Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[Morpheus101]

I'm glad this Nexus BS is finally coming to an end, I'm getting sick of the constant beatdowns this group of no talent rookies are always handing out to the seasoned vets.

and hopefully they get someone besides Miz for sunday, he would be completely useless in the match.

also, I'm seeing hints of a jericho face turn. and they are doing it ever so slowly, which works for me!

the rest of the show I found pretty lackluster, the diva matches were pretty boring, and we got cheated out of 2 matches due to the Nexus.

once again, lets finish this nexus angle, they arent the nWo, and its getting old seeing these rejects coming out on top every week

.

The Nexus angle isn't going anywhere, but I hope that WWE starts to utilize the angle more effectively. They haven't done enough, IMO. The status quo has been dragged on for too long and a sense of direction is needed. The "higher power" behind that group needs to reveal itself, and fast, before it becomes stale. I also feel that Nexus need star power, i.e. a major WWE star to join them, otherwise they're just going to be a glorified Spirit Squad, rather than WWE's answer to WCW's nWo.

 

[Miss Flawless]

Okay so, first of all, to any people who thought the Rock was coming back...
IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

And, the big angle? Yeah, internet reporters bug me sometimes. I didn't really get my hopes up, though.

RAW was pretty good tonight. I liked the whole "Are Y2J and Edge joining the team again or no?" I think the matches were all good (minus Diva's matches) and it was an entertaining RAW. Good into Summerslam.

With Miz backstage tonight, saying that he might join the team, he said "You'll see at SS. " Sorta just gave it away. Obviously, Miz is going to join the SS team and it will be 7 on 7 since Edge and Jericho re-joined.

 

[Jay85]

The crowd seemed way into it tonight. A few times the camera was actually shaking from them.

 

[wushady]

I thought Tonight's RAW was overall a great show far better than recent weeks. I don't know why many thought The Rock was coming back. I haven't heard anything about him coming back to host for a while now. I think Brett Hart actually did pretty well on the mic this week.

I really enjoyed the stuff with Nexus this week. They all seems to be improving every week. So does Miz and Shamus. The Edge Jericho angle was great as well.

 

[RyanCallaway]

I loved the show tonight. Bret Hart was surprisingly good on the mic in the opening, and did pretty well with the little bit of physicality they gave him. I also enjoyed the decent match that Melina and Alicia Fox put on. Even though I don't particularly like Melina (someone here called her a female version of John Cena or Triple H with the title) she's talented, and Alicia really stepped it up too. Everyone else I thought was fantastic and the entire show left me excited about seeing Summerslam this Sunday. The cameras shaking during the last segments and the roar of the crowd was something I haven't seen in a while. Good stuff WWE.

 

[sandman4465]

Evan Bourne is seriously the go to guy when you want to put on a decent match. Seriously the guys sells moves ridiculously well and really knows how to take a beatdown. The guy is definitely earning his paychecks.

 

[Барбоса]

Great stuff on RAW this week.

The Nexus angle got an excellent go home show. Every segment they were involved in came together to form a collage of their actions over the past three months in microcosm whether it was them watching their potential opponents, attacking them in a wolfpac (things like Young tackling Henry's legs during their attack adds a nice touch of realism), playing mind games with Edge and Jericho and sticking to their mantra of being Nexus or against us by attacking the latter.


Bret did a good job on the mic alongside the ever reliable Jericho, reminding us of the threat of Barrett and co; Bret and Cena trying to recruit Miz demonstrated some of the desparation on the part of Team Raw while giving the Miz some added kudos as a potential saviour. The stand off between Team RAW and Nexus with the crowd jumping was a perfect build for Summerslam.

The interaction between Sheamus and Orton I thought was well done. It would have been damaging for Sheamus to chicken out two weeks in a row while Orton getting the better of him and threatening the punt showed Randy as a legit threat who wants to win the WWE title.

 

[Chill]

Last night's Raw was very entertaining, especially the build for the WWE team v Nexus at Summerslam. I must say, Bret Hart did a good job on the mic last night and I enjoyed his participation and interaction with the Raw regulars...he came across much better on the mic than he did the last few weeks he was on Raw before he left.

The tag match was also well done and I enjoyed seeing Edge and Jericho finally realize that they need to join team WWE for the 'greater good' and the pop was excellent...I'm now very excited for this match at Summerslam. I love how WWE have taken seven nobody's (Nexus) and made them very interesting so that they are now a credible threat. Raw has been great as of late anyhow...

