On The Take-If It's RAW, Why Hurry?? Endings and Beginnings

You guys didn't think I was gone again, did you?? Well for those who read my last batch of articles and left constructive comments, I thank you. Get ready for some more debate, because this has been an amazing and busy 48 hours. As such, On The Take returns for another round so I can sneak everything into one article. Here we go.

I want to start with the WWE, talking about the RAW show last night. The first thing I noticed was no RIP message for Luna. Hearing about her death, at such a young age was hard enough. Of course, drugs were found in her room, as well the remnants of pills set up for consumption as if they were cocaine. Luna was bi-polar, but it's still tough to think that something she did took her own life in the end. I also noticed as soon as it was reported, WWE removed the "Where are they now?" section with Luna's story in it. The story wasn't even a year old. All the others are up, but the lady Vachon is now gone, as is her piece. Again, unfortunate and preventable. Rest in Peace, Luna. You definitely left a mark on WWE and women's wrestling.

Now, let's move on to sunnier things.

RAW celebrated its 900th episode last night. A huge milestone to be sure, but the show itself didn't feel any different, and was in a word, rushed. At least the first hour, it felt that way, like WWE was trying desperately to get as many new stars, from RAW or SmackDown, as much exposure as they could. The problem was, we lost a lot of wrestling time with the interruptions and small bit parts that really didn't add much to the show at all.

Kane talking to Bret was an interesting opener. It was predictable as soon as Kane came to the ring that he would likely attack Bret. The rest was a bit strange.  Taker's gong went off and he saved the Hitman. Then, during the "match," between Hart and Taker, the Dead man fought off Nexus. However, Kane would use the same gong, and also kill the lights long enough to see Taker suddenly in Barrett's Wasteland finisher. I imagine WWE is trying to show that Kane has stolen some of Taker's supernatural powers and is now on the same level as his brother. That part worked alright, but a few little things, like each using the gong, bothered me. Nexus attacking was fine, they needed to make an impact, but it was just a strange and confusing bit of TV. Also, is it me or does Taker have a small coughing fit every time he appears now?? I don't know if he is just tired and beaten down that much, or if he coughs to make himself look weak, but he sure does. I hope for a Kane win, then a Taker return, and finally a Taker win that will end the feud. It just looks like Mark Callaway, aka Undertaker, can't take many more and that his career is nearer to the end then it's ever been.

Let's talk about another weird interaction. With both brands represented, we saw newcomer Alberto Del Rio interrupt a RAW match. He laughed at RAW (he wasn't the only one at this point of a very badly paced show) and its superstars and tried to attack Evan Bourne. You'd think Rey would hobble to the ring and just scare Del Rio off to continue their feud over on SD! But instead, Mark Henry saves him. What did this do?? It didn't set up a feud, cuz these two can't meet. So, we got two different angles that couldn't satisfy the RAW audience because they ended as soon as the segment did. A waste of screen time for all three.

The Divas match was short which was fine. The split Melina did was the most sensual entrance she's ever made and I for one wanted a replay. That goes to show you how much the "match" as it were, really meant to me. No, this outing was to get Melina and Laycool to the ring to do as I predicted and set up a Women's Title unification match at NoC. Lumberjills, yay more athleticism!! I hope the match isn't as long as the Del Rio segment was. On another note, wow, that Divas title experiment didn't last long at all.

We got a triple threat tag match designed, in the end, to push Miz over Daniel Bryan. The three remaining NXT 2 rookies were used in this one. I say Hennig, oops McGillicutty, will win or Kaval. If Riley wins, then it was just a WWE produced reality show and not about the votes. He's a good Mini-Miz, but he doesn't deserve the win.

I didn't even notice the Morrison/R-Truth tag match. I like McIntyre and Cody Rhodes now more than before, but again the tag match didn't matter to me. Like I said, the writers really rushed that first hour, if not the whole show.

I absolutely love CM Punk. It is odd without Serena...especially since they didn't even make an excuse for her being gone. Sloppy writing, in my opinion. But the segment with Punk talking about past RAWs, and teasing Austin was amazing. He's become SD!'s top heel. Big Show is funny, btw. This segment saved the show, as did the opening of the 5 on 5. I enjoyed Jericho and Edge's work in the tag match. They made me laugh, and it was totally in their character.

Nexus winning was a given, but I wish they had elim's Cena last. At the same time, maybe it was a test to see if making Orton the face over Cena would work. I am of the opinion that Orton could be the main face of the company if Cena turned bad. Anyhoo, my opinion was the RAW should have been maybe 3 hours to fit in what WWE wanted to during the 2 hour show last night. I expect a much better show next week.

Moving on to the NHL. Chris Chelios has finally retired. He realized in Atlanta, the same place Kovalchuk ran from originally, that he was done when he was held back in the AHL, and then scored no points in the seven games he played. Good luck to Chelios in the Wings front office. It can only make Detroit better. Scary, isn't it??

Also, a sensitive subject...Nikolai Khabibulin was given the minimum sentence for his drunk driving conviction, which was a month. It will likely be enough to give him the nickname Boozin Wall and irrepreably damage his career in the NHL. Lucky us, a Canadian team own his rights. But look, drunk driving is not right. I would hope he never gets welcomed back. Of course I'm not Gary Bettman.

That's all I have to say today except for an exciting thing that'll be happening in a week...OHL teams in an NHL video game, you can bet I'll be getting it. Whew, what a piece. Be sure to comment!!

Till next time,

this is your Crowd Coach signing off.