RAW Reaction: Kennedy/Carlito Get Big Wins

Tonight's RAW contained eight matches, and needless to say, there were some surprises. Kennedy pins Lashley with a clean victory and Carlito beats the Champ!

Firstly, Carlito's Cabana is back, which should provide him with a nice push out of the mid-card and toward the top of the roster. Let's hope. We'll review the matches one by one here:

Divas Tag Match - The sole purpose of this match was to move Santino Marella in a new direction. It's been rumored lately that he'll be making a heel turn, which makes sense considering that WWE sees foreigners as more hatable wrestlers.

Santino Marella vs. Umaga - It was surprising not to see Jeff Hardy make an appearance in this match. He'll most likely be fighting Umaga at SummerSlam, so look for that feud to continue. Umaga is really starting to get some huge pops.

Cody Rhodes vs. Daivari - It wouldn't have surprised me at all to see Cody lose this match and moved to Smackdown. Afterall, he was just brought up from OVW and might want some more time before he has a full-time spot on the A show. But he seems to be over with the fans and I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of him. Also, he threw an absolutely awesome powerslam in this match.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Bobby Lashley - Match of the night. Firstly, it was great to see Lashley finally using his amateur wrestling background and throwing Kennedy around rather than just doing traditional powerhouse moves. Secondly, it was awesome to see WWE give Kennedy a clean win over Lashley, a man who has been pushed to the sky since earlier this year. I think WWE realizes that Kennedy has more potential between the two.

King Booker vs. Jerry Lawler - This match was fairly laughable. Lawlers offense amounted to punches and, at one point, an elbow drop. This whole "King" thing is just leading into a King Booker-Triple H match at SummerSlam.

Cryme Tyme vs. Two Guys - Not bad for a squash match. The auction of the guy's boots after the match went a little long, though. Is Cryme Tyme finally receiving their push? If you recall, several months ago they won a guaranteed title shot...SummerSlam?

Randy Orton vs. Sgt. Slaughter - Right now, WWE is just throwing legends at Orton for him to kill. I think they might have finally run out. Regardless, it's getting repetitve and I hope that they move on from it. It's almost assumed at this point that Orton will be winning the title from Cena at SummerSlam...I just hope he wins it clean.

John Cena vs. Carlito - It was cool to see a main event like this. Two very popular and over guys doing battle. It was also "cool" to see Carlito win this one. The fact that Cena didn't kick out of Carlito's finisher also makes him seem a little fallible, setting us up for a loss at SummerSlam?

Overall, tonight's RAW was an entertaining one. By the way, I'm sick of visiting (other) wrestling sites and reading about how stupid, crappy, and unwatchable WWE is. If people don't like the WWE product, then why are they watching it? And ordering the Pay-Per-Views??? WWE puts out a very entertaining product, and while we all wish they did things differently, they are doing what they think is best.

Drew Arnold, writing for The Irish Whip

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Will WWE Put Over Its Great Heels?

WWE has in their possesion some great heels who have all the potential in the world: The Legend Killer Randy Orton and (an Irish Whip favorite) Mr. Kennedy. However, recently these guys have more or less been used as beating devices for the top faces in the company, like Cena, Lashley, HBK, and Triple H. Will there come a time that WWE puts over either Orton or Kennedy with a clean win and makes him the top man in the company?

The only way this would happen is if WWE turned one of them face. This wouldn't be difficult: Orton has been a beloved face in the past, and lot's of people love Kennedy to start with.

Here's what WWE should do: a couple of months before a Wrestlemania, turn one of them face and turn Cena (or whoever the champ is at the time) heel. Then allow Orton or Kennedy a clean win. I generally like Cena, and he does a pretty good job with the belt, but he has had it for years now and has run his course. Orton and Kennedy (the Whip endorses Kennedy!) can be GREAT. Cena has only been good.

Here's what WWE will do: Orton will feud with Triple H upon his return, culminating in a match at Survivor Series or maybe even Wrestlemania 24. Who will Kennedy feud with? I'm not sure...I see a Booker-Lashley feud coming on, so maybe Kennedy will get a WWE Title feud with Cena. Even if they don't give Kennedy the belt, a championship feud would give him more credibility.

What do you think? Should WWE push up one of its top young heels, or are Cena and Lashley (good Lord) good enough?

Drew Arnold, writing for The Irish Whip

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RAW Preview

We're getting closer and closer to The Great American Bash, and with the main events already determined, WWE will surely have to build up some hype for them. This is exactly what we'll see tonight...

The main event of tonight's RAW, according to WWE.com, is Bobby Lashley vs. King Booker. Here's my prediction: the ref goes down, Mr. Kennedy interferes to Booker's benefit, who then picks up the victory. Lashley, however, clears the ring after the match. We'll see...

John Cena will not be appearing on RAW tonight since he will be on Larry King Live. I predict that Mr. Kennedy challenges Cena to a match tonight, and then brags when Cena doesn't show. The match will take place next week.

Randy Orton will continue his disrespect towards Dusty Rhodes in building up to their match at the Bash. Just another legend for Orton to kill before a giant feud with Triple H.

