Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[Big Nick Dudley]

WWE Monday Night Raw-January 24th, 2010- Detroit, MI (should have been there)

Edge/Rumble Challenge

The Good: This was a fresh way to start Raw. Sure, it was more of the same from Edge, but an old face can do the trick sometimes.

His jokes were funny enough, and I was on the edge of my seat hoping Cole would get snapped in half.

The Bad: The little "Rumble Challenge" was a bit off. Adding the #40 spot was a decent idea, minus no one actually taking the #40 spot. I didn't figure anyone would actually throw Edge out, so it wasn't surprising he won. Punishing Edge for past troubles just didn't grab my attention, especially knowing he wouldn't lose.


The New Nexus and The Corre

The Good: A face-off between the two groups without turning into a gang war was nice. I was really happy when they didn't announce a match between both factions that night, as I think this may play right into Mania, and if that turns out to be true, I don't need to see the groups fight one another until Mania actually happens.

Having Barrett vs. Punk with the losers faction not being allowed in the Rumble was a nice touch. Also, I like how the new guy (the Batista clone) is completely hypnotized by everything Punk says, much more so than Harris, Hennig JR., and Otunga.

The Bad: This whole thing is getting stale. No matter how much I like Punk and Barrett, I cannot bring myself to care about any other member of either stable. It's almost painful to listen to the other guys on the mic.


Sheamus/Alberto Del Rio vs. Miz-Ark and John Morrison

The Good: It's the Monday prior to the Rumble, so I guess you have to get most of the players into as many matches as possible...?

The Bad: This match was just terribly typical. Also, is this match supposed to let us know that Miz-Ark is close to the level of Del Rio, Sheamus and JoMo? Because he isn't. Totally generic tag-team match, and I should have used this time to do some homework.


Melina vs. Natalya, Women's Championship, followed by LayCool

The Good: That Sharpshooter was freakin' amazing. I've known for quite some time now that Melina is incredibly flexible, but God..Damn.

The Bad: LayCool makes me want to change the channel...if it weren't for Layla's shapely behind.


Punk and Nexus Talking About the Rumble Match

The Good: While I refuse to hide my lack of enthusiasm for this group, the dynamic between Punk and this Ryan guy is pretty good. He worships the ground Punk walks on, and seems like he's going to destroy the first guy to seriously question Punk's leadership. Nice touch here.

The Bad: Mic skills of the Nexus, minus Punk. Not one of these guys, not even Otunga, has the ability to cut a convincing promo. When any of them speak, outside of Punk, I feel like muting the television.


Miz vs. Edge

The Good: Just about everything worked well here. A solid match, and I like the Champion vs. Champion matches, as long as we don't get one before each PPV.

Orton came out on fire. The crowd was pretty calm while Edge was being beaten down, and they popped HUGE for Orton. Boring, huh? I guess every live crowd in America tends to disagree with most of our "experts" around here.

The Bad: Nothing wrong here, best segment of the night.


Daniel Bryan and The Bella's vs. Ted DiBiase/Maryse/Alicia Fox (right spelling?..ah, who cares)

The Good: Nothing worth mentioning. This match was just a filler, and I'm not sure if Bryan and DiBiase are actually feuding, or just being thrown together to fill time.

The Bad: I wouldn't describe this as bad, but it wasn't good. It wasn't entertaining. Boring match, boring feud, etc.


Daniel Bryan/Bella Twins/Gail Kim- While I won't rate this, it needs to be mentioned. Next to the Miz/Edge match, this was the best part of the night. Daniel Bryan is bangin' Gail Kim? Sweet. This must have driven Michael Cole (kayfabe) insane. Highly entertaining segment.


Harris/Perfect Jr. vs. Santino/Kozlov, for The Tag Team titl...wait, non-championship match..Cole screwed it up.

The Good: Seeing Santino almost use The Cobra..?

The Bad: This match was shot from the start. From Cole fucking up the match stipulations, to Husky Harris being as terrible as ever, to it being really short...this whole thing sucked. I really hope Harris and Perfect Jr. do not win the belts. Both men seem to be anti-Entertainment, and would make terrible tag champs.


CM Punk vs. Wade Barrett, with Special Ref John Cena

The Good: This turning into an all-out Rumble was totally expected, but as with every other year, it worked.

We all know Cena is going to be in the Rumble match, but adding some interest in his status for said event never hurts.

The Bad: This match never really got off the ground, but that isn't really a bad thing. Having little wrestling wasn't great, but I understand why these two aren't having a huge match yet. I really have nothing overly negative to say about this segment.


OVERALL: C+

The show worked, but it wasn't all that entertaining. It all went according to plan, and I really wish I didn't have to say that each week. The show is definitely lacking in variety, and isn't nearly as hot as it was six months ago.

