We've had ferocious heat and thunderstorms in Montreal all week, so I either have been too tired to post, or had my PC shut down to save it from the risk of a power surge. So, I'll cover both brands in one long post.

• Let's start with the RAW brand. The show was a little better this week at linking stories into the matches, but I still feel it was a so-so program.
  
  Putting the Triple-H vs. Goldberg match as an Elimination Chamber match with 6 competitors was actually a good move. First off, let's call a spade a spade: Goldberg is pretty limited in the ring. Spear-gorrila press-jackhammer. Like Hulk Hogan, it pops the crowd - but you can't make a 20+ minute match on that. Chris Jericho did a few months ago, but Triple-H isn't that talented anymore. That would leave Bill to improvise... and when he does, he screws up big time, like the kick that ultimately made Bret Hart retire. So the fed has given themselves some decent breathing room.
  
  Secondly: H is hurt. Whether he'll be recovered by SummerSlam is unknown - which could put the RAW main event in jeopardy. The Chamber match will allow 5 other competitors to ply their work without risking the champion going south with his health limitations.
  
  Unfortunately, there are really no other exciting things for them to build on. La Resistance defending against The Dudley Boys just shows us how thin the tag division is: they're currently the only real teams. Rodney Mack and Chris Nowinski seem to have disappeared as a team, Hurricane and his protege; are just starting (I can't believe how the WWE is getting away with a sign saying S.H.I.T. on screen)... and maybe Goldust and Lance Storm will add to the mix. Speaking of that: I'm actually worried of what repackaging they'll give Storm!
  
  Gail Kim turning heel now evens out the face/heel sides of an 8-woman division too, with Lita returning soon.


• Smackdown! was an improvement this week. Last week they loaded up the first hour of the show with strong matches, then filled the rest with B-level fare. This week, they were smart enough to balance the show more by mixing the matches up more.
  
  I think the opening two bouts proved wrong the folks who thought Tajiri's loss last week was a start of his demotion to Velocity. He's proving to definitely be a part of the main US Title-level feuds for some time.
  
  The show did suffer from the same flaw I've stated before: too much Vince McMahon. Despite that, he led us to a nice change: Brock Lesnar turning heel with Kurt Angle the face. His previous face turns weren't very successful, but now maybe this one will. Plus, it made a good swerve, with us all expecting Kurt to go bad.
  
  One thing is really bothering me though: why has Ultimo Dragon been slated on Velocity so often? (He had a match listed in the spoilers)

On to Smackdown! now. I felt it to be a very schitzophrenic show. To be fair, I dozed off through the most of the second hour, but the recaps made it sound as if tghey loaded up the first hour with superb matches (Eddie Guerrero vs. Tajiri was fantastic, and Rey Mysterio vs. Shelton Benjamin too), then filled up the 2nd hour with the rest.

I found myself more interested in what they offered in the first hour than the secon. In my opinion, that's in part because the talent isn't really being built up well.

Ouch. I missed an entire week of comments! I was a bit under the weather, but I'm feeling better now. Thus, even though RAW is on in a few hours, I'll talk about it here... and then Smackdown! in the next post. I know the reviews will be in reverse, but at least they'll be out there.

I felt that last week's RAW was a pretty lackluster affair. The fact that it included "feuds" from Heat (the quotes because each was a single match) made for very uninteresting TV. Did we care about Garison (Lance) Cade and Mark Jindrak trying for the tag team titles? Nope. They seemed like a jobber team facing La Resistance. All it did for me is to showcase how dull in the ring my fellow Quebecois are. Did we care about Val Venis defeating KweeWeeco? Again: nope.

By far the biggest crime was the womens' title match. Molly Holly is now a 2-time champion, but with no real build up, we care about as much as we did when Gail Kim won it in the first place: not at all.

The Kane / Shane McMahon spot set-up another possible McMahon vs. McMahon feud. Even though it's on a different brand, I hope not. I'm sick of seeing Vince in any capacity but off-screen.

So what we had was a real throwaway show. Let us see if they do better this week.