Linda's Thoughts - Hunter 2000/Regal and A Super Main Event

Posted by Linda Robin on 08/03/04 at 9:04 PM

All was just about perfect with Raw last night. A super crowd, one hell of a main event and a beating that made me so proud to be a WWE fan. In fact Raw was so good and so entertaining even the Diva contest didn’t bug me. Last night’s show made me want to be there so much. They did a wonderful job getting us ready for Summer Slam.

When the theme and video for Raw started and Hunter came out and yelled “stop the music” I definitely could feel his anger toward Eugene for his big loss last week against Chris Benoit. And Hunter’s promo was done just the way it should have been done. The more he started talking the angrier and louder he became. And by the time Hunter started calling Eugene out, the man was close to hysteria. This was just a super way to show just how IMPORTANT the title and wrestling means to Triple H. If he could “kill” Eugene he would. And to have a very smug William Regal show up in place of Eugene was brilliant. Regal bragging to Hunter that he was the one that had Eugene show up last week. It was Regal that had Eugene interfere in the match. Wow Regal was just awesome last night standing up to Triple H. I loved this opening and it really did set the tone for what was to come.

The first match of the night was a very FAST match but it definitely did one thing. It cemented Rhyno and Tajiri as one of WWE’S newest tag teams. And I really believe that they are going to win those titles at Summer Slam against Rob Conway and Sylvan Grenier. As I said this was a quick match but a good match. I would like to see Rhyno and Tajiri turn heels after they win the titles. I think both guys were made for the heel role. Randy “Cocky” Orton cut a nice promo backstage about how he’ll be the youngest WWE champion ever. He managed to throw in Brock Lesnar’s name a couple of times saying that Brock was 25 when he first won and when Randy wins he’ll be 24. I liked this lot and Randy again showed what a great heel he is even though I do believe he’s the one going to turn face very soon.

So far things are really coming along beautifully. However, there is a slight detour. First starting out with the latest installment of The YOUNG AND CAN’T ACT. Lita was just thrilled when Matt Hardy proclaimed his love for her and the baby and proposed to her. Not exactly a great segment. And then, the next match made me think that Raw was going down the toilet. It was Rosey with Stacey vs. Tyson Tomko with Trish. I must say this match wasn’t a dud, and it’s nice seeing Stacey out there, but Tomko is just not terrific in the ring. It’s another case of Vince pushing his “big guys” and they just aren’t ready. But anyway this came off okay, but Raw needed a shot in the arm to get it back to where it was. And Edge was the answer. I can’t tell you how great it was to watch Edge play a partial heel while participating in Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel. This all had to do with Edge being thrown over the top rope last week by Jericho his “friend.” Or so he thought they were friends. I was very happy with the interaction between these two. Edge definitely shined during this segment and I couldn’t wait for him to make the first move and he did with a nice punch to Jericho’s. And then he speared him. But Edge wanted more and he left the ring and grabbed a chair. It looked like Jericho was doomed while he was down, but Edge had second thoughts and dropped the chair and went to help Chris. That’s when Jericho punched Edge. I thought this was a very strong segment and we also learned that it’s Edge vs. Jericho vs. Batista at Summer Slam for the IC title.

After watching all of this I didn’t feel so bad about Jericho added into this IC title match. As you remember in Sunday’s column I felt that this was an insult to him. And I still feel Jericho deserves the World title, but the Highlight Reel put so much emphasis on the IC title last night and add the tension between Edge and Jericho and this match comes off like one important pay per view match. So that pleases me very much. William Regal vs. Hunter was next. This match was made at the beginning of the show when Regal challenged Hunter. The fans seemed so hyped for this baby and so was I. As Hunter made his entrance Regal came from behind and started beating the crap out of Hunter. Regal couldn’t get enough of his enemy. When they finally made it to the ring and Hunter seemed totally defeated and out of it, he managed to slip on brass knuckles and knock Regal out. Regal bladed and my God did he blade deeply. Hunter left the ring got my favorite weapon, the sledgehammer and returned to destroy Regal. William managed to stop Hunter the first time, but Hunter retaliated and started using the sledgehammer on him continuously. Yeah the violent side of me at least for wrestling loved this. The blood just poured out of Regal like a fountain. And Hunter was getting as many jabs in with that weapon as he could. Even though the refs tried to stop him, Hunter wasn’t stopping for anyone. When he was finally done, they rushed to put Regal on a stretcher and Hunter started walking up the ramp. This is what really made things so electrifying at least for me. Hunter was on that ramp watching the paramedics take Regal and like a mad man Hunter went up to Regal’s face yelling to tell Eugene nothing can stop him. Hunter then walked away only to return and tip Regal off the gurney. I loved this. Triple H then walked up the ramp hit the floor with the sledgehammer and then through it with such vengeance and started going crazy with emotion. This was TRIPLE H of 2000. He was absolutely outstanding as was William Regal. This was one fantastic segment. If you go to WWE.com you can see a video of Regal getting stitches last night. Okay now Hunter is backstage cleaning himself up from all the blood, and Uncle Eric walks in. I think he’s even happier about the gruesome beating that Regal took than I am. Hunter made his day and now he wants to reward Hunter with a Summer Slam match against Eugene. Ah Hunter smiles in a freaky way and another match is finally added to the pay per view.

Without a doubt last night Kane vs. Maven was the nothing match of the night. It was just another match to have Kane squash someone. However, before the match Kane started taunting Lita, which he is a pro at and challenged her to a little fun. Lita marries the winner of their match at Summer Slam because that’s when this is all going to end one way or another, and the match is called, The Till Death Do Us Part Match. Isn’t that just precious? Lita agreed and then that creepy Kane said it was too bad that Lita couldn’t wear white to their wedding and she slapped the smile right off his face. Kane has done a great job as Lita’s nemesis. He has been a natural when it comes to interacting with Lita. So another match added for Summer Slam, things are definitely shaping up.

Before I get to the main event, Camille was voted out and the girls did a twenty second pitch to vote for them. After last week’s disaster with Kamala this was at least more tolerable. Okay that’s all I can say about that. The six man tag team match was FABULOUS! It was Orton, Flair and Batista vs. Edge, Jericho and Chris Benoit. And these guys put on some show. When I saw this that’s when I said to my husband I wish I was there live that’s how great this match was. I knew that after the interaction between Edge and Jericho earlier that they really would just let it die during this match. And except near the end when Jericho accidentally ran into Edge there was really no major heat between the two of them. And I think that was the way to go. Believe me Jericho and Edge will definitely be feuding very soon. As I said this was one terrific match and the real surprise for me was Randy Orton pinning Benoit for the win. See that tells me that Randy is not winning at Summer Slam; why else would he get that pin? That threw me off or maybe it was supposed to throw me off.

I just want to say my Monday night was just the best last night. Hey did you notice no Hunter interacting with any member of Evolution? Again that’s definitely a smart move. And no Eugene last night which worked out perfectly. I’m telling you Raw was a near perfect show. And now it’s on to Impact which I’m hoping will be on Friday for me this week, and Smackdown. I look forward to seeing Kurt Angle wrestle and gee do you think Taker will show up? He should but I wouldn’t count on it. I have a feeling that Booker and RVD might be set up for Summer Slam. Even Cent could be added to the Booker RVD match. I really think Smackdown is going to come through this week and I’m looking forward to it. One more thing, I have a lot of emails to still answer from Sunday’s column. You are all so great for responding to my questions. Again reading the feedback has been a joy. So please allow me some extra time because I want to read each one and email you back. I want to take my time and not rush with any of these. Thank you for caring enough to email me.

Email lvaccarp@hotmail.com

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