This Rumble is lacking a bit of star power. I would have much rather seen John Morrison challenge Miz for the title, and have Orton in the Rumble. Orton wouldn't need to win the Rumble, but he easily poses the biggest threat to Cena. Having those men in the Rumble, together, would have been a bit like Austin and Rock in 2001. I'm really disappointed that Randy won't be in the Rumble. But then again, who knows, maybe he'll get in there somehow. I hope anyways.

 

[MizterColemine]

I can see how the Cena thing was funny but I would have rather seen a great match between Barrett and Punk which I know they would have had and then Cena screwing em both out of the match at the end instead of the focus being on Cena entirely throughout the supposed main event even though they both were heels.

Hopefully this is just the set-up for a huge rivalry between the Corre and Nexus culminating with Punk (hopefully with the WWE Title) vs. Barrett at SummerSlam or Wrestlemania.

On fire, huh? Yes I should have expected that from Cena, but I wasn't entertained by that at all. I hated it, and hated him for it. I'm over it now, but I thought it was pretty stupid.

 

[albertg123]

poeple are always negative when it comes to Raw. My goodness, it was a good show and they are trying their best with the PG rating. Just enjoy the show and have a good time. Raw is better now then its been for A while thats for sure. Good Raw.

 

[daby]

Please excuse me for my bad English. It's the longest post I make on this forum. Romania is a great country.

WWE RAW 24.01.2011

Opening Segment - Edge as face is awful ! Especially in this PG era. The entire segment was absolutely pointless, especially that battle royal, wich was a very stupid idea. Just look at Jack Swagger when he run to the ring, look at him ! Please, just open the bs player and watch it ! You will remember that image for long time. If they really wanted to make something that actually requires braincells, they would have put Edge to eliminate hilmself from the match and earn the 40th spot in Rumble. The talking PC said that "who eliminates Edge will win the 40th advantageous spot in the Rumble" and if Edge eliminated himself it would have been great for his character.

Nexus vs Nexus -Edge wasn't even allowed to finish his segment with the talking laptop ! They had Nexus making their entrance, intrerupting him, and making him look weak by having him leaving passing by the ring when Punk talked, and it didn't had anything to do with Edge. CM Punk was solid at mic as always, Mason Ryan was weak but he has time to grow. The image with The Corre entrance was great, but just the image, the rest of the segment was weak. I mean Barrett was talking and he stopped like someone cut hist mic, oh he gave the microfon to Ezekiel who totally killed the momentum. At least it was the first time ever when Barrett actually replied with something to Punk, who has been mocking him since he became the Nexus leader.

John Morrison & Mark Henry vs Alberto del Rio & Sheamus - Wow, Sheamus means absolutely nothing as the KOTR. The match was sloppy, slow and seemed like it was forever. A cool image was with Del Rio putting the hold on Henry's arm.

Michael Tarver - What's the deal with this guy ? I hope they will not give us an angle like this : oh God, who knows who's side is Tarver on ?!? Nexus or Corre ! the mistery is so deep!" cause it would be stupid as hell! It is clearly that Barrett fired him when he had Cena beating the crap out of him and then he thanked him!

Melina vs Natalia - Seriously ? They give Melina vs Natalia only 2 minutes ?!?! 2 fucking boring minutes followed by a God awful intevention from thos McCool and Layla bitches.

Miz & Cena - Good mic work from Miz and Riley, bu a stupid joke for Cena.

Edge vs Miz - Decent match, but 9 out of 10 minutes of this match, the commentators talked about everything but what happend in the ring!

Gender Mix Match - Just WHY ? This match had no point, and lasted 30 seconds ! Why they give us Maryse, alicia Fox and Bellas in the ring !? Why don;t they just let Danielson and Dibiase jr have a regular 1 vs 1 match ? I'm sure they would have a decent match! wow, Gail Kim still lives!

Marella & Kozlov vs Nexus - It was boring as hell, and I couldn't resist watching the whole match! oh, and Otunga speaked again. God, it was awful ! The things that Otunga said were said by many wrestlers in the past, but the way he said was herrendous and killed the momentum.

Barrett, Cena, Punk - This was an INSULT for the minds of those who watch the show ! WWE really thinks that every telespecator is a stupid ship that accepts everything that is thrown to him ! God, it was SO STUPID ! The only thing that looked cool here, was the image with the whole roster getting in the ring.


The show was absolutely awful ! AGAIN ! It was an insult for the brains of those who watch wrestling !

 

[TJ Matics]

Gold Stars for 1-24-11 Monday Night Raw!

