Black Widow
12-23-2008, 08:51 PM
ONE of the greatest things about pro wrestling — or sports entertainment, if you insist — is that when it clicks, when it's done correctly, and when the audience is "into it", there is nothing like it in the world.
World Wrestling Entertainment presented Monday Night Raw from Toronto, Canada this week, and it was just one of those nights when, if you're a fan, this is everything you could ask for.
The show-long story of Santino Marella promising to give away a secret about Santa Claus was so moronic, so stupid, so preposterous, if someone other than Santino made the threat, it would just reinforce so many negatives about the mentality of pro-wrestling, and WWE's inability to comprehend how its own actions are perceived by the mainstream.
But once again, Santino's performance was delivered with such comedic genius, it was actually entertaining, and instead of the audience groaning, everyone came along for the fun ride.
THAT'S when wrestling is at its best. When you wink at the audience, say "trust me" and they trust you...and you deliver.
The return of Trish Stratus was handled perfectly. It was a feel-good moment in front of a hot crowd, with Trish and Beth Phoenix giving the live and television audience just enough — but not too much — to feel like everyone saw something special, while not really giving anything away.
John Cena pinning Santino makes perfect sense, because Santino can lose almost every night. As a matter of fact, he should lose almost every night, because his character is better off that way!
There was no need for Trish to beat Beth Phoenix, who needs to keep her heat as the Womens Champion under the trying circumstance of standing next to the hysterical Santino each week.
Cena pinning Santino was logical, smart booking, and much like when Santino was built up for the confrontation with Stone Cold Steve Austin, it shows you don't always have to spend main event equity to deliver a satisfying payoff.
Chris Jericho's stellar match with CM Punk tore the house down, with a series of false finishes that had the audience riveted.
This was Jericho with his proverbial "working shoes" on, clearly at the top of his game, and Punk was no less a performer. The finish of the match, where Punk did his springboard but fell victim to a lying-in-wake Jericho, who nailed a video-reel-perfect CodeBreaker was one that left everyone hoping to see these two against each other again one day.
But the person on Raw to keep your eye on more than anyone else is Randy Orton.
In 2009, Adam "Edge" Copeland is going to have some stiff competition for the title of Single Best Performer In WWE, and he's going to get that competition from Orton.
There's a certain look in his eyes now, a confidence that permeates the room, a comfort with one's self that overshadows his natural arrogance.
Orton's ring work was always excellent and gets better by the day, but now he's learning great control on the mic. Six months from now, play back Orton's promos from the past few weeks, and you'll be amazed at how the solid promos he's doing today pale by comparison.
You can see it as each episode of Raw transpires. Orton gets better every moment he's out there. He's becoming the most complete heel in World Wrestling Entertainment. He has poise, patience, and is just now beginning to grasp the masterful control he can have over the audience's emotion with each word, inflection, and facial mannerism he delivers.
While Smackdown finally pulled the trigger on the uber-popular Jeff Hardy ascending to the throne of WWE champion, the future of WWE may very well be the sinister heel on Raw whose understanding of his own talents can propel him to even greater heights than he has already achieved in his young but accomplishment-filled career.
After watching this week's excellent edition of Monday Night Raw, I am convinced that unless someone screws it up, World Wrestling Entertainment in 2009 will truly enter The Age of Orton.
The Sun
World Wrestling Entertainment presented Monday Night Raw from Toronto, Canada this week, and it was just one of those nights when, if you're a fan, this is everything you could ask for.
The show-long story of Santino Marella promising to give away a secret about Santa Claus was so moronic, so stupid, so preposterous, if someone other than Santino made the threat, it would just reinforce so many negatives about the mentality of pro-wrestling, and WWE's inability to comprehend how its own actions are perceived by the mainstream.
But once again, Santino's performance was delivered with such comedic genius, it was actually entertaining, and instead of the audience groaning, everyone came along for the fun ride.
THAT'S when wrestling is at its best. When you wink at the audience, say "trust me" and they trust you...and you deliver.
The return of Trish Stratus was handled perfectly. It was a feel-good moment in front of a hot crowd, with Trish and Beth Phoenix giving the live and television audience just enough — but not too much — to feel like everyone saw something special, while not really giving anything away.
John Cena pinning Santino makes perfect sense, because Santino can lose almost every night. As a matter of fact, he should lose almost every night, because his character is better off that way!
There was no need for Trish to beat Beth Phoenix, who needs to keep her heat as the Womens Champion under the trying circumstance of standing next to the hysterical Santino each week.
Cena pinning Santino was logical, smart booking, and much like when Santino was built up for the confrontation with Stone Cold Steve Austin, it shows you don't always have to spend main event equity to deliver a satisfying payoff.
Chris Jericho's stellar match with CM Punk tore the house down, with a series of false finishes that had the audience riveted.
This was Jericho with his proverbial "working shoes" on, clearly at the top of his game, and Punk was no less a performer. The finish of the match, where Punk did his springboard but fell victim to a lying-in-wake Jericho, who nailed a video-reel-perfect CodeBreaker was one that left everyone hoping to see these two against each other again one day.
But the person on Raw to keep your eye on more than anyone else is Randy Orton.
In 2009, Adam "Edge" Copeland is going to have some stiff competition for the title of Single Best Performer In WWE, and he's going to get that competition from Orton.
There's a certain look in his eyes now, a confidence that permeates the room, a comfort with one's self that overshadows his natural arrogance.
Orton's ring work was always excellent and gets better by the day, but now he's learning great control on the mic. Six months from now, play back Orton's promos from the past few weeks, and you'll be amazed at how the solid promos he's doing today pale by comparison.
You can see it as each episode of Raw transpires. Orton gets better every moment he's out there. He's becoming the most complete heel in World Wrestling Entertainment. He has poise, patience, and is just now beginning to grasp the masterful control he can have over the audience's emotion with each word, inflection, and facial mannerism he delivers.
While Smackdown finally pulled the trigger on the uber-popular Jeff Hardy ascending to the throne of WWE champion, the future of WWE may very well be the sinister heel on Raw whose understanding of his own talents can propel him to even greater heights than he has already achieved in his young but accomplishment-filled career.
After watching this week's excellent edition of Monday Night Raw, I am convinced that unless someone screws it up, World Wrestling Entertainment in 2009 will truly enter The Age of Orton.
The Sun