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Raw - August 9, 2010

Opening Segment - I thought the opening segment of Raw last night got the show off to a strong start. Hart's promo was solid overall while Edge & Jericho's presence sealed the segment nicely. I thought it set the theme of last night's Raw off nicely with Team Raw dwindling in both cohesion and morale at the 11th hour. I like that they didn't end the segment just with Bret getting a weak ass thumb to the eye as that would've just been a crappy ending. Having The Nexus take out the Hart Dynasy and showing it on the Titantron worked as it set a tone that Nexus might be taking some more people out. Thumbs Up

The Miz vs. Evan Bourne - Overall, this was a pretty good match while it lasted. The Miz looks stronger each passing weak and Cole hyping the crap out of him as his lead cheerleader just works in this particular situation. Michael Cole is reviled as it is, so him being The Miz's kind of unofficial chief supporter helps keep both heat on Cole and The Miz. I wish this match had gone on longer, but what we saw was pretty good overall. Thumbs Up

Melina vs. Alicia Fox - I thought this was a pretty good match to be honest. It was head and shoulders above the usual 60 second waste of time that the Divas present on Raw. Melina looked good, no sign of ring rust from what I can see, and Alicia Fox is someone that I honestly don't think gets enough credit for what she brings to the ring because she's really very solid. This match lasted about 4-5 minutes, about the same time as the Bourne/Miz match. With two women in the ring that can actually wrestle, I wouldn't mind seeing a good long bout between these two. Easily the best one on one Diva match on Raw in a very long while with Melina getting the win. Thumbs Up

Chris Jericho & Edge Backstage - I kind of liked how this set things up for later on in the match. Both Edge & Jericho seemed somewhat uncertain about abandoning Team WWE to some degree, which made me wonder what would happen at the end of the night. There wasn't really much to this overall, but it did move along the theme of last night when it comes to Team WWE & The Nexus. Thumbs Up

The Nexus Takes Out Mark Henry - As with The Hart Dynasty, The Nexus came out before the Henry/DiBiase match could start and beatdown The Silverback. Pretty standard stuff from what we've seen from The Nexus, but the idea of taking out potential replacements for Team WWE, from a kayfabe point of view, is easy to understand logic. I like when logic is used in wrestling as you'd be surprised how often it gets left out at times. Thumbs Up

Sheamus & Randy Orton - The promo segment with Orton & Sheamus was extremely well done and it delivered a final great build up for the WWE Championship match at SummerSlam. Both Sheamus and Orton delivered on the mic,ad the crowd was going apeshit as they stared each other down, they were extremely hot for this. The Raw GM announces that if anyone interferes in the match at SS, they'll be suspended so Sunday could be a big night for Sheamus. A one on one victory over Orton will do him a tremendous amount of good if that's the route they go. The scuffle the two had was nice and Orton holding off on giving Sheamus the punt was perfect. The whole "I can take you out at anytime" routine works well against Sheamus as he's still, overall, so new in the main event scene and he's facing off against one of the biggest stars in the WWE. Thumbs Up

Percy Watson, Kaval & Lucky Cannon vs. Michael McGuillicutty, Alex Riley & Husky Harris - Pretty decent effort on the part of the NXT Rookies here, although I would have preferred to see Kaval score a win here. Most of the Rookies had a chance to shine and Kaval got himself a pretty decent pop when he was tagged in. Kaval is ultimately what made the match as he's so crisp and smooth in there. Husky Harris seems to be his nemesis and is able to pick up the win over Kaval. During the match, Sheamus had been sitting at ringside and when it's over, he goes apey and takes out several of the NXT Rookies including Kaval. I can understand if some weren't into this but I kind of enjoyed it so I'll give it a minor thumbs up. Thumbs Up

John Morrison & R-Truth vs. William Regal & Zack Ryder - Under most circumstances, I'd have given this match a thumbs down as it was short as shit and would have been a waste of time. However, John Morrison came alive during the match last night. He did something that he hasn't really done in quite a while: he looked like a star out there. The move he hit on Zack Ryder looked sick and showed great athleticism. Morrison had fire in his belly last night, he looked more like the JoMo of old last night than he has in a long time. The match also showed that Truth & Morrison seem to be on the same page now, so that worked too. However, Morrison was the key to this brief match and is the only factor that kept it from being a completely mediocre waste of time. He looked more like the JoMo of old last night than he did in a long while, so I'm hoping that this might be a sign of things to come. Thumbs Up

Eve Torres & Gail Kim vs. The Bella Twins vs. Maryse & Jillian Hall - I guess that this was the obligatory waste of time for last night. All the inflatable shit that was out there made my stomach twist around itself, which only increased as I saw Koslov & Santino out there. While I wasn't really into this, I honestly don't think it was that terrible. The six women actually had a fairly solid Diva six woman tag match. I figured they'd be running around out there squirting each other with water guns or slapping each other around with inflatable pool toys with Santino running around like an idiot. However, the match in and of itself was honestly not bad. The overall segment itself was kinda bad, but not NEARLY the absolute train wreck that I thought it would be. Maybe I'm being a bit picky here but I guess the general anxiety I felt when Raw came back on the air and I saw all the inflatable slides and pool shit had me a little irksome. I thought we were going to get something on the level of Hornswoggle bad. Had it not been for the pool stuff, it would've been a passable match. Thumbs Down

