Raw is War and Life in a Barn!

Because I haven't done one of these in a while and because Kris LOVES them, I give you YOUR Raw Recap for May 10th, 2004.

WHAT WORKED

Batista versus Tajiri was a really well worked big man/little man match. Tajiri yet again is a really great beaten babyface. He is really the only guy besides Val Venis who is allowed to use varied offense, and he broke out a bunch here. This was actually the first good Batista singles match. Worked Benoit, wasn't good. worked Michaels, wasn't good, worked RVD, it was messy. Worked a feud with D-Von, painful. Worked a bunch of people in OVW, unimpressive. Batista's gotten alot better and Tajiri is apparently really good as an underdog babyface ( a role he's never worked elsewhere). Only problem with the match is that I think they should keep Tajiri in the uppercard mix since he's really good in this role, but I'm not sure where he goes after this match.

Randy Orton versus Edge was alot of fun. Orton broke out all of his old school Velocity offense, including the weird backbreaker and frog splash bodypress. There was a bunch of really awkward spots here including Orton ducking for no reason for a kick, Edge doing leg stretches masquerading as kicks, Orton attempting to debut his rana, and the ugly spear on Flair. I did really like Orton's crossface chickenwing, and Edge's running forearms. Edge is a guy who I normally don't really like in singles matches as he really works like the worlds tallest Spike Dudley. In other words, a guy who bumps like an underdog and has a bunch of over offense that he can hit out of nowhere. But he doesn't bump as big as Spike and, well, his offense isn't as good as Spike's. But he's three feet taller than Spike so that whole style doesn't normally make sense. I really enjoyed the way Edge worked in this one.

They really fucked up in sending Jacqueline to Smackdown. Most of the women on RAW are heels (Trish, Jazz, Molly, Gail, and I assume they'll be turning Lita heel). Victoria really hasn't figured out how to work face. And neither Nidia or Stacy have a lot of face wrestling experience. Jacqueline could've really been put to better use as veteran leader in this place. Why does Gail Kim get multiple finishes when Shelton Benjamin is stuck doing Sting's signature spots? Not even the Sting finishers, just his signature spots. Scorpion death drop and Stinger splash without getting to do the Scorpion Death lock. Gail Kim gets two submissions, but Benjamin gets nothing.

The only thing the crowd is actually into is the retard. Regal is a really great actor as he actual conveys regret and contemplation in his facial expressions. Ross is calling a completely separate angle then Regal is working and someone really should put together a booking sheet before the show. The crowd was weirdly miked for the whole night as it really sounded like they were in an arena that seated fifty in a room attached to a bar. You'd hear about fifty people really into the matches and then a lot of glass tinkling and muffled bar muttering in the background. But then Eugene came out and the crowd went electric. And the crowd was loud and hot from there on out. Weird.

Jericho/Christian cage match was pretty good. Tyson Tomko missed Jericho by about three feet and they really need to cut to the bearded guy with a flannel giving a thumbs down. Time to send that guy back down to OVW and replace him with one of the other four dozen tatted guys Cornette has to book around. Nice blood on Christian and the finish was really good.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK

Jesus, I assumed Helmsley would just beat the shit out of Benjamin, Pedigree him and bury him. Instead he treats him like he's beneath him. Didn't even bother beating him, and Shelton just disappeared after Michaels came in.

Bischoff is really effective when booked as a scummy motherfucker. After Three Minute Warning they decided instead to book him like Richard Deacon's put upon father on "Leave it To Beaver". That's a pretty stupid use of Bischoff. Plus, how is the put upon father of Lumpy supposed to get heel heat? They seem to have given up on that. Instead, tonight Bischoff was booked like like Richard Deacon as Mel Cooley on the Dick van Dyke show. It isn't much better.

OVERALL

Another good show from RAW this week, as they haven't had a bad one since before Wrestlemania. Now, if only Smackdown could get back to greatness somehow.