3-6-2006 RAW Review For Those that didn't bother to watch.

[Macabre]

If there was a gun at my head and I had to give a true and honest opinion of last night's Raw I would, without hesitation, say that it was a really poor show. The matches that I cared about were way too short, as were the ones that I didn't. The storylines and angles were goofy and to me just seemed to be more concerned with being cute (or whatever it is that creative calls what they do) than hard-selling the biggest PPV of the year. By the time it ended, I was left wondering what they were trying to accomplish. I am still wondering.

All in all, it was just a bad two hours of sports entertainment. It made my job difficult this week because I like to find some positives in the show when I do this report. I came up with a few this week, but believe me, I am hardly doing so enthusiastically and I don't want to send a mixed message about the quality of the broadcast. This was not a good show and WWE should not feel good about it. Not at all.

Plusses: The best thing about the show was the focus that they had on WrestleMania. While I would have done a lot of things differently than they did them, at least their thought pattern was in the right place by trying to push the show. ... Eugene vs. Kenny was the best match on the show. Kane vs. Triple H was OK too. Most weeks I wouldn't have mentioned either of them, but I was reaching today. ... I was also happy to see Sherri Martel get inducted into the Hall of Fame. She deserves it. She was always a strong worker and was a great manager at ringside as well. ... And finally, Trish has smartened up to what Mickie James has been doing for months now. Maybe she isn't Sting 2006 after all!

Minuses: I mentioned the main stuff above. There's no use in picking it apart here. It's just amazing to me how Raw can be really good one week, then really bad a short time later. ... There is no excuse for them showing a graphic that says WrestleMania is "34 days away" to begin with, but then for Joey Styles to repeat the mistake is just unreal. Doesn't anyone in that company know how to read a calendar? How can a company that big not have some kind of quality control? That stuff should never happen.

A Mixture Of Both: I didn't really care for the "Vince parodies the Oscars" segment that opened Raw. It just seemed like what is becoming typical Vince, over the top and too long. I wish he would get his Steve Austin era Mr. McMahon mojo back. But, Shawn Michaels coming out got a big pop from the fans and put heat on their feud, so that makes it a good thing to me. ... This one is dependent on where it's going. If Stacy Keibler is actually coming back, then it made sense to have Candice crap all over her. But, since that doesn't appear to be the case at all, it just came across as a shot they took because they were mad that she found success outside of wrestling and wants to take advantage of it. WWE can be so childish with stuff like this. It's not like she was a big star in a huge program when she left either. They were hardly even using her and if she came back, it would be the same way in a few weeks. So, ripping on her is just stupid and childish.

Rhetorical and Unanswered Questions:

Did it crack up anyone else to hear the McMahons referred to as "an egotistical family that do what they want" on the preview just before Raw came on?

Did it make anyone else really proud to be a wrestling fan when they opened the show with the recap of last week's KMA angle?

Does Vince really think that the majority of the fans at Raw watched the Oscars last night?

And, am I the only one who didn't even see any of the movies up for "Best Picture", let alone watched the award show in years?

Why does Vince always have to refer to Shano Mac as "my son Shane" when we all know who the hell he is by now?

Was that a botched boot by Kane on Masters or what?

On the SNME plug, did they call Shane the Crown Prince or the Clown Prince of WWE?

Uh, why would Victoria not want us to see the cover of Playboy yet when it's already been on THE COMPANY WEBSITE?

Did Steph need to tell us that she was pregnant?

I mean, what the hell else would we think was up with her when she walked in looking like that?

Boy, isn't Steph a heel to use her unborn baby to get heat?

Why would Shawn believe Steph when she is one of the worst actresses in the world and wasn't even close to convincing?

If Vince really wanted to get rid of Shawn, why didn't he just drug test him after Steph spiked his water?

And, be honest, would it have surprised you AT ALL if WWE did an angle based on the drug testing policy?

Didn't Shawn wonder why everyone in the building yelled "No" as he went to drink the spiked water?

Isn't it funny to hear Coach and Lawler talking about how Candice's cover is too hot for TV when she and the other divas wear less clothing than that on Raw almost every week?

So what, Torrie doesn't like Candice acting like a selfish bitch who thinks she is better than everyone, but Victoria is fine with it?

Does that make her character dumber than Trish's?

Wasn't watching Vince McTan strut with Shane out to the ring pretty funny?

And, isn't it a great thing that he didn't tear his quads doing so?

What did Eugene vs. Kenny have to do with building towards WrestleMania?

How great was Bobby Heenan on the "This week in history" segment?

Did WWE creative listen as the crowd chanted "Cena" during Edge's beatdown of Mick Foley?

And, will they ever admit that they messed up by taking the title off of Edge?

Were those three pushups all that Big Show could do?

Was WWE excited to have those two fans holding up the "Big Slow" signs get on TV?

How impressive was it for John Cena to hold up Big Show in the FU?

from PWINSIDER