The Nexus Takes Out The Great Khali - I'm not sure if The Nexus took Khali out exactly, but he didn't make an appearance the rest of the night so that might be a good sign. The Nexus took out Khali's knee before beating him down before his match with Wade Barrett could take place. I prefer this to watching Khali wrestle because the idea just had bad written all over it. Khali can't wrestle, it's as simple as that and it's a nice continuation of The Nexus just taking people out all night. Thumbs Up

John Cena & Bret Hart vs. Chris Jericho & Edge - This really wasn't much of a match and was the weakest overall main event Raw has put on in a long while. However, the overall pay off was the final build to the 7 on 7 elimination match at SS. The Nexus spent much of the match beating on John Cena outside the ring. They left Jericho alone at first but went after him after he accidentally hit Wade Barrett. Edge & Jericho rejoining Team WWE after Jericho getting beaten was logical and it worked. The crowd was going nuts, the whole building was shaking as all of Team WWE, except Khali, faced off against Nexus. The show ended strong with a great final push towards the match. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - Overall, I thought that the show was pretty solid with a really good final push towards SummerSlam. They sold me on wanting to see the 7 on 7 tag match & the WWE Championship match. The match for the Divas Championship at the ppv should honestly be pretty decent as well. I doubt it'll be a barn burner, but it should be good. I was somewhat disappointed in the wrestling content overall last night as it was the weakest Raw has been in a while. But, while the matches were mostly kinda short, almost all of them were still decent and passable, there were some really good promos and the final build for SS was very well done. Overall, I give last night's show a B-.

 

[vampireblade]

this weeks raw was good very good the entire story line fit together perfectly for SS and now with jericho and edge back on team WWE i have no clue what awaits for us as we head straight into SS but i do know whatever it is it will be very cool

 

[MaverickAZ]

i got a little giddy when Jericho and Edge came back down and they all were face to face (wwe team and nexus)

at that point, i also have to admit, before they "went at it" to end the show, i haven't heard the crowd pop big like that in a long time. Not sure how it came across live, but on TV, they (crowd) seemed to be going nuts in the last 3-5 minutes

im sure WWE will find a way to screw the angle up after the PPV, but this was one of the better endings to RAW in many many many many months

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

I would've perfered to see Mark Henry wrestle, but I am really glad they are making Mark Henry look like the beast he is. I know a lot of people the internet are automatically programed to hate anything that isn't able or doesn't do a backflip, but Henry is dah man.

Didn't care for the Sheamus/Orton thing. Orton has just come too predictable for my taste.. Which weird because his character is all about being unpredictable.

The six man with the NXT guys was okay. I am really digging Percy Watson more now.

The Truth and Morrison squash.. Eh. I guess I missed when Zack Ryder became good enough to be used like Regal. But it is good to see a WWE superstar is capable of taking indy moves. haha

I loved the triple threat tag match with the divas. Okay, I love the Bellas and Maryse. Good enough for me. It was all in good fun, and I thought the finish was good. Didn't care for Tamina coming out though. Are the Uso's gonna kick Santino's ass now? lol

I like the Great Khali. So, the beat down was good. lol

Didn't care for the main event match and the aftermath.. At least the crowd really really really got into it. THAT is what you want from a WWE crowd for this sort of thing. Not some jackasses chanting "Bryan Danielson" or whatever the guy's name is now. I also loved that Wade is a good leader. He charges first, gets hits first, and if he can, makes sure everyone is accounted for. I loved him pulling Gabriel out of the ring, and it wasn't just because Bret was doing a shitty job either.

I only saw half the show, but damn what a great crowd!

 

[albertg123]

i attended wwe raw and it was amazing! loud croud it was so fun!

 

[WCWMondayNitroOnYT]

Yeah the crowd is always great at Arco Arena. I grew up near Sacramento and went to wrestling shows quite a bit growing up. The crowd was off the charts last night. I haven't seen the cameras shake during RAW since the Attitude era.

 

[klunderbunker]

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 9, 2010
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

Let’s go home to Summerslam. Bret/Cena vs. Jericho/Edge with Nexus as lumberjacks as the main event.

Here’s Bret, in a Batman shirt of all things. He talks about how things have fallen apart in the past few weeks and tonight they need to make things right for Sunday. He wants Jericho and Edge to come out but only gets the former. Bret yells at Jericho about how he needs to do the honorable thing and the speech is rather standard but well delivered.

Jericho says no and that Bret is only thinking about himself and how he’s afraid of the beating tonight. Chris only wants to beat Bret right here tonight and doesn’t care about Nexus or the match on Sunday. Here’s Edge and he seems to respond better to Bret. I smell a swerve but that’s Edge for you. He talks about everything that Bret meant to him as a kid and says Bret can count him in. Oh of course Edge jumps him but Bret is ready for him. Sharpshooter is blocked by a thumb to the eye from Jericho.

