RAW Recap: 07/28/08

Here's just a short rundown of what happened at last night's Monday Night RAW:

RAW has been kicking ass lately. The plots have been thicker, the writing better, and the action more over the top. Guys like Kofi Kingston and occasionally the now solo Paul London have been adding that high flying attitude that RAW has been missing leading up to the draft. Rey Mysterio should be in there somewhere, but we've seen him like... what now? Twice?

This Santino/Beth Phoenix lovers angle is hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard at WWE in a LONG time. Santino is the acclimate performer right now. He's skilled in the ring, but at the same time great on the mic and had excellent comedic timing. He's always funny, but last night, with Beth Phoenix, I was almost to tears I was laughing so hard.

Michael Cole got his ass kicked. It was supposed to be Jerry Lawler and Hacksaw Jim Duggan against the World Tag Team Champs, with the straps on the line, but at the last minute a referee ran in with a note from the new GM that replaced Hacksaw with Michael Cole. King got taken out of the match, and Michael Cole got clobbered by Cody Rhodes. So Michael Cole was out for the rest of the show, and that's always good. Though they did bring out Mike Adamle to fill in, and that's always bad. Mike Adamle is a moron.

Earlier in the night Shane McMahon said we would see CM Punk squaring off against one of the most technical free agents in the business, and that turned out to be William Regal making his return, in a weird singlet. Though no mention of him being KOTR and only a quick mention of him being GM before. Punk won, but not before William Regal broke his nose accidentally. Cheers to Regal!

Mickie James won against the ugly blond who sings a lot. I can't remember her name, because this is usually when I go take my evening #2. Katie Lea jumped Mickie at the end though, and demanded a shot at Summerslam.

Out next was Jericho for the Final Highlight Reel. Jericho played a couple of his old funny clips, and said the true career he ended was not HBK... it was Y2J. Jericho said we could all say goodbye to Y2J and the old Chris Jericho. He demanded a shot at CM Punk's title, and told Shawn Michaels to stay home and get some rest.

JR is now coming to ringside, and he says "I don't know why I'm here, I should be on my way to Hershey, Pennsylvania for Smackdown. I was told to be here." King and Adamle don't know either. Mike Adamle keeps insisting he was told to be there too, and it's obvious he would have to replace Michael Cole.

Promo airs saying Shawn Michaels will be live via satellite next week. WWE jumping the shark yet again.

At this point, I was expecting we're gonna get a good Summerslam WHT match. You have 6 guys wanting it. CM Punk has it, Batista, Cena, Kane, JBL, and now Jericho all wants shots. The HITC is already going to be hanging over the ring at Summerslam, so they can't do an Elimination Chamber, so I think they might do a 6-man HITC.

Boy was I wrong.

Big mainevent, Cena and Batista beat JBL and Kane in a tag team match. I bet those guys were tired since they practically had the same match, a couple hours earlier when they pretaped the SNME show.

It's 11:15 and here comes Shane McMahon to introduce the new RAW GM. I'm hoping and praying for Bischoff................... but no.

On camera we didn't see who got up and climbed in to the ring, but as Shane McMahon looked to the back to introduce the GM, we all waited, and when no one came out, Shane turned to the ring and said "Your new RAW General Manager is..." the camera pans to the ring to see who's standing behind Cena and Batista.... "MIKE ADAMLE!"

WHAT?!

MIKE ADAMLE?!

WHAT?!

Cena and Batista look legitimately shocked, with Cena even laughing at one point and saying "is this a joke?" I wish it was a joke... but no... it looks like Mike Adamle is the new RAW GM.

.... and just when RAW was getting so good.

WWE news: Shane on RAW, King and JR Back Together, Michelle McCool Resented Backstage.

-- Shane McMahon will be appearing live and in person on Raw this Monday night in Washington D.C. According to WWE.com's preview for Raw on Monday, McMahon may be naming a new General Manager for the brand. Here is what they wrote: "In recent weeks the McMahons have implored the WWE Universe to cease the civil unrest that resulted from the absence of the injured WWE Chairman, Mr. McMahon. Will Shane name a new General Manager when he appears on Raw this Monday?" You can read the preview in its entirety at this link, which consists of vague information. They don't have anything else officially scheduled for Monday's Raw at this point. On another note, Stephanie McMahon will obviously be unable to appear on Raw due to her pregnancy, as she's due any day now.

