So, what was in the water this week? Both wrestling shows were better than normal. RAW, coming off a good but flawed show, delivered HUGE tonight. I mean, this was harkening back to January when they reeled off three or four really excellent shows in a row. TNA's first hour... well it wasn't terrible, and for them, not terrible is a vast improvement over the status quo. I'll have more thoughts on Impact when I see the second hour.
But RAW... Christ, where to start. I mean, they let Evan Bourne and Carlito do moves! Shit, I was so used to seeing Bourne just get the holy hell squashed out of him that it was refreshing seeing him work an actual match on the big RAW stage rather than just having to seek him out on Superstars. He really is something special, and I hope this is the start of something bigger for him.
Then there was John Cena's merciless squash of David Otunga. As Starfucker Hater #1, that brightened my night. I loved the interactions with Otunga and Batista as well. Yes, I hate Otunga, but he seems to be more natural as a heel bigtimer. At the same time though, Batista does his smarmy douchebag character so much better, which wasn't more evident than after the squash when he ripped his vest and shirts off ready to fight Cena and then held back, saying "We do this on my terms".
Speaking of Batista, he had a fine main event with Randy Orton that ended with Jack SWAGGAH~! getting a nice rub. I didn't have as much of a problem with Cena waylaying him en route to getting his heat back from Batista because SWAGGAH~! did what he had to do against his Extreme Rules opponent. It was a great way to end the show, I thought.
But I still can't get past how awesome the Kofi/Sheamus match was. Firstly, you had Kofi acting like he had the balls he had during the Orton feud from last year. Secondly, Kofi came out in the ring with the fire mixed with caution that he seems to have when he knows he has a direction (btw, a shitty, shitty quality for a wrestler to have, telegraphing jobbing by their effort... you'll never see Evan Bourne pull back when he's jobbing). Sheamus was great too, especially with his facial expressions and his overzealousness on his moves, which worked great into the narrative of the match (him missing and Kofi countering). Thirdly, the WWE writing/booking/agent staff must have read my booking rules, because they BOOKED A FREAKING DQ FINISH! HOO-FUCKING-RAY! Seriously, that was a great way to end the match, with Kofi getting the virtual win and then Sheamus retaliating with the monitor shot. Both guys were proctected here. You got that, Russo, you fucking hack? Lastly, the beatdown from Sheamus on Kofi was epic. That pump kick to Kofi at the end was brutal-looking and just one of the reasons why Sheamus is awesome.
RAW knocked it out of the park tonight. They delivered so much that I'm even thinking about doing Extreme Rules. Well, I would if it weren't the same weekend as King of Trios. Sorry, WWE, but this is Chikara's WrestleMania so to speak.
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