My Take On 10.11.06: Loving Raw, Hating Raw, Ken Shamrock and Surprises
Posted by Larry Csonka on 10.11.2006
In the latest edition of My Take On, I will discuss why love and hate Raw at the same time, what could be next for Ken Shamrock and surprises in wrestling.
Introduction:
Welcome back to the latest edition of My Take On. I didn't play on doing one this week due to the hectic schedule I have been keeping, but sometimes shit happens and I decide that I have to discuss some shit. It's just one of those things you know? I always find time somehow to do it, and this time it is some stuff that I thought of at work, jotted down some notes and finished up after ECW on Sci-Fi. So sit back and relax as I discuss why love and hate Raw at the same time, what could be next for Ken Shamrock and surprises in wrestling.
I love Raw: Since I am not writing the 3R's of Raw this week, I am leaving that to Andy Clark, I felt that I would talk about some stuff from the show here. There are times where the readers feel that I am way to hard on Raw. I think I am rather justified in my anger at times. The tag division is a joke, the McMahon's run the roost when ever they wish, DX dominates the show while the world champion gets ignored a lot of the time and it angers me. I don't even care that the Spirit Squad has been buried beyond all belief anymore because they will never fix that. Contrary to popular belief I am looking for things to love, I want to been entertained and enjoy the shows. I worked Monday night and had to tape the Raw special. I didn't watch it until Tuesday afternoon, and while there were some good things I was rather under whelmed to be honest with you. There are some things that angered me and I will talk about those. But there was something that made me happy, that made me, for the short time it lasted, love the show and get that "love" back as far as Raw is concerned.
Mitch of the Spirit Squad cut a promo saying that he sucked. He knew he sucked but was about to change all of that when he beat Flair tonight. He knew he would win because unlike Flair he had friends. I was afraid at first because I thought they would be lame and have the Highlanders and Hacksaw and Eugene come out to be in Fair's corner. The Squad was in the ring and Flair made his entrance. But before he got into the ring, he had a surprise. The bagpipes hit and Roddy Piper made his appearance, in the Carolinas and the log time friends and rivals were reunited. But there was more. The all too familiar music of Ted DiBiase hit, and not only did DiBiase appear, but IR FN S, aka Mike Rotunda appeared! I was so excited, I was starting to mark…and then, then the trump card was pulled. The awesome of awesome theme music hit, the trotting of horses sounded and Arm FUCKING Anderson, DOUBLE A made his way out to the ring! The legends had a conference, and then they walked towards the Spirit Squad, Arn took off the glasses and the Squad's balls shrunk back into their stomachs and they were gone. I was 6-years old again and marking the hell out in my den and I loved it and I loved Raw again if only for that segment, it was tremendous and just about made my day.
Well not really, just that part: But as much as I loved Raw, there were things that upset me still. Don't get me wrong, I marked out hard there but there were some things that just did not sit right with me, no matter how hard I marked out for some of my favorites.
Loser goes to Smackdown: So Kane and Umaga had their EPIC encounter, with the loser leaving Raw. To me this was a joke and a half because they gave them no time. Sure Kane vs. Umaga won't be a ***** classic, but they have had fine outings and in a match of this "magnitude" I feel that the deserved more than the 7 or so minutes they got. It was a big show, and they could have been given some more time. And then Kane gets to kill the Highlanders on his way out; that is just great booking. But here is the other issue I have, once again it was one of those "Loser goes to Smackdown" matches. No matter what they try and bill it as, that is what the match is. Kane isn't going to ECW, and if he does I will be amazed. This is just one of those things they do, like Hardy losing to Edge and going to Smackdown. It is like Raw is giving charity to Smackdown, and it just makes Smackdown seem so inferior to Raw, again, and that is sad.
The Undertaker always looks the best: The main event for the show was John Cena vs. The Undertaker. There is no way of sugar coating this, it was a 5-minute Undertaker ass kicking of John Cena. He got to look great, Cena looked ok and that was that. Taker whooped on Cena, got to beat down Kennedy again and looked great. Cena then got his heat back by beating down Show and Booker, those other champion type people. In the end though, Taker looked like the superstar to me and considering they are building to Cena vs. Booker vs. Show I feel that this was just wrong.
Ken Shamrock: Last night Ken Shamrock faced and lot to Tito Ortiz again in a UFC Octagon. Tito and Ken made nice and after the Match Shamrock announced that he was retiring from UFC. So what is next for the one time "World's Most Dangerous Man?" I say that TNA takes another shot at him for a short term run. With SPIKE pushing TNA and UFC as their big shows, and admittedly more UFC than TNA, I think that this would be a great synergy. TNA is trying to get more of the UFC audience, and Shamrock may help with that. Sure he didn't in the past, but he is even bigger now due to the Ultimate Fighter and this show. TNA is also pressing the "real" aspect, and a possible feud with Angle, over the Ankle Lock and their legit backgrounds could be a good ratings draw. It's not the worst idea I have ever had.
Surprises: I am a big fan of surprises. I LOVED seeing Piper, DiBiase, Rotunda and Arn on Raw. The Angle thing was a HUGE surprise, and if anyone says they "knew it all along" they are lying. This Sunday at No Mercy Chris Benoit returned to Smackdown and I loved it. Now normally I would bitch about wasting a return like this, since PPV is where you make money and the return of Benoit MAY have gotten them some more buys. But I will say that occasionally surprises are a damn fine thing; and this one was a great thing. I am a huge Benoit fan, and am a HUGE fan of matches with Benoit and Regal or Finlay as they are always great. This was an unannounced match and ended up being the best match on the show. You can't complain about a surprise like that kids, I loved it!
My Take On:
And there we have it, another edition of My Take On in the books. I hope that you enjoyed it, and I am willing to hear your suggestions of future editions for the column. Until next time, I am Larry Csonka and you've just read My Take On.