-- According to the webmaster of Jim Ross' official website, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler will be calling the entire 8/2 Saturday Night's Main Event broadcast, which is scheduled to be taped before Raw goes live on the air at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. this Monday night. You can read the message at this link.

-- In the SmackDown Divas locker room, there is a bit of resentment from some of the ladies towards reigning WWE Divas Champion Michelle McCool. Whether it's true or not, the feeling is that McCool has some power as the star of the women's division on SmackDown and that she comes across like the veteran leader even though she doesn't really have that much experience in the wrestling business. This was actually the case before McCool won the WWE Divas Championship at The Great American Bash last Sunday as the belt doesn't have anything to do with the resentment. A few weeks ago, Natalya Neidhart was reportedly upset with McCool due to a behind the scenes incident involving the two in which McCool tried to show her how to lock up correctly and how to work "WWE style," which is more about telling a story in the ring than doing a bunch of random moves. On the other hand, McCool doesn't really appear to be in the wrong, and all of this probably has more to do with the typical wrestler mentality of someone becoming a star when others think they're not as good as they themselves are, and then they come up with reasons why. Also, since McCool in involved in a real-life relationship with Undertaker, it would appear that some of the resentment and jealousy towards her is due to that. In other words, when a Diva is dating a Superstar wrestler and then gets a push, that's obviously going to get people talking.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show Set for Wrestlemania 24, in SOME Fashion!

In a matter of about 3 days, suddenly Big Show is back in WWE, and somehow feuding with pro boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather. My first impression of all this was that I hated how fast this was set up. Big Show coming down the aisle 100 pounds lighter, was great to see, made it seem like he was fresh and ready to make an impact for the first time in years. So he does his promo, cool enough. Then he sees Rey Mysterio at ringside, and decides to kick his ass, uh, just because he's taking away from his return, makes sense. From there things got weird, as suddenly Floyd Mayweather of all people is coming to Rey's rescue. So Big Show throws Mayweather's ass out of the way with ease, being Mayweather is about 1/8 Show's size. Then Big Show gets on his knees to balance out the height difference, then suddenly Mayweather EXPLODES shoot punches onto Big Show, breaking his nose in a matter of 2 seconds, then high tailing out of there. So we get a Big Show return, an attack on Mysterio (who had just wrestled Edge for the World Title,) and a confrontation with Floyd Mayweather, all in a span of minutes. All of this could've happened over at least 3 weeks if you ask me, but that's todays wrestling for you.

Now Monday night, we saw Big Show call out Mayweather, and "apologize" for his actions....then proceeded to tear Mayweather up, for even stepping in "Big Shows ring." So basically the challenge was laid down, Mayweather accepted, and we have ourselves a Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather match of some sort. The fans stood up for wrestling here, and boo'd Mayweather for coming into the wrestling world saying he was the best fighter in the world, coming off as a great heel, although I'm not sure if he was meant to come off as a heel or face. So although I didn't like the rushed nature of this whole angle, as Big Show was already in the big swing of an angle his first night back on RAW, overall, i think this was well done, and gives the fans something cool besides the typical crap we've been getting on RAW lately. People will be talking about this one, the best pound for pound boxer vs. the giant pro wrestler. It's something casual fans will be interested in, and a realistic story (complete with broken noses!) Now this will probably be a 1 shot deal at Wrestlemania, and could be anything from a wrestling match, to a boxing match, with the possibility of it being Rey Mysterio (depending on his injury) with Mayweather vs. Big Show and Shane McMahon. So far, this angle going into Wrestlemania 24 intrigues me more than Cena vs. Orton vs. H. I mean, we've seen Cena, Orton, and H wrestle each other a hundred times, and now this match is supposed to feel like a WrestleMania main event? Sorry, not feeling it. Mayweather vs. Show will not be a great contest, but brings the much needed "unique" feeling that Wrestlemania needs, which has previously been brought by such classics as the WWF vs. NFL Battle Royal at Mania 2, LT vs. Bam Bam at Mania 11, and the Gimmick Battle Royal at X-7. Let's hope they go for the shoot boxing match, so Show can break Mayweathers nose right back!