RAW Report

Well, I've been a bit under the weather and had some other things keep me away from my blog, but as promised here is a report from my experience at WWE RAW....better late than never.

You know it's going to be an interesting night when the fan sitting beside you dons a Ray Misterio Jr. mask just before the action in the ring begins and proceeds to watch the entire show while wearing the mask. Well, after attending my first live wrestling card in nearly 15 years, my biggest observation is that wrestling today is more show than substance. I remember when a two-hour wrestling card featured actual wrestling instead of pyrotechnics, loud music and back-stage or in-ring interviews every five minutes. In between all this, five matches took place.

The first match featured world champ Triple H taking on an overmatched Rosey. Triple H wins easily and finds a sledgehammer underneath the ring apron after the match. How it got there I have no idea. After clanging the sledgehammer into the metal ring steps to let the crowd know the sledgehammer is indeed real, Triple H clubs Rosey in the bread basket. After Triple H clears the ring, Emergency Medical Technicians rush to Rosey's aid and cart him off on a stretcher, presumably to take him to Wake Medical Center. Man, I hope Rosey pulls through.

Triple H's sledgehammer would play a prominent role in the evening's festivities. The main event featured "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (with Triple H in his corner) squaring off against Batista. Triple H, plotting to take Batista out before their big main event match at Wrestlemania in a few weeks, is barred from taking his trusty sledgehammer to ringside by WWE commissioner Eric Bischoff. No worries for Triple H, however, because as luck would have it, after Batista threw Flair around the ring like a rag doll and polished him off, another sledgehammer was found underneath the ring....go figure!

Triple H tries to clock Batista with the sledgehammer, but "The Animal" catches the weapon before "The Game" can crush his face. Batista wrestles the hammer away from Triple H and in a show of brute strength proceeds to break it over his knee! He then challenges Triple H to a match as the televised portion of the show is going off the air. Fortunately for us fans in the arena, Triple H accepts and we get to see a preview of the Wrestlemania main event as a bonus that the folks tuned it at home won't get to see. Batista eventually pins the world champ, probably to prove to everyone in the arena that he can so they will be enticed to shell out $50 bucks and order the Wrestlemania pay per view in a few weeks to see if he can do it again.Well I could go on, but if you want, you can check out a complete match report at the WWE's website. Unfortunately, my hard work and effort into crafting my Ric Flair signs didn't succeed in getting me and my buddy Jonathan on TV. Oh well, there's always next time because, like the circus, wrestling will eventually find it's way back to town.