Natalya bounces down and is crying. On the screen we see the Hart Dynasty getting the hell beaten out of them by Nexus. They were my picks for the replacements too. Can we give Nexus some damn titles already? Bret and Nattie run off for the save and we take a break.

Trainers are looking at them and Bret stands guard with a chair. Cena pops up and says he’s going to go talk to Khali and Bret stays with his family.

The Miz vs. Evan Bourne

Simple yet effective. Can’t go wrong there. Is there a reason this isn’t for a title though? Some NXT rookies are fighting tonight. Miz dominates to start and gets a MIZ IS AWESOME chant. The running clothesline hits and we’re getting close to squash territory. Bourne makes a small comeback, complete with a cool spot where he’s on the middle rope and jumps backwards into a rana. Rey did it off a running springboard around the time he debuted. Miz blasts Bourne and the Skull Crushing Finale ends it.

Rating: C. This was DOMINANCE here as Miz completely dismantled Bourne other than a single rana. This was a glorified squash as Bourne never had a chance. That Finale is just awesome all around and looks like it’s going to end whatever match it’s used in. Very solid squash here and I loved it.

Miz says he’s ready to cash in at Summerslam no matter who wins.

We recap the Divas thing from last week to set up this.

Melina vs. Alicia Fox

Non-title of course. Alicia is all aggressive and such but not a lot of people seem to care. Melina goes into the post and then into a body vice. Melina slips down the back and hooks into what’s called a sunset bomb which is a fast sunset flip that starts from when she’s sitting on the back and then snaps forward with a bomb.

Rating: N/A. Call this a preview for Sunday. This was nothing bot Melina looking dominant. I’m trying to care but it’s just not happening at all.

Khali’s brother isn’t here but he says WWE then challenges Barrett for a one on one tonight.

Email during the break sets up the women’s title match. Moving on.

Jericho and Edge say they’ll survive whatever happens with Nexus and that tonight they should take out Cena and Hart.

Henry volunteers to join Morrison, Truth and Team Cena on Sunday.

Ted DiBiase vs. Mark Henry

Henry tries to get in but Gabriel and Slater are waiting. Here’s the rest of Nexus minus Barrett for the huge beatdown. Henry is out cold after being slammed into the steps and it’s stretcher time.

Is there an allergy to wrestling tonight?

Sheamus is here and says he isn’t afraid of Orton and will hurt him Sunday. We get a video about Sheamus’ career highlights which is kind of cool. Here’s Orton for your usual showdown. Orton says he’s not HHH and all that jazz. An e-mail says if anyone interferes they’re suspended. If Orton loses, no rematch. The GM suggests Sheamus do something right now. The pale one pulls back for a punch and stops but Orton jumps him. The kick is missed and Orton hits his backbreaker move. He has the Punt ready but stops cold, letting Sheamus think about it. Yep Orton is an idiot.

Percy Watson/Kaval/Lucky Cannon vs. Michael McGillicutty/Alex Riley/Husky Harris

Well this allows us to get them on TV and keeps us from having to risk another injury. Sheamus is outside which is likely going to involve Miz in some form. Kaval is only 1-5? That more or less secures the Danielson comparison. I’d like him a lot more if he stopped using kicks all the time which I know I’ve said before. Harris hits his backsplash on Kaval to end it. Sheamus annihilates them afterwards, or at least the ones he can get to. Kaval gets the worst and Sheamus says that was a message to the GM and Orton that he’ll win Sunday.

Rating: D. This was just there to get some attention to tomorrow’s show. It wasn’t any good at all and just came and went. The rookies need to start going away faster now because the six are just too many. Once we get this down to like 4 or so it’ll be better, but this just didn’t do it for me and was really there for Sheamus and the beatdown.

John Morrison/R-Truth vs. William Regal/Zach Ryder

This is going to be really quick. Morrison hits the C4, which is a Rock Bottom but he backflips into it. Paul Burchill used to do them off the middle rope. It gets two of course because you can’t let a big new move like that end it. Starship Pain is MUCH better here as he sets Ryder up further towards the middle.

Rating: N/A. Just a quickie to show that they’re united. It’s good to see legit jobbers in the company too. They’ve been needed.

Gail Kim/Eve Torres vs. Maryse/Jillian Hall vs. Bella Twins

This is a Summer Spectacular or something. They’re all in swimsuits, but of course one pieces. Santino and Kozlov are here too and they come in on a water slide. This goes like 3 minutes and one of the Bellas hits a cross body to beat Jillian. Tamina comes out in a swimsuit as well and slaps Santino on the ass. Yep it’s Glamarella all over again.

Rating: N/A. The girls looked good at least. If you have a thing for legs, FIND THIS MATCH IMMEDIATELY.

