WWE Raw - September 20, 2010
Opening Segment - Last night's Raw opened with a really solid segment with Orton & Sheamus. Orton came out first, as usual for the new WWE Champion, did his pose thing and Sheamus came out almost immediately. I like that they brought Sheamus out so quickly as we got to avoid the usual opening speech from the new champ. We all knew that Sheamus was going to make an appearance, so the WWE got with it quickly. Sheamus and Orton both cut good promos and the fact that Orton has never pinned Sheamus one on one was brought up. Orton is clearly not a typical babyface with his comments and it gives him an edge that definitely makes him stand apart. The tension between Orton & Sheamus felt legit, the facial expressions and body language helped sell everything. Orton ultimately hits Sheamus with an RKO but not before the Raw GM announces Sheamus will get his rematch at Hell in a Cell. Orton goes for the punt, Sheamus rolls out of the ring. Strong segment that sets up the Raw main event for HIAC.
Thumbs Up
Dashing Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre vs. Santino Marella & Vladimir Koslov - I groaned when I saw it was going to be Santino and Koslov, but it actually turned out to be a fairly decent 4.5 minute match. Santino did try to do the comedy stuff but neither Rhodes or McIntyre let him get away with it, so that was a plus. The match overall was decent with Santino mostly getting kicked around during the match. Koslov gets tagged in eventually but McIntyre hits the Future Shock DDT for the win. During the match, the Hart Dynasty is out there doing commentary and they're pretty damn awful, DH Smith in particular. This match was designed to basically just show off Cody & Drew a bit and establish them as new champs by having them win a match and actually hand the undefeated team of Santino & Koslov their first win. It's nothing to get too excited about, but at least it's a start. Whether WWE will continue it is another matter.
Thumbs Up
Edge, Zack Ryder & Daniel Bryan - There's a fun dynamic between these two and Ryder really is kinda funny. He comes across as such a tool that legitimately doesn't see how much of a tool he is. His comments are pretty funny and Edge playing the straight man that's just plain annoyed with Ryder works because it seems genuine to me. Daniel Bryan made an appearance in their promo asking them to keep it down and the crowd popped big for him. Edge challenged Bryan to a match with Ryder doing his thing. Overall, it as a fun little backstage promo.
Thumbs Up
John Morrison vs. Chris Jericho - JoMo & Jericho had a very good match against one another last night. There were a few sloppy spots in the match, but there was a lot of energy during the match, the crowd was into it and both of them worked very well together. There was some great back and forth action and JoMo looked stronger than he has in a long time, particularly when it came to being locked in the Walls of Jericho. He'd have tapped within 5 seconds a few months ago. Morrison gets the win at about the 10.5 minute mark with Starship Pain. Morrison needs to keep the beard

, he's been dynamite since he's had it. Worship the beard. Worship it!!!!!!
Thumbs Up
The Miz - Prior to the Edge/Bryan match, The Miz came out and cut a promo on his way down to do commentary. The Miz cut a very good old school type promo in which he blames his loss on a pre-existing injury as a means of saying he didn't tap out. It's just classic heel mentality and cowardice.
Thumbs Up
Edge vs. Daniel Bryan - Pretty good 5 minute match between these two. Bryan looked very crisp throughout the match and hit some fun offense. Daniel Bryan coming across as the Anti-Superstar works well because it seems genuine. It fits in with who he legitimately seems to be and the crowd reacts to that. Bryan looked strong throughout the match and looked as though he had a main eventer and 9 time world champ right where he wanted him. The Miz interferred as expected and initially got Bryan speared for the pin. The Raw GM chimes in and reverses the ref's decision, disqualifying Edge and giving the win to Daniel Bryan. Edge just about goes apeshit and his facial expressions and body language sold his outrage well. Following this, The Miz & Alex Riley beatdown Bryan and The Miz was extremely intense while it was going on, screaming at Bryan, slapping him repeatedly, raking his face, etc. The Miz's hatred of Bryan felt legitimate and gives this feud a little more heat. I expect there'll be a return match between these two either on Raw or at HIAC.