Carlito and the Sandman will surely have a match at the Bash, so look for their feud to continue. They met in a match last week, so maybe this week we'll see the Sandman interfere with a Carlito match.

It looks to me like the Candice Michelle-Melina feud is on for the Bash as well. I can see Candice wrestling Jillian Hall tonight with Melina at the announce table.

There's got to be a tag match! I'm not sure which one WWE is more interested in pushing, but look for either London and Kendrick or Cryme Tyme to pick up a big win tonight and later challenge for Cade and Murdoch's titles.

There they are, my bold RAW predictions for tonight.

Drew Arnold, writing for The Irish Whip

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RAW Reaction: Lashley Gets The Push

As reported earlier, the main event at the Great American Bash will be John Cena vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE title. These are the two top active stars in the company right now (isn't that a shame?) and they're going to go at it. I think we need a new WWE champ, at least for now, but I don't think that man should be Bobby Lashley. His mic skills are still unacceptably awful and his persona could use an injection of energy. Orton, Booker, and Kennedy all are great candidates for that title.

Two other things of interest:

- Umaga regains the Intercontinental title, and as stated before this is to add legitimacy to him before his SummerSlam match with the Jackass crew. He also won the Intercontinental belt right before his big match at Wrestlemania, if you recall.

- Did it seem to anybody else that Shelton Benjamin may be receiving a push soon? He got time to cut a promo and wrestled his first singles match in a long time. It's about time they get him moving again.

Drew Arnold, writing for The Irish Whip

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RAW Preview

I'm loving WWE right now. This is the first time in a long time that I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what to expect out of tonight's RAW. Let's start with what we know for sure.

Tonight will be the RAW debut for several superstars: Mr. KENNEDY, King Booker, Bobby Lashley, Snitsky, London & Kendrick, Daivari, William Regal, the Sandman, and Jillian Hall. One thing I'll predict is a victory for London & Kendrick over the World's Greatest Tag Team, which would be a great match. I would also expect to see a Mickie James-Jillian Hall feud begin. They're the two best female wrestlers in the company...who wouldn't want to see that?

The superstar that I'm most excited about moving to RAW is MISTAAAAAAA KENNEDY. Supposedly he will be returning from his injury tonight, so look for him to at least cut one of his spectacular promos. He may also be the victor of a squash match.

And of course...Vince McMahon is dead. RAW will definitely begin pushing the "whodunit" storyline, so look for Shane, Linda, and Stephanie McMahon to be on the show. I have no idea where they'll take this storyline...maybe Shane did it? We'll see.

Drew Arnold, writing for The Irish Whip

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Business Is About To Pick Up

First of all, this was the best RAW that I think I have ever seen...ever. The fact that this show mixed together so much surprise and storyline progression along with so much great pure wrestling is incredible and hasn't been seen from the WWE in a long time. Let's go brand by brand and analyze how they're affected by the draft.

RAW:
Mistaaaaaaa Kennedy...KENNEDY will by making his long-awaited arrival on the A show. If you have ever read this blog, you know that we love this man. I think he can single-handedly bring the WWE back into American pop culture. John Cena has been given several years at the top of the company now and has only been a decent champ...Kennedy will be one of the greatest of all time.

Along with him, RAW receives King Booker, Bobby Lashley, and Snitsky. In my opinion, Lashley has been somewhat undeserving of his push but it seems to be continuing. Hopefully they'll feud Lashley with Snitsky so that everyone realizes how boring these two guys really are.

Smackdown!:
The Great Khali will be taking his oversized and overrated Punjabi carcass back to the B show...good for WWE. Beyond that, Smackdown will receive Torrie Wilson, Chris Masters, and one of the biggest surprises of the night - Ric Flair. Knowing that Flair's retirement is fast-approaching, I certainly didn't expect to see WWE moving him down to Smackdown. But on second thought this move seems to make sense. He'll be able to have one last title run without taking the title on the main show. Look for Batista to help Ric Flair beat Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship within the coming months (SummerSlam???)

ECW:
Ok...this show just went from being one of the least watchable shows on television to (maybe) the best show that WWE can provide. Two factors play a part here: the guys that ECW got, and the guys that ECW lost.

Receiving Chris Benoit, the best wrestler in the company, and the Boogeyman, one of the most entertaining guys in the company, will drastically improve the brand. Just imagine...CM Punk teaming up with Chris Benoit to take on Marcus Cor Von and Elijah Burke. That's straight up awesome. Also, look for the Boogeyman to feud with Kevin Thorn.

Maybe the best part of the night for ECW was the fact that they lost some guys. Bobby Lashley and Snitsky are finally gone!!! Lashley was never a good champ and Snitsky was just obnoxious. I only wish Extreme Expose had been drafted off as well...

WWE put on an AWESOME show tonight and is showing a great creative direction with the company. VINCE MCMAHON PRESUMED DEAD??? Interesting storyline...who blew up his car? My prediction would have to be Paul Heyman, but we'll see. Who do you think tried to knock off McMahon? What do you think of the draft? Slap a nice little comment on the board.

Drew Arnold, writing for The Irish Whip

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