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10 Thoughts on Monday Night Raw for 10-20-2008

By Norine Stice - October 22, 2008 | Email the author

When someone asked me if I could do 10 Thoughts on Raw this week, I said no problem. Now, as I sit here staring at my keyboard, I realized it would help if I had something to work with but since I do not wish to back down from a challenge, I will suffer along with Mr. Marshall who did the live Raw Report and provide my 10 Thoughts.

1. Kelly Kelly and Candice Michelle vs. Jillian Hall and Katie Lea: Please don’t insult my intelligence by calling this a wrestling match. It was nothing of the sort and of the four women involved, I could only consider Katie Lea as knowledgeable. Most diva matches are sloppy and boring and this one was no exception but it did attain WWE’s goal – bring out the lookers in skimpy outfits in order to get the live audience fired up.

2. Chris Jericho has excellent mic skills and last night was no exception. Enter Batista with sunglasses (were the lights too bright?) and diamond stud earrings larger than most drug dealers would wear and it’s on to the showdown coming up between Jericho and Batista at the next pay per view. Chris would win out on mic skills hands down although when Mike Adamle appeared, I realized his mic skills were improving.

3. John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Charlie Haas dressed as Stone Cold Steve Austin: This may be an improvement for Haas who last week worked a parody of Hulk Hogan but I would like to know what Charlie has done to be relegated to degrading shows of a show of power for JBL. I realize there may be very few things for Layfield to do in the ring but Haas has talent. Stop with the jokes and let him wrestle!

4. Rey Mysterio vs. Snitsky: This match was scheduled to show everyone how Mysterio would face Kane, his opponent at the next pay per view. That being said, no one, including myself, would buy that Mysterio could literally squash anyone Snitsy’s size and that is exactly what happened. To make it even less believable, Snitsky appears in the corner of the screen prior to the match to inform us how much he likes to inflict punishment. That must be in his dreams because Rey waltzed all over him.

5. The Miz and John Morrison vs. Kofi Kingston and CM Punk: It is difficult, but not impossible, for me to say anything negative about a match involving Punk. Kingston and Punk did everything right against a team that should never have been put together in the first place. It’s great that Miz and Morrison have their little Internet show but it would be even better if they could put on a decent match. Punk was his outstanding self, making a complete recovery after slipping on the turnbuckle. Kofi and Punk are looking good as a team and would look even better if their opponents could work a match.

6. Santino Marella is funny, Beth Phoenix is amazing in the ring and the two do have a hysterical kind of chemistry that would be even better if I was watching a comedy show. Phoenix, who has spent time in the women’s world of Shimmer, is a very talented wrestler. She should have been in the first match of the evening pitted against Katie, allowing Katie to hone her wrestling skills against a woman who knows how to work.

7. Shad and JTG of Cryme Tyme were to face two members of Simply Priceless. There was no match, there was a beat down by Simply Priceless. A true wrestling fan appreciates a great feud, but this was a waste of time. If these workers have talent, please allow us to see them in action.

8. The last matches of the evening were Batista and Chris Jericho each in a gauntlet match and how original can we get? With very little time left in the two hour time slot, Batista and Jericho fumbled their way through William Regal, “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry and “The Big Red Machine” Kane in what may have been the shortest two gauntlet matches in the history of pro wrestling.

9. John Cena is coming back! Videos appeared during the broadcast yet again as has become standard for each WWE show lately. We get it already…Cena is tough, he works hard, and he will be back. It is not necessary to show us the same video replays over and over again.

10. The entire two hours of Raw was a series of commercial pushes for the next pay per view and for this year’s Wrestlemania. Twenty years ago, the build up for Wrestlemania was exciting but with monthly pay per views and three WWE televised events every week, it has become mundane. Lack of action on Raw, ECW and Smackdown does nothing to make me want to part with my hard earned cash for the next pay per view. Mr. Marshall did a fantastic job of covering Raw even though I felt some of his grades were on the high end of the scale.

Comments

Ever the trooper, Norine jumped headlong into Monday Night RAW just for you, our devoted readers. A warm thank you to Ms. Stice is in order…

Great stuff, Norine!