Thumbs Up
Layla vs. Melina - If I wanted to nitpick at this but, believe it or not, it honestly wasn't bad. I know, I know that it's rare for a Diva match on either Raw or SmackDown to be worth a piss. This match was on the short side, but both Melina and Layla were pretty aggressive throughout the match and Layla actually hit a pretty cool finishing move to get the clean pin. Also, LayCool weren't annoying out there. They didn't do the whole mindless gibberish back and forth like two ditzy schoolgirls last night and, even more shocking, Michelle McCool actually did a pretty good job out doing commentary last night. As expected, this was little more than filler, which is really what the Divas tend to be in general, but it was actually pretty decent filler.
Thumbs Up
Chris Jericho & Randy Orton - Jericho cut a good promo backstage, still doing the best in the world at what he does rhetoric while plugging his new DVD, which actually gotta good pop from the crowd. I'm gonna get it at any rate. Jericho threatens the GM by saying he's close to finding out who he is. Randy Orton showed up, they give a good little back and forth while staring each other down. Orton agrees to give Jericho a match next week and, if he wins, he'll give Jericho a title match anytime he wants. Now, like just about everyone, I have little doubt that Jericho will win next week but it should be a very good match all the same. So, we know there's going to be at least one high quality match next week that should prove to be a strong main event.
Thumbs Up
R-Truth & Eve vs. Ted DiBiase & Maryse - I just wasn't into this, it just didn't click with me. I don't care about seeing Truth & Maryse out there dancing to bad hip hop music. The match wasn't bad really, Eve gets the win over Maryse about the 3 minute mark, but this just hasn't really clicked with me. Eve & Maryse both looked gorgeous, so that was really the only consolation.
Thumbs Down
John Cena vs. The Nexus - I was hoping to see Cena & Barrett in a main event, but Barrett convinces Cena to make this a gauntlet match. Cena starts out with Heath Slater and Later looked pretty good for a few minutes before Cena eliminated him with the Attitude Adjustment. David Otunga was next and worked Cena over. He looked pretty good for a 5 minutes before Cena rolled him up with a small package. Michael Taver came down next and was pretty aggressive, beating Cena down in the corner but was made quick work of via the STF. Justin Gabriel was next and looked very strong against Cena, including hitting a great springboard moonsault. Cena eventually gets Gabriel in position for the AA, though Gabriel is fighting out of it. The other members of The Nexus then swarm the ring but Cena is eventually able to fight them off after grabbing a steel chair. Cena ultimately gets the win via DQ at the 15 minute mark. Barrett gets on the mic, cuts a very solid promo I thought and challenges Cena to a match at HIAC. If he loses, Cena joins The Nexus. Cena eventually counters the offer by agreeing to Barrett's terms if Barrett agrees that The Nexus disbands if he loses, to which Barrett agrees. I would have liked to have seen Barrett & Cena go at it last night, but I do understand why they saved it for the ppv. The stipulations of the match make it feel important and I do think something needs to happen to either push The Nexus a little more forward or they should just break up. On the surface, it's clearly logical to see that HIAC will be the end of The Nexus, but there's been a lot of rumblings about Cena turning heel so there's always a slight chance Cena loses.
Thumbs Up
Overall Show - Last night's Raw was a really strong show overall that already set a few big matches for the HIAC ppv. I do think it's a huge screw up having HIAC so soon. I already spent $45 on NOC so I doubt I'm going to be ordering HIAC and I'd say the same will be said for lots of other people as well. Still, the show last night was very solid with some good wrestling content in general and some strong promo segments. The only thing that I just wasn't really into was the mixed tag match last night. Everything else was at least solid and served some sort of actual purpose. With the Jericho/Orton main event, Sheamus & The Nexus running around doing something and the continuation of The Miz/Daniel Bryan feud, next week's go home Raw before HIAC could be another strong show.
B+