Instant Feedback: Da Muddaship!

I have to say, tonight's RAW was pretty good. It's not because I have a sick obsession with impersonating Dusty Rhodes either (although I do), but things clicked better tonight. It wasn't a complete show; the women's BR was awful, drizzling shits, and we're still being subjected to what is in contention for the worst feud of all-time, Chavo vs. Hornswoggle. Plus, I was a bit iffy on a couple of the DX references. But then again, the fourth wall hasn't existed since Vince Russo tore it down in 1998. While I'd like for them not to piss on the ashes so blatantly, well, you can't force the genie back into the bottle I suppose. Plus, the SantinoMaster stuff was awesome, and anything that gets Arn Anderson even 30 seconds of face time on TV is okay in my book.

What really brought out the quality in the show though was the focus on wrestling and letting the wrestlers be the ones to entertain. Even in the DX skits, it was three active wrestlers and two retired legends riffing on their roles in the business and just being organic. It was the most entertaining I've seen Trips or HBK since they've reunited. That's the DX I want to see, not the two sad middle-aged men pretending they're 16 again.

The wrestling action, BR and the Hornswoggle match aside, was decent to good. I thought the match of the night was Mickie James against Beth Phoenix. Not surprising, as these two women have amazing in-ring chemistry with each other. They're by far the best two women wrestlers in the company. It's a shame the crowd was dead for it. I don't know the reason; perhaps it's because it followed a hot US Championship match, maybe they don't care about Beth anymore (which would suck for a Glamazon mark such as myself), but it didn't seem to respond to anything until the finish.

The other thing that impressed me was the finish to the Big Show/Henry match. It's like they read my post about protection from last week. That finish did more to build tension for the upcoming match than any run-in could have. It kept Henry strong by having Show needing to expose the turnbuckle, but it put over Big Show's KTFO punch by having him floor Henry with it, even after the shenanigans.

Also, the beatdown at the end was really good. Honestly, I don't know where they're going with the tension in Legacy, but it has the potential to be something good. I don't know. I don't feel like myself. Maybe it's the lack of sleep talking, but I'm not filled to the brim with bile over RAW this week. I'm not getting my hopes up, because they've followed up good RAWs with shit the next week plenty of times. Inconsistency is the name of the game. However, I'll take this week in stride and enjoy it while the memory lasts.