Before I take a look at last night’s Raw, I want to acknowledge the big news about Batista that was reported last night by pwinsider.com. For those who missed it, Batista has suffered tears in his hamstring muscle and will undergo major surgery that is expected to keep him out of action until next summer, according to the report.
Batista did not appear on last night’s show, although the hamstring injury was not mentioned. The story line is that he is out because of the injuries he suffered last week when Randy Orton kicked him in the head. I’ll talk more about Batista’s injury in a separate post later today.
The big news as far as last night’s show is concerned is that Trish Stratus made a surprise return to the ring. The Ontario native got a huge pop from the crowd in Toronto when she was introduced as John Cena’s partner for a mixed tag match against Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix.
It was great to see Stratus back in the ring, although it was made clear that it was just for one night only. Stratus, who retired in 2006 at the age of 30, showed no ring rust whatsoever.
The combination of seven-time women’s champion Straus mixing it up with current champ Phoenix, and Marella doing his shtick opposite the top star in the company, made for a fresh and entertaining main event. It was funny that the crowd was super hot for Stratus but still booed Cena, even after Stratus held up his arm and encouraged the fans to cheer him during the postmatch celebration.
The match was set up at the beginning of the show when Marella challenged Cena to get a female partner to face him and Phoenix. It appeared that Kelly Kelly was Cena’s choice, but she was later shown leaving the building. With Double K out of the picture, I knew it was going to be Stratus. Did I know this because I’m so smart? No. I read a spoiler before the show aired that Stratus was backstage, so it wasn’t hard to figure out at that point.Other thoughts on last night’s show:
Marella was brilliant as usual. When he issued the challenge to Cena, he called him “John Chayna,” which legitimately cracked up Cena. …
It made sense for Triple H to offer to help Shawn Michaels with his money problems, but Michaels’ reasoning for turning his friend down was kind of absurd considering their past. Michaels told Triple H that their friendship would never be the same if he accepted his financial help. Really? You mean borrowing money from a friend can damage a relationship worse than battering a friend repeatedly with a sledgehammer? …
The three matches between former world champions to determine the competitors for next week’s fatal fourway elimination match (which will determine the challenger to Cena’s world heavyweight title at next month’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view) were good. The Chris Jericho-CM Punk match, in particular, was very good. The spot where Punk courageously refused to give up while trapped for what seemed like forever in the Walls of Jericho may have done more to make Punk a star than winning the world heavyweight title did. …
Despite contrasting styles, JBL and Rey Mysterio worked pretty well together. The finish, which saw JBL win by disqualification after Michaels slapped him in the face, doesn’t really make sense if you think about it. When competing in a tournament, why wouldn’t every wrestler just have one of their friends come down to ringside and slap them so that they could advance by a DQ? …
Orton delivered another good promo after his forfeit victory over Batista. It is a little weird, however, for Orton, a heel, to be perfectly justified about wanting revenge on Batista for Evolution ambushing him back in 2004. Had Batista not gotten hurt, I think WWE might have been building to a double turn with him and Orton. …
The women’s tag match – Mickie James and Melina versus Jillian Hall and Layla – was a little rough in spots. I think James might have legitimately injured her knee after taking a spill outside the ring. If not, she did a tremendous job of selling that she was hurt. …
Since dropping his greaser gimmick, Sim Snuka reminds me of one of the greatest movie characters of all time – Damone from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I wonder if Snuka has a five-point plan for success in WWE.
SOURCE: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/wrestling/blog/2008/12/a_stratusfying_episode_of_raw.html