Monday Night RAW

My Monday Night RAW Experience

I wanted to write this on Monday night but the weather wasn’t too good as I left the Target Center, and I’ve been rather busy the last couple days. I got to the Target Center a little early to wait in line on the inside corridor. I did so, because I have NEVER, whether going to a Timberwolves game, a WWE event, or anything else, have had a pleasant experience in terms of getting into the arena. I don’t know what it’s like in other parts of the country but at Target Center it always seems to be (excuse my language) a shit show.

That has nothing to do with the WWE, because like I said, it doesn’t matter what the event is, it’s not fun at all. Thankfully I was waiting indoors, because it was one of the colder days what has been a pretty mild winter (for Minnesota standards).

This was my 7th live event, but first Monday Night RAW. I had been to SummerSlam ’99, Smackdown in 2002, and Judgment Day 2005; so this would be my 4th event that was televised. I’ve been very critical of the current WWE product, but one thing I am not critical about, is the fan experience at all of their live events. I’ve never been nothing but impressed with the production, and the sheer fun that the WWE provides for their fans. This event was no exception.

There were a couple things I was looking forward to going into the night, and one of them was John Cena, and more importantly the fans reaction to John Cena. I came in from a rather unique perspective in this regard. At Judgment Day 2005, Cena was on top of the world as a baby-face and trust me when I tell you, there wasn’t anyone in the crowd chanting “Cena Sucks” that night. Shortly after that event he was drafted by RAW and has been the mainstay on Monday Night for the past 6+ years. He has had that polarizing crowd reaction ever since that time. That was very intriguing to me to see what kind of reaction Cena get nearly 7 years later. Whether people love Cena or hate him, no one is without an opinion. One thing I will say in defense of WWE’s current PG business model, is the youth is definitely with this guy, and I find that to be a testament to John Cena.

The other thing that I could not wait for was a true deadman Undertaker entrance. I have only seen the Undertaker twice before live. He was at SummerSlam ’99 but he was in his lame ass Vince Russo bullshit Corporate Ministry phase at that point. In 2002 he was still doing his biker gimmick thing, and he wasn’t at Judgment Day in 2005. It was sort of my holy grail as a wrestling fan (along with seeing Hulk Hogan live, something I think I won’t ever get to see). I was not disappointed at all. I got my Undertaker entrance and it was very cool. So to the WWE, and the Undertaker, I say thank you.

The show from a wrestling perspective is pretty much what you would expect from a TV show. Nice to see both Sheamus and Daniel Bryan both go over strong, but I still say that it doesn’t make sense to continue to “swerve” us with these Royal Rumble winners and then relegate them in small time feuds. Either do something to make your B list “world championship” more meaningful, or have one world champion. That doesn’t make Sheamus and Daniel Bryan bad workers, I happen to like them both and think they are great, but they just aren’t investing enough into them and the title they are fighting over to make people care. Anyway, Bryan squashing Santino Marella made me beam for joy. Marella being in the championship hunt is the equivalent of “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan or Scotty Too Hotty being in that role.

I enjoyed the battle royal and was happy to see Jericho win (predictable, but good). Very much looking forward to seeing Jericho vs. Punk at WrestleMania as it should be a match of the night candidate. CM Punk is definitely big time, and an excellent WWE Champion (further proving that another world title is worthless).

The stuff with Eve and John Cena just doesn’t make any sense to me. It seemed like they were trying to get heel heat for Cena with it last week, but then they turn around and put all the heat on Eve this week, and Cena is perceived to be innocent on the whole deal? It just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.

The two highlights of the night were John Cena’s promo that he cut on The Rock, and the Undertaker-Triple H confrontation. I can tell you this, there were a few boos early on when it was said that the Rock was going to be at RAW next week (and not this week). So when Cena came out and pointed that fact out he seemed to make some friends. I thought it was a great promo, and there was a lot of truth to what he said. I don’t fault Rock for making millions as a movie star, but as a WWE fan it is disappointing, and John Cena said what a lot of fans feel too. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Rock, and personally didn’t expect him to be at RAW on Monday, but there really isn’t anything John Cena said that wasn’t true. The promo was great and if I didn’t know better, I’d say Cena won some fans with it. I was looking forward to the match before RAW, now I can’t wait.

The other highlight was Undertaker and HHH. First things first. Of all people to “what”, why Undertaker, Minnesota? How annoying. Undertaker is out cutting a really good promo, and the Minnesota morons are doing the “What?” chant. Most of them don’t even know the origins of “what” (same with woooooooooooooooooooo) but they watched RAW one time and saw other people do it. Just awful, and I was ashamed to say I was from Minnesota on Monday night. The promo itself was awesome and even though I wasn’t particularly interested in Undertaker-Triple H III at WrestleMania, I am now. Not sure how a PG Hell in a Cell match is going to work with these two, but its WrestleMania so anything can happen. The promo almost made me want to see Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels but this is shaping up to be an excellent WrestleMania. I really don’t know who Undertaker is going to face if it isn’t HHH? Cena is facing Rock and vice-versa. Brock Lesnar is a pipe dream, and we’ve seen that already anyway, plus I don’t want Brock back unless he can wrestle more than just a one shot deal. So HHH-Undertaker it is, and I think it’ll be a good match.

All in all, this was a great experience, and if you’ve never been to a live WWE show before, please check one out, I promise you, and you won’t be disappointed! No matter how bad the product is, it’ll still be a great show.