before to wrestle this match and not her. Will Jillian find herself back on SmackDown! during the Draft? I can see it happening. Last night during RAW, I saw the future of the women’s division in the ring. These four Divas, I hope in future will have great matches and great feuds with each other and we got a little glimpse of that on RAW.

The match itself was pretty good, if a little short, I would have liked to see the girls get a few minutes longer. Melina was just on-point, character-wise, so much intensity – Melina is a fantastic actress. The spot with Melina and Beth was so well done and you could hear the crowd reaction, they went absolutely nuts! I must point out, that for the first time in history, the King was actually making useful comments to enhance the plot and storyline rather than just talking about how hot they are. He mentioned during the “rush” between Beth and Melina that no Diva has made Beth retreat before. Could he be under orders from WWE to actually focus on the in-ring action? I think it really showed that WWE is taking the division more seriously. I would have loved to see more offense from Katie, but I’ll take this for now; for a moment there it looked like Mickie would get the win over Katie and I was about to hurl something at the TV. You don’t introduce Katie Lea to the division and have her job in her first match, if they wanted to do that they should have used Jillian. But in the end, I was really pleased that Katie got the cover, it has her come off strong in her first match. Of course, she got some help from the Glamazon but they are the heels so I wouldn’t have Katie pin the Women’s Champion cleanly unless it’s a title match.

I have been harsh on Mickie and Cena’s backstage segments (i.e. One Night Stand), but I am pleased to say I enjoyed last night’s segment! The acting from Mickie was miles better than the night before or from her past segments on RAW. She came across funny and kooky, kind of like Cameron Diaz, I did lol when she saw the knickers! This segment was a lot funnier than the one at One Night Stand and actually enjoyable. The comments from Cena felt kinda shoot-ish, maybe the word spread backstage that news of their relationship has broken on the Internet?

In all, there was a lot of plot development last night on RAW, I cannot wait till next week to see what happens next. See, you don’t need bikini contests to draw in viewers; this feud between Melina and Beth has been fantastic and so unpredictable and that makes people want to watch the product; I honestly don’t know what they’ll do next with Melina’s whole cataotonic state of mind – which is why I want to tune in. Storylines like this can draw viewers into RAW, Vince, you don’t need $1m to do that.

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RAW Redux – May 26, 2008

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This week on RAW: BFFs, Melina and Jillian came to blows in the ring, Beth Phoenix watched and commentated, an “I Quit” match was announced for One Night Stand, Mickie James appeared in a pointless segment while JBL made a “subtle” escort joke and Katie Lea shined on the mic!

Thoughts & Reactions
Erin’s psychic powers yesterday predicted that Melina and Beth will face off in an “I Quit Match” while I was leaning more towards cage match or strap match, but “I Quit” works fine for me too! Beth and Melina saw some storyline advancement going into their big battle this Sunday night and gosh, is it just me or is there an air of excitement surrounding the future of the women’s division right now? Of course, WWE has tightened up and are delivering solid women’s action but to go a step further and deliver a first with this match… I’m certainly excited! I just hope that all the WWE Divas will be in the back watching this on the monitor on tenterhooks. Because for me this match marks a revolution of some-kind and that’s something that all these Divas, no matter what show they’re on should support.

I wasn’t really happy with the Melina-Jillian match, partly because just a couple of weeks ago they were BFFs. I think this is a feud they could have explored after Melina’s done with Beth. But they rushed it and it was all over in like 2-3 minutes. I do understand that there’s no other heel Divas so that would explain why they went this route. Melina is officially a face, I have always wondered what that would be like since she’s so devilish, but the fans seem to love her – note the big pop when she came out. To be a great Diva you need to be versatile as a face and a heel, Melina seems to be going in the right direction so far. Anyway, this match was a little sloppy, see the end spot before Melina hit her submission hold. Adding soundtrack to this match was Beth Phoenix on commentary, for me it didn’t work. After hearing Melina on commentary last week, I was underwhelmed by Beth, she came across really bland and boring and “textbook” like she was reading an autocue. Anyway, I cannot wait till One Night Stand!

Mickie James has been stuck on “backstage” mode in recent weeks, I guess it makes a nice change but at the same time, she is the freakin’ Women’s Champion. I guess we’re not going to get Katie vs Mickie after all *sniffle* no advancement there. Instead, Mickie gets a backstage segment with Vince and JBL. A nice subtle reference to Ashley there, I guess it was inevitable and Creative thought enough time had passed. Notice how Ashley was again, noticeably absent… not that I’m complaining. I don’t know about you but the phrase “bodily fluids” makes me cringe, it always has. Mickie is a bad actor.

