WWE RAW WORKRATE REPORT
Tom is off romancing a young lady, so this is solo. He may respond tomorrow if he gets bail.
What Worked
I liked the tease of a possible Regal v. Benoit feud, be a perfectly fun Vengance match, hell you could even make it ECW rules, Regal can brawl like a motherfucker. I also enjoyed the Regal v. Dreamer exchanges during the clusterfuck at the end. So Regal worked.
Val Venis breaking out all of his Heat offense was pretty cool. I liked the concussion sell on the throw down too. Although considering Val hasn't beaten anyone except C.M. Punk in years, it does kind of bury your pushed guy to have Val take 85% of the match. It was kind of like when APW brought in Barry Horowitz to work their champ Donovan Morgan and had Horowitz dominate him for 20 minutes, before losing on a fluke. Of course I would rather see Horowitz on offense then Morgan on offense, and I sure as hell would rather see Venis on offense then Masters, so no real complaints here.
What Didn't Work
Man alive the Cipher at the beginning made me beg for the days of Rikishi with Lil Natch beatboxes. Cena seems to be pretty intent on the gay baiting too. Especially with his smooth hairless chest and rippled Universal Gear model body. Can wannabees be on the down low?
I kind of hope they just completely gut Smackdown and turn it into a completely Mexican show. Thursday SD gets Val Venis, Monday RAW drafts the Undertaker, SD gets Todd Grisham, RAW gets Angle. Only reason I watch Smackdown is Eddie, dump all the white boys and just fill the show with Puerto Ricans and Mexicans. Ratings would probably go up.
Man that is three weeks in a row Shelton is stuck in awful handicap matches with semi-professionals. They need to dump Hassan, he is unbearably bad. Can't Big Vito hit a tanning bed and pass as an Arab? Hey they might sign Samoa Joe, Samoan...Arab same difference.
Man watching Helmsley rehash old 80's angles every week is like watching Death of a Salesman at a dinner theater. Lines are the same, but you are really much more concerned with getting a refill on your ice tea.
Snitsky... really... hasn't that joke run its course yet?
I am really sick of Paul Heyman slobbering about emotional connection on my television screen, although I did thoroughly enjoy Axl Rotten being too fat to cleanly climb over the guardrail. I was also amused that neither Ross or Lawler had any idea who Axl or Balls was. Hell Axl worked Memphis and Lawler was clueless. Hey it's Rhino and Sandman and Tommy Dreamer, and ummm two really fat guys with chairs.