Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com
On Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 10:47 AM EST

Last night I had the fortunate opportunity to watch Raw live. I didn't work for reasons that nobody needs to know about, so the chance that I had to watch Raw, I took. I am glad I did too, because it was enjoyable. There's two parts I want to discuss here, one with Michaels and JBL, and the other with Cena and Benoit. The reason I am even writing this is the Cena vs. Benoit match, so I'll tease that, and get to it last. What I have to say, for anyone who is an avid reader of the Palace, may honestly shock the beblankus out of you.

I have to say that the segment with JBL and Michaels was done very well. JBL came off perfectly as the pompous heel with his long overdrawn promo, Michaels retalliates with a few words, then BAM, down goes JBL in a pile of his own Armani suit thanks to a superkick. Truth be told, I missed it when it happened live. I blinked, and Bradshaw was on the canvas. I MISSED THE DAMN KICK, it was that fast. It was, I thought, very well done. Kudos to Bradshaw for taking that bump, because if he is as hurt as I have read in various sources, that must have hurt like all hell. I am also glad that, although it would be a shot in WWE's roster to have a heel like JBL back between the ropes, that it hasn't happened. I have grown to enjoy JBL's commentary. He has been learning the art of being a heel commentator, and yet still being able to take the pride, swallow it, and give some credit to the babyfaces. I find that refreshing and enjoyable to listen to. Is he perfect? No. But has he improved, from where I sit? Light years. However, friday night, Bradshaw said he had a surprise for Shawn Michaels, and man, at the end of the night, he sure delivered. Who else sees Michaels turning on Cena in that match next week?

Before getting to the main event, I have to mention the Master lock situation with Bobby Lashley and Chris Masters. I HOPE and pray that this is the end of the ridiculously stupid Master lock challenge segments. They have not been fun to watch, and they have basically been a squash to bolster the rep of a consummate midcarder like Chris Masters. If he hasn't sniffed a title since his brief run at the Elimination Chamber two years ago at NYR, he's not going to sniff a title any time soon, and the segments are a waste of time. Even last nights was as well. Who else did not believe Bobby Lashley was going to break out of the Full Nelson? I mean, I ADMIRE LASHLEY. I think he is an amazing talent, athletically freakish, and personally, I like the no talk, all action ideals. I met him at an autograph session, and the only thing I could think of was how freakin' big this monster was and is. But, even I could tell, through my literally dusty covered rose colored glasses that this was going to get broken, and it was anti-climatic at best at the end of the segment. Having a run in would've done wonders, I thought, for the segment, as I thought Umaga would've certainly come out while Lashley celebrated on the ramp. Bottom line, Chris Masters may be athletically gifted in his own right, but he has sponged too damn much time off the Raw viewership, and it's time to move on, for the love of all that's holy, move on.

I give credit to Nick Dinsmore for suffering through the Eugene gimmick. Was it fun when it started, yeah, it was. I was bothered by it at first, but it grew on me, but the constant abuse that the gimmick has taken. It's given new meaning to the term jobber, and the subsequent embarassment of having your head shaved bald at the hands of a deranged lunatic like McMahon, well, I hope Dinsmore got some nice hazardous duty pay for dealing with that humiliation. Gimmick or not, storyline or not, FANTASY OR NOT, AND don't tell me that I don't know it's a storyline, BECAUSE I KNOW. It's still insulting and wrong. If you lose a match with the stip included, that's one thing, but that way is just plain degrading.

Ok. Let's get to the main event. Two men who I personally would consider my #1 and #2 favorites. US Champion Chris Benoit and WWE/World Tag Champ John Cena. Let me go out and say it right off the bat.

How the hell did Chris Benoit tap out to John Cena last night?

Ok. STFU has got to be painful as hell. And yeah, Benoit has the neck problems from the past, all of its well known and documented. Last night, though, John Cena got his ass kicked. From pillar to post. Kicked. And I challenge anyone to tell me otherwise. You all know how big a mark I am for Cena, but Cena got destroyed last night. Should he have won? Maybe. An FU and a 3 count can happen in a pretty big flash, as it was seen during the diatribe between Michaels and Cena after the match, but to make a man, one of the toughest bastards to put on a pair of trunks in WWE, and have him tap out to the STFU, it's mind boggling.

It reminds me of the match at Vengenance when Cena made Sabu tap out. Sabu has had limbs falling off his body, and stayed in the match until he couldn't breathe or he passed out. Having Sabu tap out was just as peculiar I thought. Does it build up Cena as a character, sure, it does, but the fact remains, in both of these encounters, Cena got his ass kicked. Out of nowhere, he managed to get the advantage, slap on the STFU, and the opponent tapped out relatively quickly. It's very puzzling to me how that was booked, and that's hard for me to say, because I'm such a fan of both Chris Benoit and John Cena.

With that being said, damn, was that match entertaining. Both men went at it at gear 12 and never stopped for the entire length of the match. I cannot imagine how sore Cena must be this morning getting up out of bed after an ass kicking at the hands of the Crippler. I thought that was WCW Benoit last night, vintage Benoit, almost Horsemen like Benoit, the vicious technician who can out wrestle the world.

Cena is a tremendous talent, I do not dispute that. But, from where I sit, last night showed he has still got a lot to learn.

Man that was tough for me to say.

One thought before I go. Technician vs. technician, man what a dream this would be. Chris Benoit vs. Bryan Danielson. You think we'd ever see this sometime before both men hang it up? I doubt it, but damn, I'd pay to see it.

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NOTE: The views expressed in this column are not the views of WrestleView.com and its immediate staff.