1. New Nexus vs. Corre
- CM Punk was great as usual
- The stare down between Big Zeke and Mason was great
- Leading me to believe that one man and their group would be eliminated was good and kept my attention

2. JOMO and Mark Henry vs. Alberto and Sheamus
- JOMO was just showing off out there, and it works because he looks great doing it
- Alberto and Sheamus did what they needed to do
- Henry wasn't in there long, which is always good in my book
- The execution of the arm breaker looked great on Henry

3. Melina vs. Natalya
- Though this match was WAY too short and they give Melina no time to develope her character, she's a natural heel and knows what she's doing in the ring
- The finish was great: Natalya locked in the sharpshooter, and Melina was like HELL NO, then Natalya lifted Melina's legs up and bent her back farther, and all you could see was this feeble tap from Melina

4. Bella Twins/Gail Kim and Bryan Backstage Segment
- The Bellas came off very Lay-Coolish, but alot fresher, and I would love to see more
- Gail Kim finally back on T.V
- Gail Kim's diss
- The Bella's diss back
- The Brawl was SWEET

NOTE: Mason Ryan stepping up to anyone who so much as looks at Punk wrong was a nice touch

QOUTES OF THE NIGHT:
1. "Shut Up." - King
2. "I'll show you what to do!" - Maryse
3. "I'm surprised you it made here with us Vickie I thought you'd be attending the birth of your next boyfriend." - King
4. "Double disqualification, they used too much profanity, this is a PG show." - REF Cena
5. "What I just did was brilliant." - Cena

 

[Montague]

Raw was more or less an average Monday Night Raw.
But I loved the Bryan/Kim/Bellas segment
It puts Gail Kim back in the spotlight, which she hasnt had since coming back to WWE.
It officially ends the whole Guest Host thing
And it gives Bryan an actual feud instead of just hopping from DiBiase to Miz to who ever

I see the Bellas getting some other guy to doing their dirty work and trying to get back at Bryan & Kim

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

WWE Smackdown-January 28th, 2011


Vickie/Randy Orton/Dolph Ziggler

The Good: Vickie is still a massive heat magnet, and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. She is one of the worst, and least convincing mic workers WWE has ever had, but in her case, heat is heat.

Orton gave what was probably his most entertaining promo in months. Hmm...I wonder what would happen if WWE's creative team gave him something solid, like this, to work with each week? Very simple, I know

Ziggler and Orton may have better chemistry than Edge and Ziggler, and I'm liking Dolph more and more each week. The RKO wasn't surprising, and totally expected, but it worked.

The Bad: Segments like this work to promote the main event of the evening, but it takes away from the Ziggler/Edge feud. Instead of getting solid segments from Edge/Ziggler and even Orton/Miz on Raw, we get the combining of the two feuds for the last couple of weeks. I guess someone believes this helps with PPV buyrates, and maybe they're right.


Kaitlyn and Kelly Kelly vs. LayCool: Kelly Kelly is the hottest woman in wrestling..maybe ever. But, this meant nothing to me outside of staring at Kelly's ass for a solid two minutes.


JTG (still has a job??) vs. Drew McIntyre

The Good: The Futureshock is one bad-ass finisher, when the other guys takes it well. Solid action here, nothing to talk about though.

Also, the further Drew and Kelly go in this storyline, the more Kelly Kelly I get to see

The Bad: I couldn't possibly care any less about either one of these guys. I can't believe JTG is still employed, and Drew is equal to a sleeping pill. Drew isn't bad in the ring, but his character...well, it's non-existent. He's a great mid-carder, but I just cannot understand some people wanting to see him in the main event.

Plus, I really hate it when Vince and company find a guy with an accent, figure the accent will carry the character, and do nothing else with the character. It's stupid, and boring, and the guy usually suffers for it.

This might be small, and I may be way off here, but is this an indication that Trent Barreta was nothing more than another jobber for Drew to dismantle? Is he going to keep doing this to low-card guys, just to further the Kelly story? If so, I'm very disappointed. Trent Barreta has more talent in his left pinky toe than JTG has in his entire being, and Barreta (for my money) is ultimately more entertaining than Drew McIntyre. I really hope I'm wrong about Barreta's direction moving forward.


Cody Rhodes Interview: Now THIS was entertaining. It is an example of variety, something WWE is low on. This "Dashing" gimmick is really helping Cody show off his acting ability, and I really hope they stick with him.


Alberto Del Rio Invitational--followed by Del Rio/Kane vs. Mysterio/Kofi

The Good: I guess this was some type of promotional match for the Rumble? I don't know, it was boring, what can I say.

The Bad: Just about everything, really. The match had no flow, Kofi doesn't understand the first thing about ring-psychology, and why was Rey even out there??

This stunk so badly of Vince wanting to promote the Rumble I couldn't even take it serious. Not to mention I do not care about anyone involved in this match. Don't pay this much attention, it's just my personal feeling.