From Mickie’s robotic Razzie winning performance, we get Katie Lea who is rather playful on the mic, isn’t she? Her mannerisms are very diva-ish, not Diva-Diva-ish, but like Mariah Carey diva-ish. Finally, a high profile feud and push for the Burchills. This segment came across very well, I think working will Mr. Kennedy will help give Paul the rub, while we get to see more of Katie. I was kinda hoping Mickie would run down the ramp and attack her *sigh* maybe a mixed tag team match is in our futures, though.

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YouTube Classics: Stacy vs. Torrie in an Eggnog Match

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Welcome to the YouTube Classics! This week, our theme will be “T&A”, matches with a decidedly T&A theme. They don’t always have to be pure cheesecake – these matches can be quite entertaining and competitive despite the fact that the Divas are doing slightly demeaning acts. :P Today, we have Stacy Keibler vs. Torrie Wilson … Read more

RAW Redux – May 19, 2008

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This week on RAW: We were treated to not one, but two feuds brewing before our very eyes! Melina continued to chase Beth Phoenix, while Katie Lea got her official introduction into the women’s division challenging Mickie James.

Thoughts & Reactions
Thank you WWE!!! Thank you the Gods above!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! What a fantastic night for the Divas… again! I’m beginning to think WWE actually likes women’s wrestling as much as we do! Last night’s RAW saw the brewing of not one, but two feuds and damn… these are two feuds I cannot wait to see culminate! I was not expecting what WWE dished out last night; I was expecting Melina to be dropped and Beth to go after Mickie and it certainly looked that way for a little while: when Melina came out to the announce table, my heart and my gut told me that we were going to get Beth Phoenix vs Mickie James. But damn, I have never in my entire life been more pleased to see Maria!!! Sure this match was short but you have to think about it in terms of development of storylines, this match developed the storyline between Beth Phoenix and Melina and it was fantastic stuff. WWE is telling a story, letting a feud unfold and that’s something they haven’t really done for the past couple of years. They just throw the Divas out in there in matches, no real bad blood or feud and say “Here’s your weekly three minute Diva match… eat it up, bitches” to us fans. But over the past few weeks, they have really stepped up their game and treated the Divas with the respect they deserve – getting a real storyline.

I absolutely loved the gutsy play by Melina, attacking Beth and then Beth laying her out. The pop Melina got as she ran through the ring and up the ramp left no doubt in my mind that the fans can and will accept Melina as a face! This was really well done and I think it will lead to a physical, brutal match-up (maybe a strap match?) at One Night Stand – a major step-up from a fucking pudding match last year. This segment was really well done and set up this feud nicely. I was expecting them to drop Melina and just revert back to Beth-Mickie but they really followed through and rather than just elevate two Divas to the top of the division (Beth and Mickie), they are actually elevating three, Melina included. Fantastic!

Given her big win at Judgment Day, I expected maybe a second match-up (Mickie vs Jillian?) or some appearance by Mickie because it would be ridiculous for her to not appear after her win the night before. But what we got was even better! I’ve been waiting anxiously to see Katie Lea become part of the women’s division and I think she just has! Say it with me – YAY!!!! This segment, again, was really well done and set up Katie as a heel nicely. The bitchy retorts… I lol’d! It’s hard to believe but WWE is actually using logic with the women’s division *enter chorus of gasps here* With Melina turning to the light (becoming a face), they’ve introduced Katie into the division to counteract that heel void left by her. Again, I cannot wait to see this feud and this match develop, I think this could be the feud of the summer. I hope they let it simmer and be a slow burner, because this is a match I want to see at SummerSlam.

RAW was quite the event this week for our Divas, I cannot wait to see where these two story arcs go next! I’m about 75% certain Beth and Melina will face off at One Night Stand, and hopefully we’ll have some continunation of the Katie-Mickie feud too. Again, this should be a slow burner, hopefully something like Katie taunting Mickie or coming out and scouting her during a match. Fabulous!

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RAW Redux – May 12, 2008

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This week on RAW: The Divas were packed to the rafters as we saw memorable segments including Lilian Garcia singing “Respect”, Mickie James possibly making a lurve connection with John Cena and Beth Phoenix beating the crap out of Melina!

Thoughts & Reactions
Now that is how you do it! See, WWE’s writing team are capable of creating great storylines for the Divas… so why don’t they do it more often?! Last night’s RAW was very much eclectic and very memorable for the Divas as more girls than ever before were utilised in the two hour broadcast making for a really fun show with Divas at every turn! Lilian Garcia and Mickie James kicked things off in the opening segment, which actually made me sit through the beginning because usually I record/download it and skip through to the parts I want to watch. I was forwarding through the opening segment till Mickie popped up! This was pretty cool to have a Diva involved in ongoing storylines (in this case, William Regal’s storyline) and not just the Superstars coming out and doing the opening promo bit. Lilian then belted out an amazing rendition of “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, which I loved every second of!