Posted by Vinny Truncellito | October 22, 2008, 9:10 am
Miz and Morrison can’t work a match? I guess you don’t watch a whole lot of ECW.

Posted by Chris | October 22, 2008, 10:28 am
Punk is too good and already too far elevated to be stuck in tag-team feuds with Kofi who should have never left ECW.

And “little internet show” or not, Morrison is a very talented worker and he and Miz are the only decent tag-team the WWE has right now.

Posted by Eison | October 22, 2008, 12:01 pm
Punk is teamed with Kofi only to allow him to go after Priceless’ tag titles as his place holder feud. Once Orton is ready to wrestle, Punk can blow off his feud with Dibiase, Rhodes and Manu before making it to Orton.

Posted by Walter Kovacs | October 22, 2008, 1:51 pm
If Cena comes back around Survivor Series like everyone seems to believe , isn’t he just rushing back again, and setting up to reinjure himself in short order?

Posted by John | October 22, 2008, 1:52 pm
Miz and Morrison can’t work a match? Someone’s jealous.

Posted by Randall | October 22, 2008, 1:57 pm
I think Morrison is very talented. I do not think that Miz and Morrison are a great tag team and the match on Raw was horrible. Kingston, on the other hand, appears to be improving while Miz does not.

Posted by Norine | October 22, 2008, 2:14 pm
Randall,

Why would a reviewer who doesn’t think highly of a wrestler be “jealous”? Makes NO sense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eison,

Being the only decent tag team in the land of de-valued tag titles ain’t saying much. Morrison is very talented, indeed. Miz… isn’t.

Posted by Vinny Truncellito | October 22, 2008, 5:25 pm
I love how all the writers come to each other’s aid all the time. Hey Vinny, if you’re going to defend Norine, defend what SHE said.

Readers getting mad because she throws a blanket of “you suck” over Morrison and Miz without saying if she likes one or the other doesn’t require your personal opinion of their work.

And a reviewer who doesn’t think highly of a wrestler could be “jealous” because said arrogant reviewer can’t stand the fact that said wrestler is on TV making a ton of money while she pecks at a keyboard.

Makes A LOT of sense.

Posted by Dino | October 22, 2008, 7:14 pm
Yes, Miz & Morrison held the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Titles for quite a while. Yet they were teamed up by creative “just because”. To put them on the same level as Edge & Christian, Matt & Jeff Hardy, The Dudleys…that’s just wrong.

Miz and Morrison are good, but Morrison is shades better than Miz, who I loathed for the longest of time. Miz has started growing on me the day they came up with the Dirt Sheet.

People are going to have different tastes…Hell, you don’t see it here at Pulse Wrestling, but elsewhere the comment boards are lit up with anti-CM Punk comments. People are going to have differing opinions…it’s part of human nature.

Posted by Paul Marshall | October 22, 2008, 10:34 pm
Dino,

This is the comments section, and I was commenting on some of the other comments – it’s called discussion. I’m under no obligation to ignore the comments and discuss ONLY the source column.

Now get ready, because I’m about to agree with another colleague (the horror!), the esteemed Mr. Marshall.

Holding titles in the barren tag team wasteland of WWE doesn’t equate to skill, or indicate that a team is “special” like some of the greats of this era that Mr. Marshall mentioned.

Morrison if terrific, and should one day become a true world champion (I don’t count the ECW title as anything above the IC/US straps) if WWE Creative handles him properly, but the Miz just isn’t on that level.

Why do you want to believe otherwise? Why does it bother you when several fans (which all us writers are, fans first) express opinions contrary to your own?

Posted by Vinny Truncellito | October 23, 2008, 3:15 am
My thanks to Mr. Truncellito and Mr. Marshall for responding in an educated and knowledgeable fashion.

That being said, I do not always agree with the writers here. I appreciate the two aforementioned gentlemen because they work hard to bring different opinions to this site.

I did not respond to the “jealous” remark because I felt I was suddenly on a child’s site. However, if my opinions cause you to believe I am jealous of anyone in the wrestling world, you are not reading what I write. I dislike lack of talent. If Miz is great on the mic, that’s lovely, but if he isn’t good in the ring, his mic skills don’t count. That isn’t jealousy, that’s honesty.