Big Show Challenges Any Member of The Corre--And he Gets Heath Slater

The Good: Big Show can still work the mic with the best of the best, so I was fine with his promo. Him making fun of each member of The Corre may have been the most entertaining thing he's done in years.

Also, I didn't mind the entire roster coming out to fight this battle. The Rumble is a few days away, and this always happens. Nowhere near exciting anymore, but I don't dislike it either.

The Bad: The Corre is boring. I'm sorry, but the group stinks. I'm not saying they aren't going to do big things down the road, but right now, they bore the hell out of me.

All this Big Show/Corre feud shows me is WWE's unwillingness to be creative. The Nexus worked not only because it was fresh, but because they MADE themselves a big deal. They told the audience, in an exciting fashion, that you ARE going to care about us. This group hasn't had even close to that kind of impact on Smackdown, constantly talking about "making a statement" and every other B.S. cliche WWE uses in attempt to look like a legit sport. It's boring, and shows just how complacent WWE is right now.


Miz/Ziggler vs. Orton/Edge (no, I will not call them Rated RKO)

The Good: This was your basic tag-match, and had some decent action.

Vickie banning the Spear was somewhat interesting, and I'm curious to see if Ziggler has any chance of winning the strap..no, he probably doesn't.

The Bad: These inter-brand, "Main Event" tag matches really do nothing for me. They usually further one feud (Ziggler/Edge), and the other two guys are there just to keep the other two from having too much action between them. Understandable, just not terribly interesting.

Edge getting the clean win over Ziggler is kind of strange. I don't like when this happens right before a PPV, especially when I'm about 98% sure Edge is going to retain. If Edge loses the belt, I will stand corrected.


OVERALL- C

Another average show. I swear to God, I'm watching the same episode week after week. No variety, no creativity. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid show. It's just completely underwhelming.

I know this is "entertainment" and we should just shut up and be happy that we have something to watch. But as a hardcore wrestling fan, I want more. I want creativity, variety, etc. I want them to mix it up. The show is bland right now, and pretty soon what I view as an average show will become below-average due to lack of variety. I hate to sound so negative, but they aren't giving me much to work with here.

P.S.- The commentary was so annoying, I was forced to mute the show several times. Michael Cole and Matt Striker are probably the most annoying combination in the HISTORY of professional wrestling. Cole knows nothing, and Striker (acts as though he) knows too much. It's really, really bad.

 

[TJ Matics]

Gold Stars for Tonight's WWE SMACKDOWN! 1-28-11

1. Vickie and Randy Orton Opening Segment
- Vickie Heat
- Randy acting like an actual human being
- Dolph coming out solid on the MIC
- Very Entertaining

2. UnDashing Segment
- Cody is just great; he has this ability to just turn the stupidest things, like turning your back to the corner while giving an interview, into gold
- I think I heard his voice break once or twice lolx
- Thumbs Up for this Segment

3. Miz's pre-Match Promo
-Solid and Entertaining, what more can you ask for??

QOUTES FOR 1-28-11 SMACKDOWN!

1. "I don't know you all that well, Vickie, never really had the privilege of knowing you, so you'll have to, excuse me." - Randy

2. "By the way, nice hair." - Randy

3."Well I'm sorry Dolph, but around here, you gotta earn, your respect." -RKO

4. "I guess the R in that RKO stands for respect." - Matt Striker

5. " I gotta bone to pick with Kelly Kelly, and I'm a tell you why, last week she came out here and criticized Drew McIntyre for what she believed was over aggressiveness and viciousness towards Trent Baretta, but just a moment ago, before the tag team match starts, Kelly comes down the aisle, ambushes Lay-Cool, sneak attacks them from behind. How does she condone those actions when she got all over Drew for his?" - Michael Cole

6. "Who knows what’s going through Kelly's head, if anything at all." - Michael Cole

7. "Miz can compete when he wants to compete Josh, he's the champion he has that right, he can dictate the pace." - Michael Cole

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Friday Night SmackDown! - January 28, 2011

Opening Segment - I thought the opening of the show was really solid. Vickie Guerrero still draws absolutely massive heat, even after all this time, and does a great job in her role. Randy Orton came out to a massive pop and showed that he's just as over with the SD! audience as he is with Raw's. I thought Orton's promo was solid but it seemed a little awkward to me. Orton has spent most of his career as a heel and being a heel seems to fit him like a tailor made suit. At any rate, Orton still had the entire crowd eating out of the palm of his hand so it's hard to really complain. Ziggler came out and I thought did a good job on the mic and I'm glad that he's gotten opportunities to talk over the past month but I knew he was going to get the RKO. Good segment that I thought worked to build up excitement for the main event.

