CLICK HERE to email Sean “O’Mac” McGuinney.
My apologies, wrestling fans, for this late edition of Sean Oâ<80><99>Macâ<80><99>s Take on Raw. Itâ<80><99>s been one of those days, several days in a row!
To be quite honest with you, as I thought through this Take while watching this weekâ<80><99>s episode, I had totally planned on starting off this one by going off on a tirade.
However â<80>¦
I have no choice but to start by saying â<80>” major kudos to Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy for one of the best damn matches Iâ<80><99>ve seen on Raw in quite some time! Nobodyâ<80><99>s perfect, and Iâ<80><99>m sure Iâ<80><99>ll get e-mails from people who say the match was crap (it just seems to happen â<80>” you canâ<80><99>t please everyone.) But I absolutely loved it.
This match is the first in a long time on Raw thatâ<80><99>s actually had me vocalizing my excitement or sitting up on the edge of my seat. It was well done, thrilling to watch, and youâ<80><99>ve gotta give props to HBK for putting Hardy over and keeping the man in main-event form.
Like I said, I know Iâ<80><99>ll get e-mails on this from those who disagree â<80>” and I always welcome letters that engage in intelligent
debate. (Unlike one letter that Iâ<80><99>m going to share with you all in the next Punching Bag, just to show you what I put up with!)
But fans, if this match didnâ<80><99>t excite you â<80>” you seriously should stop reading this column and check yourself for a pulse.
Now for my tirade.
Paul Burchill came out this week with â<80><9c>sisterâ<80> Katie Lea in the debut of the long-rumored incest storyline. Now, other than a sister showing much admiration for her brother, they didnâ<80><99>t get that far into showing an incestuous relationship quite yet â<80>” but folks Iâ<80><99>ve got to step up on this one.
Apparently Vince has been itching to do an incest angle for some time, even tossing around the idea that Stephanieâ<80><99>s first baby would be claimed as his own.
Are you kidding me?
I know WWE needs new and exciting storylines, and they arenâ<80><99>t the easiest thing to come up with when youâ<80><99>ve been doing shows for as many years as they have. But this is exactly the type of thing that causes people to stop watching wrestling.
Vince, letâ<80><99>s take a reality check here. This isnâ<80><99>t entertainment in the least. Itâ<80><99>s disgusting, and has no place on WWE shows.
Donâ<80><99>t get me wrong â<80>” I still would argue with you until Iâ<80><99>m blue in the face that Vince is a genius. But this has got to be one of the dumbest acts of a smart man Iâ<80><99>ve ever seen.
Putting that aside now, the rest of the episode was grade-A stuff.
Hornswoggle and Finlay again had the last laugh this week after Finlay, despite the threat of being fired, showed heâ<80><99>s a face for good (for now) by putting his loyalty and friendship with Hornswoggle ahead of his own interests â<80>” by knocking Vince cold with his other best friend. The result: A tadpole splash and victory for Hornswoggle in the no-disqualification match.
Next week â<80>” Vince vows to make Finlay watch as he takes his son on inside a steel cage. Itâ<80><99>ll be interesting to see how Finlay gets his â<80><9c>little buddyâ<80> out of this one.
Another dose of sports-entertainment goodness came in the match pitting JBL and Chris Jericho against each other once again. But this time, we saw a Jericho of old it seems. The man dominated much of the match â<80>” and even resorted to biting and ripping at JBLâ<80><99>s face. Gotta love it.
Y2J took the thing with a Codebreaker, but not before JBL did manage to get in some offense. Still, it seemed as though someone in the back realized they need to make sure Chris regains some of the momentum he came in with â<80>” and itâ<80><99>s my belief that after the way his PPV match with Orton ended he needs to be right back in the hunt for the title.
Orton vs. Cena for this Sunday got some more pumping up as the champion watched Cena dish out an STFU to Mark Henry for a win, then give the champ an earful as Orton stared off into space. Itâ<80><99>s official, wrestling fans. The only thing stopping Cena at this point is Kryptonite. Can they really find a way NOT to give him the belt on Sunday?
I donâ<80><99>t think so. But I do like those curve balls, so weâ<80><99>ll see.
Olâ<80><99> Natch was in full form tonight as he and Kennedy shared some close, personal mic time in the ring. Ric Flair started off slowly but turned up the heat for a great promo before having his injured knee kicked by the next man in line to try and end Flairâ<80><99>s career. I love the pump-up Flair is getting on his way out, but we all know Kennedy wonâ<80><99>t be getting the job done at No Way Out, right?
Melina got the best of Maria in their match after Jillian distracted the next Playboy Diva by shouting out over the mic and planting a big kiss on Santino Marella. Afterwards, Santino apologized but then delivered an ultimatum to Maria â<80>” itâ<80><99>s either Playboy or Santino. Well, we all know how thatâ<80><99>s going to end.
By the way â<80>” what is the exact date and time of that editionâ<80><99>s delivery at my nearest convenience store? Iâ<80><99>m going to have to check on that one.
On a final note, I have to finally give an opinion on Mike Adamle. Iâ<80><99>ve given it a chance, watched him, listened â<80>” and now Iâ<80><99>m sure. I donâ<80><99>t like him.
Now donâ<80><99>t get me wrong, it isnâ<80><99>t just that he tends to suck it up on live shows, as he certainly did at the Royal Rumble. But I just donâ<80><99>t think thereâ<80><99>s a need for someone out there to add another voice to things. Honestly, I didnâ<80><99>t like The Miz when he was out there shouting â<80><9c>Hoo-Rah!â<80> to the crowds. Itâ<80><99>s nothing personal, just my own tastes I suppose.
For the record, Miz is definitely better off showing his skills in the ring.
Don’t like my take? Let’s hear yours! Send me your e-mails to wzseanomac@yahoo.com… the best and worst of the bunch may be featured in editions of Sean Oâ<80><99>Macâ<80><99>s Pullinâ<80><99> No Punches. Remember, short ones are good, long ones may be cut, and keep the name of the column in mind when you come looking for answers!
Miss an article? Want to look back over Sean O’Mac’s past columns? Now you can check them out on his brand new MySpace page, www.myspace.com/wzseanomac.
