Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Usually the go-home edition of Raw is the biggest one of the year. They hammer home the important points, and add some last minute juice to matches coming at the “Grandest stage of them all.” Last night’s Raw fell flat to me in a couple of those aspects though.

1. The Lashley-Umaga build-up was kind of pedestrian and lame. When Vince McMahon announced last week that he was going to face Bobby Lashley in a 1 on 1 match, I guessed how it was going to end. I was hoping they’d throw some little monkey wrench into the storyline and maybe have Lashley come out on top before being laid out on Smackdown but no such luck. It was serviceable in that it effectively stacked the deck against Lashley but other than that it was just there. Steve Austin saved the opening segment by enforcing the fact that he wasn’t going to play favorites and let the viewer know whoever the better wrestler was would win. Of course, they ruined a good thing by having the awkward interaction between Austin and McMahon in the back so in the end they get an average grade in the build-up.

2. The Money in the Bank matches just felt kinda there. C.M. Punk got a nice little rub going into the match by having the support of his hometown crowd make him look like a star. The Hardys vs Kennedy/Orton match was just a plodding five minute affair that seemed like a wasted opportunity to tease dissension between both teams. It would’ve really driven home the aspect of every man for himself. However, the interview segment-while I thought it dragged- was good in getting over the personalities of the match. Edge was great again in his role as the catalyst for chaos. His teasing of all the wrestlers, and then starting a fight and bailing fit perfectly with his character. The ending part with Punk and the Hardys chasing him got over the fact that everyone is going to try and stop Edge from winning. So again- an in the middle grade for the build-up.

3. The big one to me though was the final chapter in the John Cena and Shawn Michaels storyline. For weeks now they’ve been teasing the moment when Michaels will hit Sweet Chin Music on Cena. Last night was finally that time. Cena and Michaels hooked up to hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle then HBK superkicked Cena out of nowhere leaving him to be pinned. He then gave Cena the crotch chop after the match. I think in the WWE’s eyes it was necessary to draw a line between HBK and Cena for the fans. Also the WWE frowns on face versus face matches. However in this case I think they could’ve gotten away with it. Face versus face matches can work when one of the participants wrestled extensively as a heel at one point. That way they can hit all the cocky mannerisms and do enough to draw the line during the match. Secondly, they gave away the moment on free TV. For weeks now HBK has said he is playing mind games with Cena. It seems like the better course would’ve been for Michaels to start the superkick but pull back and the last minute and tell Cena, “It can happen just that quick,” then bail on him. That feeds into the storyline and is a better way to blur the fan allegiance lines.

As it is, pretty much all the Wrestlemania build-up was middle of the road to me last night. I think the people who were going to order Wrestlemania are still going to order. However, I don’t think people on the fence will be persuaded by last night’s Raw to purchase Wrestlemania