LayCool vs. Kelly Kelly & Kaitlyn - This started off with some promise. Kaitlyn jumped both members of LayCool from behind as they were coming out to their music then she & Kelly knocked them around on the outside for about a minute. It wasn't anything groundbreaking but it was something that we don't usually see the Divas do. Even after the match officially started, things looked alright until the ending. Michelle McCool hits the big boot on Kaitlyn and gets the in in about 30-40 seconds. Layla & Kelly didn't even participate in the actual match. I understand that LayCool needed a win here for a little momentum going into the Royal Rumble as they've been losing a lot over the past several weeks, but I just would've preferred an actual match. The WWE has done a great job of avoiding 30 second bullshit Diva matches over the past few months and I was just disappointed with this. I just hope that this isn't a sign that they're going back to their basic formula. Thumbs Down

Drew McIntyre vs. JTG - Before the match starts, they show Kelly Kelly sitting in a chair near the commentator's table ready to watch the match. She looked fantastic last night. She always looks hot but I dunno, she just seemed a little extra hot out there. As for the match itself, I though it was a solid 5 minute match that served as a good showcase match for Drew. McIntyre delivered some pretty stiff shots to JTG during this match, especially the clotheslines. I like that personally because so many wrestlers just seem like they're afraid to put any real force into a move like that as if the opponent is going to break. Drew gets the with with the Future Shock DDT and leaves with Kelly Kelly still looking on. McIntyre got something of a mixed reaction last night with a decent amount of both boos and cheers from the crowd and I'm curious to see what happens with this deal with Kelly. Is McIntyre going face or is Kelly going heel or will it even matter? I also dig that the WWE isn't trying to force it down our throats and attempt to make it seem more important than it actually is. Thumbs Up

Cody Rhodes Promo - Cody Rhodes gave a backstage promo last night with his back turned towards the camera, hiding his face, as he goes into detail about the damage inflicted to his nose via Rey Mysteiro's knee brace. I thought Rhodes gave a very good promo with a lot of emotion in it as he described how he's felt since his face has been "disfigured" and how he's withdrawing from the Royal Rumble. Of course his nose really isn't broken and this might all wind up just being an angle in which Rhodes' is the only one tha sees anything wrong with his face. At any rate, a good promo and I think he & Mysterio could have a fun feud that could catapult Rhodes to another level. Thumbs Up

Edge Promo - Edge gave a backstage promo of his own that was short, sweet and to the point. He addressed his beating at the hands of The Corre last week but didn't dwell on it, basically saying that he'd really get to dealing with them after his business with Ziggler was finished. Whenever Edge doesn't try to joke around or be funny, he's damn good on the mic and it doesn't seem the least bit forced. Thumbs Up

Royal Rumble Exhibition - I enjoyed this little segment as it was designed primarily to build heat for Alberto Del Rio. He claims to have invited 39 wrestlers to compete in this sort of Rumble preview in which he'll demontrate how he plans to win the Rumble match this Sunday. He winds up eliminating a couple of local wrestlers first before Kane comes out. The announcers do a great job of putting Kane over by mentioning and hyping his history with the Rumble, any records that he holds and how this will be his 13th consecutive Rumble match. He & Del Rio get into it for a bit before Kofi Kingston's music hits. Kofi runs down to the ring and quickly winds up putting both Kane & Del Rio over the top simultaneously. The crowd was really hot for this and I thought it served as sort of a reminder as to how exciting the Rumble can be at times. There'll be times during the match in which it'll drag some, but that can't really be helped because it's going to be a battle royal that'll last at least 60 minutes. Rey Mysterio comes out just as Kane & Del Rio are about to attack Kofi, so Vickie makes an impromptu tag match. Thumbs Up

Rey Mysterio & Kofi Kingston vs. Kane & Alberto Del Rio - I thought this was a great match. It was lots of fun to watch and just had a shitload of energy from start to finish. The crowd has been pretty hot all night but they were just really reved up for this as Kofi & Rey are two of the most over faces in the WWE right now. They all worked well together and everyone was given an opportunity to showcase themselves here. There was some tension betweel Kane & Del Rio, not much but just enough. With what happened earlier during the little exhibition, I'm glad that they just didn't try to portray these two as real allies. Their team does eventually break down when Kane gets knocked off the apron a few seconds before Del Rio reaches around to tag. Del Rio pushes Kane only to take a big boot to the face. Kane exits and leaves Del Rio to get double teamed. Rey winds up hitting Del Rio with the 619, then Kofi follows up with Trouble in Paradise for the win around the 16 minute mark. Very fun, energetic match that I think did a good job of hyping all 4 of these men. I don't think Kofi will win the Rumble but I do expect him to give a good showing for himself. Thumbs Up

