Bucks thoughts on last night show

[masterragu]

BUCK LOOKS AT LAST NIGHT'S HISTORIC RAW
by Buck Woodward @ 2:35:00 PM on 3/23/2004


Last night's show was centered around the "draft lottery" and depending on what kind of expectations you had for the draft, that probably determined whether or not you enjoyed the show. It all came together so quickly, we really had no idea how encompassing (or less than encompassing) the lottery would be until it happened. While there might be a few trades tonight (and I would expect at least two from what I am hearing), the lottery essentially boiled down to a slight "freshening up" of the rosters, rather than major reconstruction. I actually like the idea, and as I mentioned during the Elite Audio show with Jess McGrath last night following Raw, I wouldn't mind seeing this become a yearly event. It's a good way to swap some talent without coming up with ridiculous reasons for wrestlers to jump, like "contract loopholes" that suddenly appear.

Still, if the lottery results left you feeling overwhelmed, the WWE still put on a show that made you feel like you were watching an "event". They did a great job in making the show feel important, and topping it off with both the WWE and World Titles being defended was a nice touch. The end of the show, with all the wrestlers brawling in the ring, had that UWF/Mid-South style "Katie, Bar The Door" feel to it, and was a lot of fun. It was also the first time the brands really showed unity and fought together, and for one night, it was cool.

Pluses:

I liked that they had the Raw and Smackdown announce teams set up for the show, since both brands had involvement in the show. Their work in putting over the importance of the draft and playing up how great each pick was really added to the show. I especially loved the incredible job that was done in the final segment, with the director seamlessly switching back and forth between the announce teams, with the two duos not missing a beat. ... John Cena's reaction shows that the fans are believing in him as a major star now. ... I liked how they teased breaking up a "major group" with La Resistance before doing it for real with Evolution. ... If Paul Heyman is not going to be on television again for a while, I was glad that he got to go out with a strong promo, not by getting beat up or embarrassed. ... Edge's return was great, and I am looking forward to seeing the reaction he gets for Backlash in Canada. ... While I didn't like the finish, I enjoyed the work in the Triple H-Guerrero match. It was a interesting big man/little man dynamic. ... The ending brawl, with chaos reigning supreme, was really fun to watch.

Minuses:

They just keep missing the boat with Rico, and having Kane squash him didn't help matters. If Rico is getting traded to Smackdown, then they didn't exactly send him off Raw looking good at all. ... Batista & Flair winning the tag titles from Booker & RVD seemed to just be there to take up time, and to get the straps off of RVD & Booker before breaking them up. ... I hate DQ finishes in big title matches, and we got one with Triple H and Eddie Guerrero.

A Mixture Of Both:

Jericho vs. Dupree was a good, if meaningless, match. ... As I mentioned above, I thought the draft lottery did a good job of freshening things up, but some of the names were pretty meaningless. ... Spike Dudley vs. Christian was good, but why did it seem that most of the traded wrestlers ended up jobbing last night? ... Benoit vs. Rhyno was a good match, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking "John Cena beat Rhyno in less than two minutes Thursday, why is it taking Benoit so long?" ... I am glad they are going with Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit as the main event of Backlash, but doesn't the whole idea that the "World Title is what Triple H wants more than anything" sort of make the WWE Title seem less important?

My thoughts on the draft lottery results have already been posted.

Unanswered and Rhetorical Questions:

Isn't it still a surreal moment for long-time fans to see Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman standing together?

Did Orton have a tonsillectomy because Mick Foley hasn't washed Mr. Socko in a while?

Could there have been a more under whelming first pick than Rene Dupree?

And wasn't Smackdown thrilled when he lost to Jericho and got beat up by Austin on his way to their brand?

With the way they kept speculating about Steve Austin being sent to Smackdown, didn't you just know it WOULDN'T happen?

If you were Kane, would you want to be on a roster with the Undertaker, considering he beat Kane with relative ease at Wrestlemania?

When Mark Jindrak was picked, did you wonder if they would have him trade in a Heat shirt for a Velocity one?

Was anyone NOT expecting Nidia to change shirts on the stage for a cheap pop?

Considering it was a random draw, did it really matter who picked the balls out of the bin?

How funny was the "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" chant from the locker room for Triple H?

And was Brock Lesnar at home watching?

Can you believe Ric Flair is a champion again?

And when RVD and Booker dropped the straps, didn't you know one of them was going to Smackdown?

Isn't it great to have champions like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero that actually wear the championship belts around their waist?

Are they announcing Chris Benoit as now hailing from Atlanta, Georgia just to tick off the Canadian fans prior to Backlash?

Can you believe Jim Ross used the Gordon Solie classic "Two words, five letter, I Quit" line after Heyman quit Raw?

Didn't the size difference between Eddie Guerrero and Triple H really stand out?

Did you notice Steve Austin slugging Billy Gunn during the ringside brawl as Jim Ross referred to the mayhem as a "bar fight"?