Posted by Norine | October 23, 2008, 6:37 am
The problem Dino pointed out, and that no one is acknowledging, is that that the comments section on Pulse Wrestling usually tends to be a circle jerk for the writers. No one’s opinions are ever challenged, and if they are, it seems as if every other writer immediately jumps to the original’s defense without provocation.

Take a journey through the comments section for a few articles. It’s always, “Good job as usual, {insert name}” or constantly referring to whoever as the Ace of Pulse Wrestling. There’s never any challenge to what’s being presented by the author. What’s worse is that it has bled over into the content of the site. You don’t present any dissenting opinions (except, maybe, when you’re trying to get one over on the frigging Disco Inferno, of all people), which makes for a boring read. It’s a problem when three to four of your writers are interchangable because they’re all voicing the same opinion or a slight variation thereof. I may not always like the stupidity that shows up on a site like 411 but at least it’s not the same few writers mucking around in the same shallow pool of ideas.

Posted by Rob | October 23, 2008, 9:30 am
Rob got it exactly right. That was my main point. It’s almost like, “well we welcome discussion and debate… as long as it’s all the writers against one person.”

“…team that should never have been put together in the first place. It’s great that Miz and Morrison have their little Internet show but it would be even better if they could put on a decent match.”

That was what Norine wrote about Miz and Morrison that got her called to the carpet. There was no, “I like Morrison but feel he’s being saddled with an inept partner.” It was a snide swipe at their “little Internet show” followed by a rip on THEM as a TEAM.

How does taking her to task for it make anyone immature? It wasn’t until AFTER a couple people called her on underrating the team that she finally said “well I like Morrison, but Miz sucks.” That’s much better than two cheap shot comments, right? Right.

And the fact that people can say that Miz and Morrison suck while calling the Dudleys a “great” team need to get off the nostaglia trip. Especially when the main issue being repeated is that “title reigns don’t make you great.”

Or did I miss all the five asterisk masterpieces the Dudleys were involved in where there weren’t two other teams doing the grunt work?

Posted by Dino | October 23, 2008, 1:10 pm
Leaving aside the squabbling (mostly) to address the issue.

I don’t know… I wouldn’t say that that disliking Miz and Morrison is a common occurence here. Blatt and Norine are the only two that do. Ivan, Paul, and a few others completely think they’re great.

Mostly, it depends on what you’re looking for. Miz isn’t about flashy movesor mat wrestling, but that doesn’t make hima bad worker. The point of working is telling a story and using the characters to get the crowd emotionally invested. Miz is clearly quite effective at this and, while not an expert by any means, has a lot of potential to draw money by being hated so much. So long as he isn’t working incredibly tight or loose or just getting lost out there, that makes him at least a good wrestler. Morrison is generally beloved, so I’ll leave that be for the moment.

The question of If Miz and Morrison are a great team is an easy yes for two sects. The first sect merely looks at kayfabe accomplishments, air time, and push to note that Miz and Morrison get a good deal of all of those. That makes them a great team. They’ll naturally fall short in kayfabe to teams around in hot tag eras, because those were in more memorable tag feuds. The team itself should hardly be penalized- they didn’t control when they came along.

Non-kayfabe, Morrison is quickly developing into a great worker, with a lot of charisma and flashy moves. As a smaller guy, he’d be a great underdog, leaving him to have been, traditionally, a face. Miz is, however, nearly unlikable as a smarmy bastard and as Morrison’s running partner, helps to give some of that heat to Morrison in a way that a manager used to. Their match this week wasn’t effective as a pure match, but this was ENTIRELY Punk and Kofi’s fault, if you know the basics of structure. Punk and Kofi controlled for too long going into a break and were still controllig when we returned. For babyface fire to last so long and keep the crowd up, it needs to be either extra explosive or an entertaining back and forth. This was neither, leaving a disjointed match. As a segment, however, this was still effective. The screwjob ending on the beloved Punk drew great heat on Miz and Morrison, two bad guys who had gotten lucky to steal one, so it’s not a total loss.

There, everyone happy now?

Posted by Aaron Glazer | October 23, 2008, 5:16 pm

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