The Big Show vs. Heath Slater - Show comes out initially to a good pop and gives what I thought was a pretty damn good promo by Show's usual standards. Show wasn't out there trying to be funny and talked about how he himself is a huge target in the Rumble. It's true and it was just a simple piece of logic for Show to talk about. He's been in lots of Rumbles, never won a Rumble match and has always been a huge target because he's a threat. The Corre comes out to interrupt him and they all gather around the ring. I thought Show laid down some pretty decent smack talk to all 4 members that seemed genuine before Heath Slater jumped in from behind. It was mostly a squash match with Show winning in about 90 seconds. The other Corre members attack and Show holds his own until Big Zeke Jackson takes him down with a huge clothesline. The locker room empties as lots of guys from Raw & SmackDown! hit the ring for a brawl against The Coore, who're eventually overwhelmed with superior numbers. I would've preferred that Slater had had an actual match against Show instead of just being squashed but the overall segment worked just fine I thought. Thumbs Up

The Miz Promo - I thought that Miz gave a great promo last night and added a little touch of American history to it by discussing the Truman Doctrine. The Miz eventually stated that this had nothing to do with the Royal Rumble, putting it in the same light as Randy Orton's boasts and predictions that he was going to take the WWE Championship from The Miz this Sunday. The Miz is very smooth in his promos, he's comfortable in his skin and it showed here. Thumbs Up

Randy Orton & Edge vs. The Miz & Dolph Ziggler - Pretty good main event match here with all 4 men working well together. Just as with Edge vs. The Miz on Raw this past Monday, the only real drawback here was the fact that you just knew how this match was going to end. The match had lots of energy and, once again, the crowd was super hot here and just into it from top to bottom. The match does end with Edge hitting Ziggler with the spear to get the win at the 12 minute mark. Vickie Guerrero gets on the mic and says that the spear is banned and that if Edge uses it at the Rumble, he'll not only be DQ'd but he'll also lose the title. He then proceeds to spear Ziggler a couple of times, including one on the outside. Ziggler is damn good at selling these huge moves and finishers. Overall, a good ending to the show that delivered some good final build up for the title matches at the Rumble. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - I thought that SmackDown! was a pretty solid show last night, though it wasn't the best go home episode I've seen. I did think that the show dragged for a good portion of the first hour but did pick up nicely in the second. I thought that they did a good job of hyping the Rumble last night and it should be a really good show tomorrow. The tag match between Rey & Kofi and Kane & Del Rio was a great match, easily the match of the night. The tag team main event was also entertaining but I knew that Ziggler was going to lose here. He was the only guy in the match that could really afford to lose. I'm not all that wild about Vickie banning the spear because it leaves the door open for a lackluster possibility. While I don't expect Ziggler to win the WHC tomorrow night, the stipulation Vickie added to the match has the potential of having Ziggler win the title via DQ and I very much hope that they don't go that route. I know that the WWE likes to portray these young heel champs as vulnerable but starting a title reign off this way just has mediocre written all over it. I just have a feeling that Edge will hit the spear on Ziggler and will lose the title as a result. A pretty solid show last night but lackluster in some parts.

Grade: B-

 

[The Eighties]

Del Rio is the definition of too much too soon for me, his opening segment on Raw was fairly flat and the stuff with him and Miz felt forced. Edge did ok with what he had to work with and Del Rio announcing he'd face Edge got the whimper I'd expect.

The tag title match was the joke that sadly most WWE tag title matches are and the cobra being used to pin people is just another example of Vince pushing comedy acts too far.

Randy Orton's run in was well done but the cowardly punt to the head before he ran off did nothing for me. Orton kinda looks like an unbalanced convict who has escaped from a psych ward when he does this stuff and I find it impossible to be interested in him as a face because of it. I was also hoping for some reasoning from Punk over why he cost Orton the title.

Teddy jr continued his run of nothingness by having his girl slap him and then getting knocked out by a pensioner.

Bryan vs Kidd was ok for the 3 minutes they were out there but the commentary ruined it, I'm so bored of Cole's heel shit, it's now distracting from matches. Disappointed we got no Kong debut and I don't see anything for Bryan coming out of this.

Edge vs Miz just didn't really work for me, a fairly sluggish match with a predictable finish and weak looking spear, it's so obvious we are getting Cena/Miz at Mania that I almost feel like taking a sabbatical until mid April.

The vignette that aired with the mystery man in the trench coat was probably the best thing on the show and has me intrigued.

The Divas tag was solid, the Ladies all hit their moves well enough and I found it a breezy little match. Odd that the new champ lost to the lesser member of Laycool.

The dancing thing was just wasted airtime with 4 guys no one gives a shit about.