Summerslam Recall is the Jailhouse Match from 91 which resulted in a lot of gay jokes which aren’t shown here.

Nexus jumps Khali to take him out too, injuring his knee. No match with Barrett I guess.

Nexus, the lumberjacks, talk before the match starts. They say they’ll dominate and that no one should join or they’ll be next. We cut to the back where Miz kind of volunteers but that Bret has to make the invitation. Bret asks but wants to hear it from Cena too. Cena asks and Miz says he’ll let them know Sunday. NICE. Not sure why but that was awesome. Ok it’s 10:53 and we’re going to a break? Seriously?

There’s a guest host next week named Justin Long who I’ve never heard of at all.

Bret Hart/John Cena vs. Edge/Chris Jericho

Cena gets jumped by Nexus as they’re all on one side of the ring. Jericho throws him out there too. Jericho gets thrown out there and nothing happens. Any wrestling in the ring is pure backdrop for the Nexus stuff. This is in essence a handicap match here as Bret can’t do much. Jericho gets knocked into Barrett and goes to the floor again and the beatdown is on.

Edge goes for the save and Bret picks off Gabriel which lasts about a second. LOUD Cena chant. The showdown is on as Morrison and Truth come down to make it 7-4. The Canadians come back to a HUGE pop and it’s 7-6. HERE WE GO! WWE clears the ring and the Nexus is scattered into the crowd.

Rating: N/A. This wasn’t really a match as much as a backdrop for an angle so I’m not going to give it a grade like a match. The angle however was good enough I guess so this worked. It was about the whole Nexus attacking various people which is at least interesting. It gave WWE the final push it needed, which is the best thing for it. Decent ending.

Overall Rating: C+. Not the best Raw, but this set up Summerslam for the most part. One thing that is clear here is that this is about as much of a one match show as there ever has been this millennium. It’s going to get about 45 minutes at least on Sunday though which is the best thing they’ve got. That match has been built up very well while the title match hasn’t been so much. This was an ok show and all build, but the match on Sunday better be awesome or the last month is worthless.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Smackdown - August 13, 2010

Opening Segment - The show opened strong with Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler. Vickie gets more heat than just about anybody. She annoys people, but in a good way kayfabe-wise and she delivers on the mic. I admit that I'm a little worried that Ziggler might not be able to get over really well without her. I like that the WWE hasn't forced the whole Ziggler/Vickie relationship thing down our throats as they did with Edge & Vickie. Kofi charging into the ring and beating the ever loving shit outta Ziggler again was a nice touch. I'm digging this much more aggressive side of Kofi and it set the IC title match up this Sunday between the two at SummerSlam. Thumbs Up

[Kane vs Kofi Kingston - While the match was somewhat short at around 5 minutes, it was a very high quality 5 minute match. Kofi & Kane work well together and I'd like to see more with them, but I know it's not going to happen. Kane got the win but Kofi didn't look bad or lose any steam. Overall, a really good tv match. Thumbs Up

Kane & Rey Mysterio - Following his match, Kane cut a really solid promo in which he still accuses Rey of attacking The Undertaker. Mysterio came out and was pretty solid as well. Mysterio isn't great, but he is considerably better on the mic than he used to be. Kane referring to himself as the "Devil's favorite demon" while Mysterio calls himself a "Humble servant of God" I thought showed a great comparisson of the two characters' personality and how they contrasted. Thumbs Up

Christian vs. Dashing Cody Rhodes - Great match between these two. Some people aren't that wild about Cody Rhodes, but the guy has been impressing me in the ring and on the mic. He looked very strong and capable against Christian, getting the win around the 9 minute mark. Christian is almost Jericho-ish when it comes to losing. He can lose a match and still look like a million bucks and this was another quality tv match. Thumbs Up

CM Punk - Punk gave a fantastic promo last night. In my opinion, he's one of the best heels in wrestling. As a heel, he's given some solid gold promos and last night was definitely one of them. I'm not particularly a fan of 3 on 1 handicap matches against someone like The Big Show, but Punk has managed to get me interested in it just by his promo work. My overall expectations have been low for this match, but I'm hoping that it turns out to be much better than I've expected. Thumbs Up

Drew McIntyre vs. Matt Hardy - While it seems like they've wrestled a hundred times by now, I enjoyed this match overall. It was a good, solid 6 minute match with McIntyre getting the win via the FutureShock DDT. Hardy selling a foot injury and not being willing to give up worked for me. It made the guy look tough and showed he had heart. The match wasn't great, and they've had better, but I thought it was pretty decent overall. Thumbs Up

MVP vs. Jack Swagger - I just wasn't into this match all that much. Personally, I don't think MVP is half as good in the ring as his supporters claim him to be. I was a little surprised to see him get the win over Swagger a little past the 4 minute mark. Swagger seems to have fallen pretty hard in a very short span of time. He was wrestling for the World Heavyweight Championship a few weeks ago and now he's jobbing to MVP. Thumbs Down

Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler - Ziggler & Mysterio have always had good, high quality matches and last night was another one. They work really well together and I wish that Ziggler would have gone over here. There were a few botches in the match, but nothing major and Mysterio got the win around 13 minutes. It wasn't as good as some of the matches they've had in the past for the IC title, but it was still a quality tv match. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Thumbs Up - Smackdown was another really good 2 hours of tv last night. To some degree, I think the wrestling content wasn't as strong as it generally is, but most of the matches were of good quality and were entertaining. I'd have like to have seen a few of them go longer, but what we got was still good. The promo segments were very good, especially CM Punk's, and Smackdown has me interesting in seeing what they have to offer at SummerSlam. Overall, I give last night's Smackdown a good solid B.

 

[mrbrownstone]

Good show this week but it really feels like it is missing something which is starpower, they desperately need Taker back and Punk wrestling again,they have been putting on very good matches and shows but without the big names it isnt that interesting. Anyway onto the show. The opening segment is good and it is good to see the IC title defended at SSLam the match was short but good. Christian vs Rhodes and Hardy vs Mcintyre were very good matches as SD continues to have an excellent mid card. The Show match was bad but served its purpose, Punks promo was excellent as usual. Good to see Del Rio is finally debuting next week. Wow Swagger has fallen one minutie he is chame now he is jobbing to MVP, bad match. Rey/Ziggler was good but as I said earlier it didnt have that main event feel to it, still a very good match though.

Overall: Three good matches and one OK one match a good show for me but I just cant wait for Taker to come back. 8/10

 

[WCWMondayNitroOnYT]

It seems that SD! has been having a pattern for quite a while now...Great matches throughout and then, with Rey in the main event, the ending just ends with a meh feeling...Rey should be nowhere near the main event and seeing Mysterio continue to beat up Kane who has squashed everybody else makes no sense whatsoever...Another thing I've noticed is that Rey is talking more and more in Spanish lately...What is the deal? I can see he's trying to appease his Latino audience but the vast majority are still English speaking fans. I can't be the only one to fast forward past his promos once he starts speaking Spanish. Great show again this week minus Rey's antics. I'm so glad that Ziggler got the IC title that was largely overdue...Too bad he has to be associated with Vickie to finally get the strap.

 

[klunderbunker]

Smackdown
Date: August 13, 2010
Location: HP Pavilion, San Jose, California
Commentators: Matt Striker, Todd Grisham

It’s the go home show here so don’t expect much to happen at all. This should be a decent show since it’s Smackdown though so I’m looking forward to it. The show is starting now so let’s get to it.

The theme songs starts us, which seems to be becoming their custom.

Vickie is in the ring with a lei around her neck. She brings out Dolph, complete with Hawaiian shirt and a lei of his own. She says how great he is and they’re going to Tahiti. Cue Kofi for another beatdown with a cool visual of Kofi jumping from off camera to get a shot in so it looks like he’s flying. Teddy comes out and says the rematch is at Summerslam. Dolph vs. Rey and Kofi vs. Kane as well.

We get a recap video of Kane and Rey accusing each other of jumping Taker and see Kane coming to the ring, pissed beyond belief.

Kofi Kingston vs. Kane

Non-title of course. Kofi is still trying out the aggressive thing here and manages to put Kane on the floor. Of course the announcers are talking about the Rey/Kane thing and I begin to wonder how would Rey know it was Kane? Kofi misses Trouble in Paradise and slams into the post which looked painful. Kane goes for the foot/ankle which is the strategy he’ll have for Rey on Sunday in a nice bit of continuity I guess.

A brief comeback by Kofi results in him getting chokeslammed off the top and more or less being dead. This hasn’t been a squash but it’s been kind of close. Tombstone ends Kofi for good as I guess that’s back as his official finisher to avoid being confused with Big Show or something.

Rating: C+. Not bad here as Kofi wasn’t supposed to win this. The ankle injury was a nice touch too since it’s a preview on Sunday. Kofi did get beaten down pretty badly here but he wasn’t ready to fight Kane yet. However him getting to rub elbows with guys like Kane is nothing but good for him and this is no exception.

Kane talks about how this is for Taker and insists Rey did it. I guess we’re continuing the whole you did it no you did it thing. Kane has been awesome through this whole thing, he really has. He goes for the fire from the posts and here’s Rey of course. He says Kane gained the most, including the world title. You know, the same one he won when he took Taker’s place and all that jazz.

Christian vs. Cody Rhodes

Before the match we see Drew and Cody talking and a clip from Drew beating Christian two weeks ago. Back from a break and Cody is working on the arm while Drew watches from the back. That’s rather creepy in some ways. They start rather slowly as Rhodes is known to do. Christian makes his comeback and gets a shot to the face, FREAKING Cody out very badly. In a nice ending though, Cody goes for the arm again and it lets him get Cross Roads for the win.