Could WWE be angling towards a romance between Mickie and John Cena? I don’t know how I feel about that, I’m 50-50 but I’m leaning more towards “bad idea.” The backstage segment between these two was pretty fun to watch too although I didn’t really sense much chemistry between them; the chemistry between Cena and Maria back in the day was electric however. The tag team match itself was nothing to write home about, but it wasn’t really a match per se, I look at it as more of a segment to advance storylines and it did a great job. Beth sold incredibly well, the intensity in her eyes as she glared at Melina. Great stuff!

And to cap off the evening, we have an intense backstage brawl between Beth and Melina which was the highlight of the entire show, for me. Sure, Beth is the strong, dominant Glamazon but they did a great job of building Melina up and not making her look weak, by having her strike the first blow. This showed Melina wasn’t afraid of Beth and sets up this feud nicely. I can’t wait for the triple threat match at Judgment Day! Though one thing I don’t understand is why Jillian ran away to get the referees, did she forget that she’s a wrestler too? Jillian and Melina could easily have teamed up to take out Beth.

A very mixed bag of action, kudos to WWE for utilising all of the Divas in a useful way that contributes something to the show rather than useless segments. And extra kudos for keeping Ashley off the show entirely. I really loved all the different Diva action last night, the variety of matches, backstage segments etc. I wrote last week in my SmackDown! thoughts, that RAW usually just throws the girls out there for a match and rarely varies it up by having in-ring segments, backstage segments etc. They really did a great job with that this week.

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RAW Redux – May 05, 2008

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On this week’s RAW, we saw a Women’s Championship Lumberjack Match, the return of Trish Stratus and Katie Lea and Paul Burchill continued their handicap stint.

Thoughts & Reactions
The Women’s Championship match, when I first read about it, I thought for sure they’d made the wrong decision; they should’ve kept this match for Judgment Day. The match itself was not good. Plodding along with kicks and punches, it really wasn’t fun to watch and that is a problem I have with matches with these two Divas, their Armageddon match last year bored me to tears. It wasn’t until Melina was injected into the picture on New Year’s Eve in a triple threat match, that this feud got a little more exciting. That was a fun match. Live from London, Mickie and Beth really pulled it out of the bag, it could’ve been a really bad match a few weeks ago when Mickie won the title but it wasn’t, thankfully. I think everyone got into it because of the London crowd and the big fight feel; but this match it felt dull. Not to mention, some incredibly sloppy ring-work from Mickie James, a few of the spots in this match were really awkward to watch. I didn’t expect that from Mickie, but last night, she wasn’t on her game. All these repetetive descriptions of Beth Phoenix by the announcers is getting really boring; how many times can we hear that she’s the most dominant Diva to ever enter the WWE, she’s this, she’s that. Jim Ross, you’ve been doing the same shtick for over six months, get some new material.

As I said earlier, I felt they should have kept this match until Judgment Day but I can see why they haven’t. Even though the match was pretty dull, the ending was very well done and it brings Melina into the fold and I can’t knock that. I predict a triple threat match at Judgment Day, so hopefully that match will be better than this one – Melina is a lot of fun to watch in the ring. But there are a few possible routes WWE could go here: Could Melina turn face? After all, she cost Beth her match, I could see Beth trying to retaliate and “bully” Melina, effectively making Melina a face. This is something I would love to see and it would also balance out the women’s division in terms of good in-ring workers. Either way, I’m glad they’ve bought Melina into the fold, why waste a talent like her?

Trish Stratus’ return was a fun little cameo, as I’ve written in another post, she’s stepped back onto RAW in a 50-second segment and shown more character and personality than any of the current crop of Divas could ever hope to display.

I’m glad they’ve continued having Katie and Burchill team up, despite the horrible commentary from Mike Adamle. I mean seriously?! “She’s definitely not a pretty face!” Excuse you?! I think he meant “She’s not just a pretty face”, but that kind of shocked me. I hope Katie can join the women’s division soon or at least play a bigger role than just directing traffic for Burchill, even though she’s in the match too.

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Lilian’s Canadian Faux Pas

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RAW ring announcer, Lilian Garcia made quite the faux pas in front a very vocal Canadian crowd, last night. Lilian addressed the arena, the Air Canada Centre as the “Air America Centre” leading to a chorus of boos from the fans in attendance! Ouch. Lilian did make it up, with what I assume would have … Read more

Shocker: Trish Returns to RAW

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With last night’s RAW being held at the Air Canada Center in Toronto, Trish Stratus made a surprise appearance on the show and conducted a little interview with WWE.com afterwards! Eek! Trish!

Only a short segment, but the crowd was going crazy for Trish! No doubt, the 7-time Women’s Champion still has it! Check out her WWE.com interview after the cut:

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