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LOOKING AT A "LESS VINCE AND TWO SOLID MATCHES IS A GOOD THING" EDITION OF RAW

First and foremost, any edition of Raw where the only appearances of Grandpa McMahon come in the form of recaps and him standing on the stage at the end of the show is already better than the episodes where he dominates the program.  That happened last night, and that was a good thing and old Vinnie is getting a little long in the tooth as a character.  With him having a match on Sunday, I expected McOverload and it thankfully didn't happen.

It was also nice to see a couple of long, solid wrestling matches on the show.  At a time when the roster has been decimated by injuries and creative is riddled with the inability to book anything new or fresh, pure wrestling is the best thing they can put on TV right now, especially with the draft coming in a few weeks.  Yeah, it won't do banner ratings, but it probably won't drive fans away either.  Hey, you have to look for the silver lining in the clouds!

The Angles: 

• Shane McMahon's promo told us he was a tough guy, not a doughy, middle-aged wannabe wrestler.  See, some of you out there (like me) may have had the wrong idea where the McSon was concered.  Sorry Shane, I will believe my eyes, not your words.  You sir, are a doughy, middle-aged wannabe wrestler.  The only difference between you and a similar guy at the local gym is you own the company so you can indulge your fantasy. 
• The angle that they are doing between the Hardys and Cade/Murdoch is interesting, just because it's not obvious.  Everyone has expected the former heels to turn on the champs and they haven't done it yet, which in and of itself makes it different for WWE since, for once, they are taking their time with something.  The sour reaction of Cade and Murdoch being left out of the PPV match seemed to lay the groundwork for the next step in the story.
• I know a lot of people hate John Cena but even the haters have to appreciate the passion he puts into his promos.  Well, maybe they won't but they should.  The guy has fire and passion and you can tell that he loves the business.  For whatever reason, I don't think he will ever break through to all of those who dislike him the way that Rock did, but I hope that even the haters can see that the guy cares about the business and the fans.  That's more than I can say for some other guys in his position over the years.
• It cracks me up that in one breath, WWE wants their website to be the "source" for wrestling news and in another, they run angles like the Orton/RVD storyline through it.  They need to make up their mind what they want their company site to be.  They can't have it both ways.  Then again, they think they can have it both ways so I don't expect anything to change.
• Speaking of other things that make me scratch my head, is it a good idea for WWE to do "concussion" storylines?  I don't think so given the serious problem that head traumas are in the world of sports.  If the fans would buy it as legit, it would be one thing.  But, they don't so why make light of a serious, serious situation?
• I don't care about Chris Masters or The Masterlock.  Him threatening to attack a hot woman won't change that one bit.  The guy bores me, even with Maria involved.  But, if they have him job out to Marella and build the new IC champ into something, I can live with it.  Even if they do, they have totally wasted the momentum that they had with Marella, which is a shame.  I don't know if the guy could have carried the push but they had a real opportunity to try something with him and they blew it.
• I knew this Sunday's PPV was a throwaway and all, but man, they didn't do much of anything to sell us on buying it last night.  It was like they just raised the white flag.  It was surreal really.  They simply said, "Yeah, this is a prime source revenue for us but what the hell, selling this show is like putting perfume on a pig.

The Matches:  

• You don't really expect me to speak in an analytical fashion about the bikini battle royal do you?  If you do, you really need to go out and get some fresh air!  It was pure T and A, with lots of good cheese mixed in.  You can't expect any more than that out of a match like this.
• The 8 man was a good, fun match from a work perspective.  The only negative was that there were too many guys in the bout who were either not over or had been buried for the fans to take it as anything more than a time filler.  It's a shame too because it was a solid bout.  But, the guys did all that they could do and that is go out and work, so hats off to them.
• RVD and Randy Orton had a good, long bout.  It was odd to see two matches of this kind of length on the go home show before a PPV since usually they expect us to spend money to see bouts like this but given their lack of depth and the fact that they don't really seem to care about this PPV at all, it doesn't surprise me.
• The point of the inter-gender match was to paint Carlito as a heel.  On that front, it did what they wanted it to.  It was too short to really form any other opinion on other than Torrie Wilson looked really good in her outfit and Ric Flair seems to be getting in better shape.
• And then, we had the main event.  Two studs on one side.  Two monsters and a McMahon on the other.  One stud is facing one monster on Sunday for the company's biggest title.  So of course the star of the bout was the guy that shouldn't have been.  Owning the company has its privileges folks.  It's great to be Shane.  It didn't do much to sell the PPV but hey, he got to pin Lashley.  That's all that matters.

What To Make Sure And Watch If You DVR'd The Show: 

• I would make time to watch the 8 man tag and the RVD-Orton match.  They are worth your time.

Rhetorical And Unanswered Questions:

Wow, did they really open Raw with Candice Michelle bouncing out?

With a squirt gun no less?

And, how did the people in Canada feel about a "Memorial Day" match when they don't celebrate the holiday?

With all due respect to the other girls, once Kristal came out in that bikini didn't everyone else look like they were fighting for second best?

If you were a worker, would you have wanted to go into that messy ring after the opening bout?

They can't be setting up Michelle McCool vs. Melina down the road, can they?

Could Jerry Lawler sound any less sincere when he laughs at JR's call of Skittles being fruity?

Did Shane McMahon realize what a dope he sounded like by saying that "today marks the start of Summer" in Canada, where they don't celebrate Memorial Day as the unofficial beginning of the season?

Wouldn't the announcement of the draft lottery have been more effective if we didn't know about it already?

Isn't it wild to hear them talk about Kenny Dykstra as if he is a star and not a guy who has gotten buried, or rather ignored, lately?

When the Canadian fans booed John Cena so vociferously, was anyone else wondering what he did to Bret Hart?

Who in creative actually remembered Santino Marella still worked there and made sure he got on Raw?

What the hell were those red marks all over Randy Orton's chest anyway?

Did Orton say he had no respect for RVD because RVD never won a fight against a hotel room?

Or, was he just thinking it?

Torrie Wilson with Ric Flair?

Really?

If you were Flair, why wouldn't you have done some chest chops on Victoria when you had the chance?

Boy, could there be a more underwhelming lineup for this weekend's PPV?

Well, maybe there could be but this one is pretty damn lame ain't it?

How scary is the woman who came in a wedding gown to Raw?

How friggin' wrong is it for Shane McMahon to get the pin in the main?  

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