Rating: C+. Short match but good as the psychology was great with the arm. That’s what I ask for: he worked on a body part and then it made a difference in the end of the match. That my friends is psychology. This worked rather well I thought as the Smackdown midcard is absolutely great a lot of the time, including here. Good little match but it needed more time.

After a break and a quick recap of SES vs. Show, we get to this.

Big Show vs. Fernando Vega/Derek Werley/Jody Reese

I love jobber squashes. Show has a big glove/cast on his hand. What are you really expecting here? It’s a minute and a half or so. The SES is on the stage and Punk has a shirt that says I Broke Big Show’s Hand. Punk gets after Gallows for trying to talk which is likely a seed for the split. He talks about how this Sunday will be an opus for Show which I think is a cool metaphor but I’m not sure.

Matt is in the back and Kelly wishes him luck for no apparent reason.

Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre

Another old rivalry revisited here. They hit the floor almost immediately and Drew gets launched into a chair while Matt hits Side Effect on the floor. Drew goes for the back of Matt’s head which they explain the point of, making me smile. Hardy spears him to the floor through the ropes but Drew uses the steps to Pillmanize the ankle. How did the referee not see that? Futureshock ends soon after that.

Rating: C-. This was about the violence rather than the match itself. This was kind of just a match to fill in a spot on the show so they went with a thing to fill out an old feud and that’s fine. Drew gets a win over a guy he needed to beat and Matt has something to play off now with the ankle. Nothing great but it was intense for the most part so I’m fine with it.

Another recap of Nexus. Is there going to be a test or something on this given how many times we’ve heard it?

Here’s Jack Swagger and we hear about how far he’s fallen lately. He talks about how much his life sucks and how much he’s had to go through for the past few weeks and months. Swagger says he should be in the main event of Summerslam since it’s lost its Swagger. Cue MVP of all people to say that no one cares about Swagger. Swagger punches him with the mic without saying a word and I guess it’s on.

Jack Swagger vs. MVP

MVP isn’t all the way here since Swagger jumped him before the break. Crowd is kind of dead here. Ankle lock doesn’t work as it’s all Swagger. He plays to the crowd and they wake up a bit but the Vader Bomb misses. Swagger dominates a bit more and then goes for the ankle again but gets rolled up for the pin.

Rating: N/A. Very quick match here and I don’t get the point of having Swagger job to MVP of all people. The match was more or less nothing and came off as pure filler, which definitely isn’t a good thing. Why isn’t Swagger even on the card Sunday? Or for that matter, why are almost none of the Smackdown midcard guys on the card Sunday?

Cody tells us how to get rid of earwax.

Alberto Del Rio debuts next week. It’s about freaking time.

Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler

This starts off pretty basic as the announcers put over the theory that things are going to be similar for Dolph on Sunday since he’s up against a high flier but not similar for Rey since he’s up against a monster. There isn’t much going on in the first few minutes other than hearing about how awesome the champion is. Rey gets him in trouble and sets for the six one nine but here’s Kane for the save with a casket. There’s a lot of time left though and we take a break with like ten minutes to go in the broadcast. In the words of JR, BUY MY BARBECUE SAUCE! Wait that’s not the right line. Never mind.

Kane stands by the casket and Ziggler has the chinlock on Rey. Rey’s knee/ankle might be hurt again but it’s not like he’d sell it or anything so it doesn’t really matter. Rey makes his comeback and we do some close near falls. Both guys try sleepers and Rey actually gets his. 619 is blocked but Rey reverses into a rollup for the pin. Kane attacks afterwards but Rey puts him in the casket.

Rating: C. Not bad here but nothing really all that great. It’s ok but really was just there for the ending. Again though: they let the main event guys rub elbows with the upper midcarders which will eventually help to make guys like Kofi and Dolph seem right in the main event scene, which is a very nice idea that can work well indeed if done right, which it appears that they’re doing.

Overall Rating: B-. When I look back at this show, the term “holding down the fort” comes to mind. The idea being that while there isn’t much here, this is a good show in the sense that it was an entertaining two hours with a slight addition to Sunday while not really changing anything major. This was a success as a go home show but they were pretty clearly playing it safe with the idea that most people are going to buy Summerslam. This was an ok show, but really not worth much.

 

[The Doctor]

You know, I enjoyed RAW tonight. It wasn't the best, but it set up future storylines and had a lot of decent enough matches.

It started with a very funny promo from Cena. That guy who made the "When has Cena cut a good promo" thread sure is an idiot, because Cena's delivery was as usual spot on tonight. some of the jokes were a bit lame, but some did make me laugh.

Daniel Bryan's music was quite badass, and coupled with his dark titantron made it seem like he was all business and ready to murder his opponent. I loved it. Plus he got a good showing against Tarver and entered in a feud with The Miz that will probably culminate in Bryan winning the US Championship and NoC, which I'm looking forward to.

