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Raw Feedback

Vinny Mac and his little army starting things out makes some sense with the WWE title situation right now. I’d be all for a Lashley/Van Dam match but Cena was always gonna come down and stick his nose into things. He was pretty on point throughout, getting the crowd involved and no doubt Cena/Lashley with the winner heading to Backlash would be a great route to go down. Vince isn’t gonna budge with that iron clad(Hi Big Show) contract is he lol? To be honest I expected Linda but I didn’t want her. We saw her just before Mania and I can’t stand having her around just to one up Vince but at the same time it does make sense. Big time announcement here most definitely, vote of no confidence in the chairman and that meeting next week should be a great read if you pull it off. Tons of possibilities to go with. Decent opening segment and a nice impromptu match given to us here…

Solid opening contest here and Dykstra comes out of it with his reputation enhanced once again which is a step in the right direction for him but as expected Cena with the victory. Good booking.

Interesting exchange here between Linda and Orton. To be honest I wasn’t too keen on it. Randy going from calling her Linda to Mrs.McMahon while the whole briefcase as a weapon thing I didn’t get, these guys use chairs, the TV monitors, the title belts as weapons and get away with it, why the briefcase is any different I don’t really know. Orton was a little awkward I felt also with his ‘you don’t wanna threaten me’ piece to the Board. I get that he’s this whole slow, robotic, viper type character but it didn’t flow too well I thought. Things picked up with Hardy which is a rarity lol. Major main event for later now and I’m pretty sure Orton’s gonna put that briefcase on the line come Backlash.

Really liked this with Trips and Steph. I thought it played up the fact Shawn is almost one of the family and how Steph knows this isn’t the HBK of old, this is a new, dangerous man and her being fearful of what he does to Trips just adds that bit extra edge to it all I think. Having his wife in his ear will make Trips have that bit of doubt as well I’m sure but you still stuck to Trips being a badass and having no fear in calling him out. Good job with this.

Nice interview with Van Dam here. You got all his usual bits and bobs involved as well as addressing everything that needed to be. Right on point with this.

Enjoyable tag match here. I personally would’ve liked to have seen this saved for a later date and had the teams interact a bit more but with Backlash so soon it’s understandable. Big win for the SES and a real opportunity for them now to take the gold, should be a good one come Backlash.

Good to see Lito all fired up here and not in the mood for any of Torrie and Dykstra’s games. Would’ve had him tone down on the whole ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ stuff however, tad extreme lol. Hopefully he gets a strong showing against Lashley later on.

Trips vs. Hardcore Holly? Holly for the win all day right? Aftermath was the main talking point here and it was a very good read here. Michaels was spot on as he always seems to be with you at the minute. The whole getting back his smile is great and his faith etc, the way he used Steph in all this after the earlier segment was well linked in but Trips was right on it also, the mentioning of Mick Foley, of Nash, all really great points made and a top notch segment. Match is now on as well to boot, should be awesome.

Really looking forward to what you do with Cesaro.

Solid contest again here between Lashley and Lito. Both men looked pretty good in this thing and it’s a big win for Lashley, a much needed win too although Lito probably could’ve used it also. Was a little surprised Dykstra didn’t cost Carlito, would’ve made more sense.

Ahhh I guess here’s why he didn’t. Very clever stuff here with Torrie as the distraction and then a beautiful beat down from Dykstra, great job with this.

Big win for Victoria here. Not really a fan of Candice getting involved but Beth making her presence felt was the right move, enough of a distraction there.

Very nice main event here with some terrific action between these two. I expected a showing from Lashley as well as Jeff Hardy, perhaps even Cena but I’m glad you just let these two do battle and it’s a big win for Van Dam. He needs to keep building momentum so it’s definitely the right call and leads into Orton now facing Hardy. Aftermath was to be expected with Lashley and then Cena showing their faces. No surprise again with Vince and Linda, big time main event for next week to go along with the boardroom shenanigans, should be a heck of a show right there.

On the whole this was a solid showing. I don’t quite think it had that same excitement however that I felt Smackdown just had. There were some strong matches here as well as some great interaction between Trips and Michaels and whilst the Vince/Linda boardroom struggle should lead to something big next week, it’s not really my cup of tea to be honest. Cena/Lashley/Van Dam progressed pretty nicely although there was nothing too groundbreaking, same as Orton/Hardy. Lito/Dykstra certainly had a nice bit of heat added to it tonight which was another real positive in elevating these two. Keep it going and I look forward to more build to Backlash next week.