Raw last night (contains spoilers)

Ph3n0m

Just saw the clip from Steph's "moving speech" - not one person in the crowd cared.

Especially at the end with her "I love you Dad" - you could clearly hear some guy laughing his ass off at her

Was also reading elsewhere that original this angle was planned to be between Carlito and Teddy Long back in 2005/6

Double C

What that Carlito would blow up Teddy Longs limo? Thats cool.
Raw was pretty good last night. Good to see Londrick vs WGTT, hopefully thats the first of many. Lawlor thinks London killed McMahon too cos he was the only one laughing when Vince made his walk of shame. That would be some swerveball!

All the new draft picks made an impression (even Sandman!) except poor Daivari and yer man Lashley, I cheered big time when Orton pinned him!

Vince135792003

I'm starting to take a turn on the whole who killed Vince thing.

I wouldn't say I'm offended by it (although I can easily see why some people are) but the more serious they try to make it, the less fun and in some ways more silly it is for me.

I think the trick with the whole Vince angle was/is to make it cartoony but cartoony in a way that people would be really into finding out who did it.

Minto

Didn't stay up to watch it last night, but it seem to have been a good RAW.

The part with Steph was ok, I'm just glad she is back (hopefully for a while). I can't wait to see the Hooliganz match against WGTT on Thursday. I also thought the Lashley/Cnea Vs. Orton/Bookah match was good, good finish and I could swear Lashley looked better in the ring.

evad_lhorg

was just awful. Thw whole thing. Kennedy.... Kennedy.... god that guy annoying and has the worst catch phrase ever. John Cena... awful. what was with the stupid little rhyme he did about who did it. Stephanie mchmahons speach was cringeworthy. People were laughing and she was really bad at selling it and it is really pathetic to fake your death.

Double C

Come on, are you kidding? Kennedy's promo last night was brilliant, it was a proper old school heel interview. Any cheers he was getting when he came our first were replaced by boos almost immediately. I can't wait til he's back, him and Cena could have a great feud.
I will agree with you on Cena's little rhyme thing, that sucked!

Fozzy

I thought practically the whole show, with the exception of the ending, was very very good. Easily well above average for Raw. I thought that was one of Kennedy's better promos, he's got more charisma than just about anyone else on the roster. He really turned the crowd on him, which was the whole point of it

I was getting my hopes up about them going the comedy route with Vince's death when Sheiky walked in, but Stephanie's bit was just stupid. I felt insulted watching it, but if they keep putting on matches like Kendrick and London vs Haas and Benjamin, I'm hardly going to stop watching! Raw's looking a whole lot better now, looks like Regal's going to be going for the IC title soon too, which is hardly a bad thing

Mr.Nice Guy

I thought Raw was atrocious last night. I agree with Vince about the angle. It's starting to get stupid now. That promo by Stephanie? I cringed it was so bad. NO ONE BELIEVES HE'S DEAD.

Sherri Martel really did die and it took them ages to acknowledge that but instead all the sombre stuff from King and JR was for Vince - not Sherri. I don't mind them making Vince's death a tongue-in-cheek thing but this was just insulting to people's intelligence. Other stuff that bugged me about the show:

- The dumb federal agent interviewing everybody. Wow good thing the Feds aren't camera shy! And the limo driver interview? Just awful.

- So Kennedy is a heel. Which took him a LIFETIME to explain. Not upset about the fact that you lost Money in the Bank and your chance to be World Champion? No, you're upset instead about going to Raw because the fans there don't recognise talent. Who wrote this sh*t? I was nearly asleep with this.

- The main event match was OK, nothing special. Finish was cool. Two thing bugged me though...

1) It's KING BOOKER not 'Booker T'. Do JR and King watch Smackdown? If I was Booker I'd be pissed off by that. He's said in numerous interviews that 'Booker T' might not return. Well I guess Booker T returned last night.

2) King: "You know JR I think this is the first time Booker T and Lashley have ever been in the ring before."

JR: "Well I think you're right King."

Oh so you must not have watched Judgment Day 2006 when these two were KING OF THE RING FINALISTS. F*cking hell this is basic stuff.

- Oh and then we had Steph's tearful promo which I've mentioned already but this was seriously hammy crap and we have a 3 hour Raw now! Dedicated to Vince McMahon! Yeah because we haven't had one of those in a while!

Just an abysmal show altogether. There's a PPV coming up and I'm not aware of what a lot of the matches will be because this show did a lousy job building towards it. We have to instead convince the fans that Vince is really dead! Idiots.

Raw has gone from a great spell to this crap. It's just saturation. Too much Vince, too much PPVs and too much crap.

Vince135792003

Wade Keller, editor of the torch has really basted the angle. I wouldn't be completely on his side about the whole thing just for the simple fact I've been unable to take it seriously but I can see his point for sure. Here's the article:


KELLER'S TAKE
TORCH FOUNDER - EST. 1987 (online 1999)
KELLER: Why this is not just a "death" storyline on a scripted TV show. Why it's much worse

By Wade Keller, Torch editor
Jun 19, 2007, 01:48


A lot of people keep emailing me and posting in the Forum that people shouldn't be outraged, offended, or bothered by the Vince McMahon death storyline because deaths are written into a lot of scripted, fictional entertainment programs.

