RAW Retort – Maddox and Ref Stripes mean problems

The great Khali

From good to bad, there were some rather crappy matches on this episode. Wait, there really was only one bad match on the card, and sadly two of the best Divas were in it.

I cannot say much for Khali. Khali is a lovely man, and his chemistry with Natalya and Hornswoggle is endearing, but his ring work isn’t very good. As much as I want to see Natalya in the ring, she works so well backstage with Khali on mic. Their vignettes are so cute, funny, and endearing, and I think Khali should be kept doing that more than working the ring.

At least most of the match was the Divas, and they were able to show some solid skills. The big problem came with the ending. The ref really messed up. It’s usually the wrestlers who botch, but that ref missed the ending, and when Natalya stepped up to have her arm raised, as she was obviously scripted to do, the ref looked confused, as if he didn’t know how to handle things.

It was Natalya and AJ who stepped up, re-finished the match for the ref to see AJ tap out. It was Natalya and AJ who made it work, and not the ref. I’m willing to bet that McMahon verbally let that ref know how badly he messed up.

I’m not sure about how well R-Truth and Fandango would have worked the ring, but from that little bit of them dancing, then the way the fought in the Battle Royal, it looked as though we’re seeing a feud in the making. They could be a solid feud, and could help both of them move forward.

And speaking of solid feuds, while Kane and O’Neil weren’t great in the ring together, O’Neil has stepped things up recently, and Kane’s feud with Bray is stellar! Their growing chemistry is great, but even better is the use of their characters in this storyline. Kane and Bray are so similar in so many ways, and I think that’s what’s making this feud so off the hizzle. I cannot wait to see what goes down with them at SummerSlam.

Damien Sandow and Randy Orton

Beyond Bryan and Barrett, there were a number of other strong matches on RAW. Sandow and Orton really tore things up. I know it’s not the first time they’ve faced off recently, but they’re doing a great job helping each other look good, and helping push Sandow’s feud with Cody forward without putting them in the ring together.

I think Sandow and Cody are going to be great when they start working the ring together, but I’m glad they’re not pushing the issue too quickly. Orton looked solid, and he needs that going into SummerSlam with all those questions hanging over his head.

ADR and Kofi looked solid in the ring, and it was nice to see ADR work the ring and not spend all of the time working over his opponent’s left arm. Kofi came off looking solid, even though he lost in the end.

All that being said, after the backstage segment with Christian coming off that lovely video about his career, it makes me wonder if Christian is walking into his last big run in the WWE. I don’t want it to be Christian’s last run, but I do want to see him win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from ADR this weekend.

Christian as WHC would be great to see, especially if Sandow started teasing that he was going to cash in his MITB contract. Sandow working with both Cody and taunting Christian could really build to something interesting and fun.

As much as I love McMahon, I wasn’t thrilled with McMahon in the ring with Maddox. It was too contrived, and while I know Maddox is McMahon’s puppet right now, I didn’t think it was handled very wonderfully in this segment.

In reality, it was Triple H who brought the segment back from the brink of destruction. The fans love Triple H as much as, if not more than, ever before. I love the way he works against his father-in-law. He’s flip, and glib, and works the fans almost as hard as he works McMahon. In some ways he’s as strong on mic as he’s ever been, even when he was working HBK hard in DX. It was lovely, and I can’t wait to see more. That’s one feud I really hope doesn’t end at SummerSlam, and I don’t think it will.