The Nexus proved that they weren't buried at all from last night's loss, and that they would only rise up stronger, especially now that Young is out. They proved all the doomsayers wrong.

We got hints at the GM, which I liked. Apparently the GM has never liked Bret Hart, so I'm thinking it will be Triple H. The comments tonight made the Anonymous GM more interesting, so that's a success.

On top of that, we even got some new tag belts and Natalya in a tank top. Nice.

I felt that everything tonight was solid, even the guest host segments. Nothing was too bad, and while it wasn't the best RAW, it got the job done and did it well.

B

 

[Kenny Powers]

Raw was better than last week. Cena did cut a good promo to begin the show cutting some actually funny jokes about Slater, Hudson.. I mean Otunga, and Gabriel. Nexus gained most of their heat back by defeating mostly all of their opponents in singles matches. The only one that didn't was Darren Young, which was obvious since he was facing Cena. I was surprised that all the members won their matches.

I wasn't to thrilled that only 3 members scored pin falls. I think it doesn't do much for Nexus if the majority of the members can't win a match without interference or a count out. Barrett got the pin on Jericho and Sheffield got the pin on Morrison. Tarver got the pin on Daniel Bryan with interference by the Miz. I enjoyed The Miz and Alex Riley's promo. The Miz and Bryan should have a red hot feud. I wish WWE would have made a bigger deal about Bryan coming back to WWE, but I guess there are more important matters.

Hopefully we can at least get a promo by Bryan to explain his absence and what he hopes to accomplish in the future. Since no one is talking about Bryan being fired, it seems like this whole fiasco wasn't a work at all. Which is really upsetting.

Finally WWE has come out with new tag team title belts and got rid of the useless unified tag titles, and who better to introduce the new title belts to the Hart Dynasty then Bret Hart. I'm not a fan of the bronze Spartan design, but at least the belts are different.

I really didn't pay attention to Justin Long and the other celebrities. I found it interesting that John Lovitz was sitting right behind Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole, and no one made any mention of him on Raw. I guess the guest hosts this week didn't do a bad job, but there is still no need for them. Khali actually made a funny joke tonight which was rare.

The divas match was pretty standard. I'm surprised that Jillian actually got a win. I'm curious to see what lies ahead for Darren Young now that is out of Nexus. Will he be terminated for good? Stay on Raw? Go back to FCW? Could a season 2 member take his spot? Maybe Cena can join the group. Which is doubtful, but anything can happen.

Not a bad episode of Raw tonight, but I still can't see Nexus as a threat. I really don't know why they are still a group since they already have WWE contracts and made their message clear. Maybe they will weed out weak members each and every week now. No single star from Nexus really proved anything tonight besides Barrett and Sheffield. I really wonder if this faction will even last through the end of the year.

 

[Deviancy]

The writers don't have it easy.

You have team Nexus, a bunch of newbs that the WWE wants to build up, but then you have Orton, Edge, and Cena who are the alpha dogs that they've spent years building up. To have one of the pups they want to build up beat one of their alpha males in a fair fashion, that would make the alpha male look like a bitch, imo. So having Cena win, and having the countouts and inteferrence stuff in the other matches made sense.

Besides, the only member of Nexus that will go anywhere in the WWE was given a good victory tonight. It's going to be Barrett who becomes one of the WWE's alpha males, the others will end up being mid carders, tossed into tag teams, or just being tossed altogether. I don't even think TNA would be interested in a few of them, and the TNA is like the fat chick with no date for the prom.

So well.. yeah.

 

[Greg4WWE]

Morrison has turned major jobber.. unreal huh?

i enjoyed tonights Raw.. but to be honest I am more interested in the DB vs Miz feud now.. NEXUS has seemed to lose a little spunk.. and seem now to only be feuding really with Cena..

 

[[email protected]]

Guest Hosts used to have much more fun in the beggining but it is getting way too old. Cena needs to be a heel; Morrison/Truth need to win the tag titles get into the feud with the dynasty even though all 4 (+ Natalya) are good. I am sick and tired of good vs evil. I think Melina should team with gail kim to go against the LayCool. WWE needs to get rid of the Divas who cant wrestle (Maryse, Tiffany, Kelly, Layla, Bellas, maybe couple more) But if they decide to keep them they should do some like evening gown matches or something like that but NOT wrestle

 

[KnowYoRole]

Just finished watching RAW, which mainly focused on the Nexus throughout the whole show. I enjoyed Cena's promo at the beginning, it was funny and Wade Barrett was also good on the mic. The Nexus still looked as strong as they did before their loss at summerslam and that's a good thing. Young looked good out there with cena but i'm glad he's gone, he really was the weakest link. Plus, the Nexus beating him up actually made them look stronger IMO and more vicious.