I was pretty impressed with the 3-hour Monday Night Raw last night. Lots of time to push the big matches at WrestleMania, some good in-ring promos, and a new Intercontinental Champion. Though I do think there were some missed opportunities with the show. Granted, not every Raw or Smackdown is perfect (though the 15th Anniversary Raw was pretty close) but I would've liked to see things done a little differently than they were.
Today, the big news making the rounds on the web is that Jeff Hardy has been suspended by the WWE. He violated the WWE's Wellness Policy and is being sent home for 60 days. The Policy has been the subject of much scrutiny but I think this suspension is showing people that its for real and that nobody is "protected" from it. You fail a drug test, you're suspended. I believe there's a 3 strikes rule with the Policy and this is Hardy's second violation. This is really a damn shame, because he's been on such a huge roll in the last few months and was a heavy favorite to win the Money In The Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania. So on one hand, I'm disappointed, but on the other, I'm glad to see the WWE stepping up and reinforcing their policy, regardless of how popular Jeff is and that fact that he was *this close* to becoming a solidified main eventer. The media and any other naysayers can try and come up with their own "facts" and info on the Wellness Policy, but in the long run, a lot of guys are gonna live longer and clean up their act.
So since nobody except Jeff and his co-workers knew of his impending suspension, it was a pretty big shock to see Chris Jericho beat him for the Intercontinental Championship. It was a great match with a ton of close near-falls, but nobody expected a new Champ. When Jericho hit The Codebreaker and got the win, there were a lot of dropped jaws. Not that Jericho isn't deserving of it (I for one think its a step down for Y2J), but with the roll Hardy had been on lately, nobody expected him to lose his IC Title. I just chalked it up to the WWE keeping Hardy belt-less so he could go for the big gold, the WWE Championship. But it was obviously because of his suspension. Its a shame he won't be in the ladder match at Mania, but that's the price you pay. As for Jericho holding the IC Title, I hope he defends it often with some great matches because the belt has lost some of its prestige in the last while.
As for the rest of Raw, I was pretty much satisfied. I really liked the opening promo between Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. Gotta admit, I half-expected HBK to turn and superkick Flair down, but he's most likely gonna stay a babyface and it'll be Good Guy vs. Good Guy at Mania. Still, nothing builds a great match like a little tension now and then. Michaels is heading to Smackdown this week to team up with Flair in a Steel Cage match against World Heavyweight Champion Edge and the Edge-Heads, so we might see some tempers flare (pun intended). I also liked the confrontation between Umaga and Batista. I hope this match gets more hype and exposure leading into WrestleMania, because I'm getting more and more excited for it with each week. Sure, one can look at it as a quick solution to ensure these two have a match at WrestleMania, but I think there's also a huge number of fans who've always wanted to see Batista and Umaga collide, and what better stage is there to do it? The Animal vs. The Samoan Bulldozer. Should be a gooder.
I couldn't help but feel there were a few missed opportunities here and there, though. Like with the Money In The Bank match. Why not have the last remaining wrestlers confirmed for it? Yeah, there's still 2 weeks worth of TV shows left, but it could've been fit into this special 3-hour Raw. Why not? And I was waiting for some sort of confrontation between Edge and The Undertaker. They both had singles matches last night. Where was Edge during Taker's Casket Match with Mark Henry? No interference from the World Heavyweight Champion? And where was the Phenom during the Champ's match with CM Punk? No mind games or dimming the lights? I know Raw isn't "their show", but for a main event match that's as anticipated as this, there should've been some sort of altercation between the two.
And the WrestleMania Rewind matches. How many were there? Three. Three matches out of eight. And the US Express/Shiek & Volkoff segment doesn't count, because there was no match. Wow. What a slap in the face that was. And of course HHH wasn't gonna fight John Cena, because that match is being saved for a PPV showdown, likely SummerSlam. Why spoil it with free TV? Yeah, we could've seen him fight Batista or the Undertaker, but we (once again) see him battle Kane and win. I could swear these two fought on a Rewind night before. Was it before Mania 21? 22? I'm not complaining about it, I just thought they didn't put their "best foot forward" with the concept this year. As for the rest of the night, it was pretty so-so. Cena and Michaels do the main event thing and it ends in a DQ win for HBK. The show then ended with Cena hitting the interferer, WWE Champion Randy Orton, with an FU. HHH then announced that on Raw next week, Cena and Orton will team up to face the entire Raw roster. Could be interesting. We'll see where it goes.
In short, a pretty good Raw but I would've done a few things differently. Like maybe have a contract signing between Umaga and Batista that obviously ends in chaos, have Edge and Taker interfere in each other's matches, and maybe throw in a surprise appearance by Stone Cold or something. Its a 3-hour Raw, so you need to have something special.
Going back to the Money In The Bank match, the US Champion MVP qualified for it at a house show over the weekend, so we're not going to see him defend the belt against a returning Matt Hardy. In that case then, I'm about 90% sure the remaining two spots will go to Hardy and Kane. I guess it makes sense for Matt to return in a match with 7 other guys, so he can take his time and shake off any ring rust he has without many fans noticing. I hope he's in it, anyway. Then we can finally see Hardy vs. MVP for the US Title at Backlash in April.
So now, what to do about Jeff Hardy's now-vacant spot in the ladder match? Well, there's only one man I have in mind for the job, and if the WWE is smart they'll try and get him back no matter what.
Take your thumbs, lift em high and point down at yourself in a cocky, swaggering manner.
Can anyone say ROB.........VAN..............DAM???
Keep 'em laughin',
Derek
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