The Katz Files – Arnie Katz
My RAW (5/4) Notebook
The Kingfish Arnie Katz highlights the major developments and discusses what they mean.
A Note from the Kingfish
Trying new things is part of the fun of doing a column like that. As an experiment, I am overhauling the format of the Notebooks to highlight the key points instead of embedding them in a recap.
There are lots of recaps, so no one who wants one will go without,. On the other hand, there’s very little intelligent analysis; that’s the aspect I’ll stress in the Notebook series.
The Matt Hardy Enigma
Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler put over the idea that Matt Hardy is faking his hand injury. There have even been references to Bob Orton Jr. and the cast he wore for many years. He uses it pretty much the same way Randy’s dad did. too.
Whether or not the injury is real, the way WWE is using him on RAW doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. The protest is a nice touch, but what’s the point if he is going to lose to Kofi Kingston.
It would’ve been much more effective if Matt had gotten disqualified when he tries to utilize the cast as a weapon after a hard-fought, competitive match. Kofi would have left with a “moral victory” and Hardy wouldn’t look like such a loser.
… And Speaking of DQs
The Batista DQ on the 5/4 RAW looked just terrible. The animal’s ferocity against Ted DiBiase is understandable, but only up to a point. After all, it was Randy Orton who theoretically Punted Big Dave to the sidelines for several months.
It makes sense for Batista to be angry at Orton’s henchmen, too, but. This carried it to ludicrous extremes. The referee was looking right at the violation and warned him several times. The only thing at stake in his match was a spot in the night’s main event, so he really had no reason not to break.
Draft aftermath
RAW may have gotten a carload of superstars out of the Draft, but there are a lot of breaks and bruises in the ranks at the present time. For whatever reasons, RAW is currently getting nothing from Mr. Kennedy, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and, to some extent, John Cena.
That’s a tremendous amount of inactive talent. Some of the absences appear to be strategic rather than injuries, so help is surely on the way. . Meanwhile, Legacy, Batista and MVP will have to carry a heavy load.
That’s all for now. I’ll be back tomorrow with a fresh installment of the Internet’s fastest-rising pro wrestling column. I hope you’ll join me then and, please, bring your friends.
— Arnie Katz
Executive Editor
[email protected]
(5/7/09)