The Raw Rumble was obviously going to be won by Lawler as the whole arc of the show was about him. The match was ok, the guys all worked hard and JoMo really got another chance to shine with his unique style and I thought him and Cena did a good job with their ring apron battle. I hated the way Punk cowered when Orton came in and then was eliminated like an afterthought. Cena screwing Sheamus wasn't a very face thing to do but whatever I am used to lack of logic on Raw.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Monday Night Raw - January 31, 2011

Opening Segment - I thought the opening segment to Raw was really well done with all parties involved doing great in their respective roles. All this sudden hate Del Rio has gotten over the past 24 hours is just sad because the man has got the goods. The man's a star and anyone that honestly can't see that is either blind, stupid, bias or some combination of any or all of the above. His interaction with The Miz & Edge tonight was well done as was him getting the better of Edge by hitting him with the guitar and "injuring" him. It leads to some good storytelling for the Edge vs. Miz match later on in the night. Thumbs Up

Santino Marella & Vladimir Koslov vs. Husky Harris & Michael McGuillicutty - Overall, I thought this was a solid tag team match. This is the first tag match in a while in which the WWE Tag Team Championship felt remotely relevant. It was a decent, solid 9 minute match in which the champs are actually given opponents instead of the usual 2.5 minute bullshit that passes for tag team title matches in the WWE these days. Nothing really spectacular happened, but it was solid storytelling and decent action. I was a little surprised to see Santino & Koslov retain, given how they lost last week to this very team. I'm not a fan of the Cobra, it's still the lamest finisher in all of wrestling and Santino uses it to get the win and retain the titles. Randy Orton's attack was extremely well done. Orton's facial expressions, his body language was exceptional here, he had everyone in the building hanging on what he was going to do. It's called ring psychology and it's a concept that's sadly lost on far too many fans in this day and age. Orton punted Husky Harris in the head and ran out through the crowd with the rest of Nexus on his heels. I'm guessing that Harris is going away for a while given that he lost cleanly and took the punt, a move that sends everyone that gets hit with it out for some time. Harris is probably being sent back to FCW or given time off in order to get himself into shape. Thumbs Up

Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Ted DiBiase & Maryse - This was a well done segment here that relied a lot on nostalgia. The Raw GM chimes in and Cole announces a 7 man, Royal Rumble style battle royal to determine who'll face WWE Champion The Miz at the Elimination Chamber ppv. The list reads, John Cena, John Morrison, R-Truth, CM Punk, Randy Orton, King Sheamus and Jerry Lawler. The crowd was hot for it and Cole's facial expressions did a good job of conveying his "disappointment". DiBiase & Maryse come down and DiBiase tells Lawler that he should step aside and let him have his spot in the Raw Rumble. For a moment, I thought Cole was actually going to defend Lawler but basically just tore the guy down in a great way. Michael Cole is a great heel commentator, which seems to be yet another classic wrestling concept that far too many fans just aren't able to grasp these days. Lawler gets on the mic and mentions his career in the WWE, how he's never had a WrestleMania match and a WM moment. DiBiase shoved Lawler from behind and pulls Maryse in front of him to shield him. Maryse then slaps DiBiase, then Lawler punches him in the face while Cole berates him for his unprofessional conduct and actions. This was very well done and I've no problem with Lawler being in the match. He'll have plenty of talented wrestlers in there to carry him. Thumbs Up

2/22/11 Vignette - When they mentioned they were debuting the trailer for Triple H's movie The Chaperone, I thought this was it. I thought they were building up with this dramatic clip with the ominous music, they'd show the person in the trenchcoat come through the door and the clip would be transformed into this light hearted comedic stuff. We learn later that this isn't it and that the date occurs after Triple H's movie hits theaters. It's already got people buzzing on who exactly is going to debut. Raw overall has been on a roll thus far. Thumbs Up

Daniel Bryan vs. Tyson Kidd - This was such a disappointment for me, though the fault doesn't lie with either of these wrestlers, it's the creative team that's screwing up here. This could have been a dynamite feud and series of matches but they've bogged Daniel Bryan down with all this Diva shit that's going on. I will say that the Bellas did a good job on commentary and came across like a couple of mean, egocentric bitches. Bryan gets the win in about 2 minutes of pretty decent action, but the shit going on with the Bells, Bryan & Gail Kim was the centerpiece here. It's just a shame to see Daniel Bryan, the reigning United States Champion of about 4.5 months now, feuding with the friggin' Bella Twins. Maybe this is all part of some hazing ritual the WWE has, I dunno. Thumbs Down

Edge vs. The Miz - I thought this was a pretty good match that did a good job of telling a story. The Miz spent much of the match focusing on Edge's "injured" left arm from his earlier confrontation with Alberto Del Rio. The last few minutes of the match had some good back and forth action between the two and I was able to get into this match more than I did with their first one last week. I knew that, last week, neither of them was going to lose going into the Rumble and the stakes here weren't nearly as high. John Cena gets on the mic and works towards distracting The Miz long enough for Edge to recover and hit the spear for the win at the 9 minute mark. This was a little payback for Miz eliminating John Cena at the Royal Rumble and is the real build up to what I think is an inevitable match between the two at WrestleMania. Thumbs Up

