Raw Hits:
Dolph Ziggler vs John Morrison: Ive always found it to be a good sign when announcers acknowledge a wrestler's losing streak, so it was nice to see them play it up with Morrison last night. It's a shame they didn't do so earlier in the three months, because the crowd was dead for what was a very good match. It's nice to see a midcard match get closen to 15 minutes on Raw, with the finish seeing Morrison reversing two rollup attempts by Ziggler into a crucifix leverage pin. I thought WWE missed the boat around Wrestlemania when Ziggler first came to Raw to have these two feud with each other, and I'd love to see these two in a ladder match at TLC in a No. 1 Contender's match of some kind, presuming Ziggler drops the US title, as I think he will at Survivor Series. A quality opening match between the two.
**3/4.
Kevin Nash Promo: This was the best Nash has looked or sounded since coming back to the WWE. Nash appears to have gotten himself in pretty good shape, and I imagine we'll be seeing him in the ring again fairly soon. It was nice to see Nash establish a reason for his bitterness due to being snubbed by HHH post-Royal Rumble, and Nash looked confident and comfortable on the mic. With HHH to be out for another four weeks, I question the timing, but there's always the chance HHH will return early and insist on a match with Nash at Survivor Series. Either way, Nash was very good here, as some of what he said was true, with the exaggerated swagger of a heel. Well done.
Alberto Del Rio/CM Punk: I do question having CM Punk calling Del Rio's mic skills into question, but the exchange between the two was very good. Punk did a nice job of establishing Del Rio as a talented competitor within the ring while pointing out the shortcuts he takes that are unneccessary. Punk did a nice job of putting over the WWE Championship and explaining how his actions from the previous week were similar to how Del Rio won his championships. Del Rio seemed just adequate here, but played his role of vulnerable heel chamion well. The backstage beatdown by Del Rio on Punk did a nice job of giving Del Rio his heat back.
Awesome Truth vs John Cena and Zach Ryder: First off, hats off to Lawler and Cole for making Miz and R-Truth seem like credible threats on commentary. I don't know if it's enough to undo the damage that's been done to them over the past two weeks, but the announcers did the hard sell throughout the match. Both teams demonstrated nice teamwork throughout the match, with the "experienced" team using the double team of Truth holding Cena's legs while Miz pinned him being a nice touch. Cena somewhat undermined this by laughing following the match, but the good here outweighed the bad and this was a quality TV main event.
**1/4
Raw Misses:
Opening Segment: Shouldn't the Rock returning to team with Cena be a big deal? Cena only mentioned it in passing before moving on to Miz and R-Truth, which makes Rock's return to the ring continue to lack the impact that it should have after seven years. I like Cena putting over Ryder the way he did, but labeling him a future Hall of Famer? I expected Mick Foley to come out when I heard that! This set up the main event for the show, but did little to build towards the bigger match, the Survivor Series tag match. For example, what exactly is at stake other then pride? Almost the only thing that makes
sense at this point is that Cena invited Rock to team with him as a set-up to turn on him prior to their Wrestlemania 28 match.
Alberto Del Rio vs Kofi Kingston: A bigger deal should be made out of any champion vs champion encounter, and Kofi lost too quickly for my liking. There's no shame in losing to the WWE champion, but as a champion in his own right, Kofi looked incredibly weak jobbing to Del Rio in under three minutes. It's apparent they're going to keep the titles on he and Bourne through Bourne's suspension, but that doesn't mean Kofi needs to be used simply as a jobber. The quality of the short match wasn't very good either, as Del Rio applied the cross-armbreaker very sloppily.
1/2*
Cole and Lawler: I honestly don't understand, between the two, whom the jokes appeal to other then possibly Vince McMahon. Whether it be Lawler on Vickie Guerrero or Cole on Jim Ross, it's tiring week in and out to see them completely ignoring a match in progress in order to crack jokes that appeal to only the lowest common deonominator. What's worse, it's very insulting to the wrestlers in the ring whose match is being ignored while they're trying to one-up each other with a constant barrage of one-liners. It's simply not funny.
Kelly Kelly maxim unveiling: Natalya and Beth were right: It takes alot more then a pretty face and perkiness to make a successful WWE Diva. This was a prime example as to why. Kelly illustrated once again how terrible she is on the mic, and her mannerisms and body language aren't much better. Eve seems in the background as the #1 Contender for the Divas title, and Im losing interest more and more in the Sisters of Salvation storyline by the week. They simply havent created a sympathetic enough babyface to fit with Natalya and Beth at this point.
Overall Show: As already stated, the opening segment did little to bolster the build towards Survivor Series. Mason Ryan and JTG was a throwaway that advanced nothing, as was Jack Swagger vs Santino. Eve vs Beth wasn't pushed whatsoever, and the build towards the Rock's return continues to be underwhelming. They should have hyped the heck out of Rock's return next week, but it was also barely a blip on the radar. Although it will probably work, it's not good business to simply count on Rock being there to sell Survivor Series. So far, they've done little more then that.