The problem people have with the storyline isn't that Vince McMahon scripted his own death. Not at all. Again, zero. Zippo. That is not what people are outraged about. Nobody is offended by a death storyline in wrestling. It might be a bad idea because it goes further than typical "suspension of disbelief" allows - and "suspension of disbelief" is a big part of what turns an ordinary wrestling angle or match into a "money match." But it's not in and of itself offensive at all.

What's offensive is that to get the Mr. McMahon Death storyline over, script-breaking, character-breaking shows dedicated to Owen Hart and Eddie Guerrero after they died are being reenacted, emulated, exploited. That is what is wrong. It's beyond insensitive. It's shameful.

Those shows dedicated to Owen and Eddie, and all ten-bell salutes for that matter, are sacred. Or should be. Those genuine moments of announcers looking solemnly at the camera, as if to communicate to fans that this is "different," we're not in storyline mode, are sacred, not to be exploited for ratings. Those genuine ten-bell salutes or the gathering of wrestlers - heels and faces - breaking character and hanging their heads in tribute to a fallen commrade are not to be exploited for ratings. It's just wrong.

If there is no way to pull off a murder storyline in a "believable" serious fashion without exploiting those situations, then just don't do the storyline. There's a reason death hasn't been written in wrestling storylines over the years in any major top programs - because it just can't be pulled off effectively, at least not without insulting the viewers or offending those who really have died.

Asking Vickie Guerrero to stand on the stage with the wrestlers in the same manner and posture for a moment of silence as happened after her husband died is sick. It's wrong. It's inhumane. It lacks basic human decency.

Now ten-bell salutes don't mean a thing because it's been cashed out for a storyline. Nor do wrestlers breaking character and standing on a stage together hanging their heads.

They could have camped up the McMahon Murder Mystery and avoided those scenes. Or they could done a totally straight-faced "Missing Persons Investigation" and accomplished the same thing (at least as it's played out so far) with wrestlers cutting promos, as Mr. Kennedy did, saying, "If they never find Mr. McMahon, or if he never returns, I want to say I dedicate my career to him." Steph could have given the same promo, but instead of mourning the death of her father, she could have been concerned for his safety and worried about where he is and whether he ran off confused and disoriented or if he was kidnapped by someone with evil intentions.

The option they chose, though, is obviously and undeniably not just in "bad taste," but offensive and indecent. Exploiting the emotions generated from the tributes to real wrestler deaths is beyond justification. It's sick. It's sad. It's unjustifiable. What makes it even more sad is how unnecessary it is, too.

RebelRockChick

Double C wrote:

Raw was pretty good last night. Good to see Londrick vs WGTT, hopefully thats the first of many. Lawlor thinks London killed McMahon too cos he was the only one laughing when Vince made his walk of shame. That would be some swerveball!

Was reading that Vince is supposed to have given out to London after watching the hallway scene over and seeing him with a big grin on his face. :rolleyes: Thought it hilarious when King mentioned about London in the hallway though...got to add London & Kendrick had a great match with Haas & Benjamin, more of the same I should hope!!

It was good to see the other draft picks getting some time on Raw too.

Pity there wasn't more of a dedication to Sherri's passing, just a graphic before the Diva match and not a mention from JR and King (as far as I remember). They usually have some sort of video package on the show (I know there is one on WWE.com). Guess all the focus is on Vince's "death".

triple h

I thought the Mr Kennedy speech was good last night, then i read what mr nice guy said, and you what, mr nice guy is right. So, Kennedy can talk and his speech on the mic was good, but the script was bad bad bad.

Why is Carlitto wrestling old farts, ok, rick flair was great in his time, but he is old. When will we see Carlitto in real matches again.

Cena---- my god, he tries to be funny and cannot pull it off. I can just imagine him learning his lines off in his head all day, thinking he sounds funny to himself. He over kills his funny lines, he tries too hard.

I am glad there is no fantasy league at this point cause i would be BLANKED off with the amount of time taken up on tv with the whole Vince death. I think this is a bad story line and it just goes to show that even when vince is not around he wants to be talked about.

Vince135792003

Raw did a 4.1 for hour 1 and a 4.2 for hour 2 according to the torch website. Good ratings especially for the first hour.

Fozzy

To be honest, the way they used Eddie in storylines after he died was much more offensive to me. It was in more of a direct manner

Tricity Bendix

Fozzy wrote:

To be honest, the way they used Eddie in storylines after he died was much more offensive to me. It was in more of a direct manner

Very true. There is nothing WWE can do to disgust me anymore. I've come to accept that Vince will cross any line if he can profit from it.

Prufrock

Steph even got to advertise the next PPV in her moving speech! God I love this storyline. It's just so bad it has me watching to see where the hell they're going with it.

Vince vs God in a Hell in a Cell? Is that so far fetched?