This week on Raw: Kelly Kelly manages to defeat Beth Phoenix once again!
Thoughts & Reactions
Apologies for the late Redux this week, but it’s back to uni and things are about to get crazy again. Anyway, this week’s Raw saw Beth vs Kelly for about the fourth time in 2 months. They’ve had some good singles matches together previously and this week’s Raw continued the trend. Though not my favourite Beth vs Kelly encounter, the work was sufficient, the crowd seemed into it and both Divas had chemistry.
But yeah, there’s not much more to say about the match other than it was good. I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m extremely tired of Raw and I think the product as a whole is boring. The booking frustrates me to no end and each and every week, I find myself struggling to write this Raw Redux. The matches, while good, aren’t all that exciting. They’re more filler than anything else. If WWE can’t book a substantial feud and something to get excited over – why should I devote the time to write about Raw when I’d rather skip it? The Raw Divas are treated like filler segments to pass a few minutes, like WWE are obligated to give us just the one crappy Divas segment each week and let that be that. God forbid we book something exciting, a storyline that can capture the viewer’s mind and imagination.
How many weeks ago was it that WWE announced Candice vs Beth for No Mercy? And ask yourself, what exactly has WWE done to promote this feud? How have they made this feud must see television to make us want to order the pay per view? Candice sitting watching Beth vs Kelly on the montior… riveting. This is meant to be Candice’s big comeback, the most valuable Diva in WWE’s eyes, and she’s being treated like Cherry (no offence to Cherry). This is supposed to be the big money feud of the division, with fans, critics and WWE alike creating a buzz that Candice would come back and get revenge on Beth – if this is revenge, someone must’ve changed the meaning in WWE’s dictionary. The booking is boring and I have no investment in seeing Beth vs Candice at No Mercy.
I find watching Raw and writing this Redux a chore and it shouldn’t be. As I’ve stated over and over again, I find myself looking forward much more to SmackDown than Raw every single week. Sure, SmackDown has it’s issues with booking too but the work between Michelle and Maryse has been nothing short of fantastic, the matches are passionate, intense and slotted so that they are a big part of the SmackDown product – not just a filler match to fill the Diva quota. The Divas on Raw are seen, if lucky, once a month. SmackDown has done a fantastic job in utilising all of their Divas on a weekly basis, we usually see all 6 Divas on the show each week – whereas Raw you’re lucky to have two. SmackDown’s Divas feel important to the product, Raw’s Divas are treated as filler.
So unusually for a Raw Redux, I will end it there and ask the question: Is Raw really worth it anymore? Discuss!