Vickie Guerrero - Vickie came out and gave a brief promo that was simple, to the point and effective. She states that Edge will defend the WHC this Friday on SD! in a way that the title has never been defended before. It'll be interesting to see what this is. I like the synergy that's going on between the two brands now that they're both on NBC Universal networks. I very much hope that they keep this up even after WrestleMania which, aside from being a great idea in my opinion, can actually give some meaning and depth to the Bragging Rights ppv later on this year. Thumbs Up

Eve Torres & Natalya vs. LayCool - Pretty decent Diva tag team match here. I kept expecting Natalya to turn on Eve here but it didn't happen. Ah well. I thought that it did a good job of making Natalya seem like an intimidating force again and there was some decent action going on. I do think it was a mistake putting the Divas Championship on Eve as she's just completely dead with the crowd. There's no reaction to her whatsoever. LayCool gets the win at the 4 minute mark after Layla hits a unique version of a Stone Cold Stunner off the second rope. I guess it's kind of a cross between a Stunner and the Blockbuster that Buff Bagwell used to do. It's a unique finisher and LayCool seems back to their winning ways for the moment. Thumbs Up

Mark Henry & The Great Khali vs. The Usos - The Raw GM turned this from a match into a dance off and I just changed the channel. I knew this would suck and I wasn't gonna waste my time watching it. I don't know what happened, I don't care what happened but I know it was lousy. They could've given the time wasted on this to Bryan vs. Kidd or the Divas match. Thumbs Down

Raw Rumble - This was a fantastic match that kept me on the edge of my seat for much of it. John Morrison & Sheamus were the first to entrants and had 90 seconds to wrestle each other with each hitting some of their key offense. They were eventually followed by John Cena, CM Punk, R-Truth, Jerry Lawler & Randy Orton. The star of this match was easily John Morrison as he gave another standout performance in a big match setting. He gave some great, dramatic moments during the match that showed off his unique athleticism to a T. CM Punk is the first to be eliminated, by Randy Orton but Orton is eliminated mere seconds later by R-Truth. I thought it was a great moment because it's time for Orton to step out of the title picture for a while. As there were only 7 guys in this match, it meant that everyone had the room to at least wrestle some. It wasn't a punch & kick fest like you see in a lot of battle royals. As I said, there were several great dramatic moments during the match and most of them involved John Morrison. Him, Cena & Sheamus all fighting on the ring apron was great and had the crowd on its feet. Morrison was eventually eliminated by Sheamus with a Brogue Kick, which was unfortunate as a huge part of me wanted to see him win. Ultimately, however, Jerry Lawler winds up winning thanks to some outside assistance from John Cena, who'd been eliminated shortly before, at about the 20 minute mark. It was a great match with lots of drama, some suspenseful moments and provided another great showing for John Morrison in a big match setting. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Raw was a great show overall tonight. The only complaints I had involved the short Bryan vs. Kidd match and the tag team dance off. Raw opened with a great segment in which everyone played their part well. A solid tag team title match for the first time in a while, an intriguing vignette that's already generating buzz, a good champ vs. champ match, a solid Diva tag match and a fantastic main event. Hype for both WrestleMania & Elimination Chamber got off to a good start tonight in my opinion. Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio could be a great match and feud. The 6 men that didn't win the Raw Rumble compete in Raw's Elimination Chamber match at the ppv to determine who'll be #1 contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Having Lawler face Miz at EC for the WWE Championship is a good way to potentially build more heat for Miz, have Miz keep his title and still set something up for Lawler to have his match at WrestleMania with someone. I'm betting Lawler will face Michael Cole at Mania. I wouldn't have complained if JoMo had won the Raw Rumble, but having him lose to The Miz in back to back championship matches really don't do anything for Morrison. Sure, it'd give many internet fans that are currently bitching and moaning their momentary & immediate satisfaction, which is all many of them care about, but nothing in the long run. Morrison wouldn't win at EC against Miz. If anyone is going to take the strap from Miz, it'll almost certainly be John Cena at WM. Morrison's not being buried so people need to calm down. With few exceptions, I was entertained from top to bottom tonight and I can't wait for next week's Raw.

Grade: A-

 

[LSN80]

Raw Hits:​

Alberto Del Rio makes his decision: What I liked most about Del Rio winning the Rumble is that he did absolutely nothing. He sat in the corner his entire time in the match and simply bode his time to gain easy eliminations, and the inferior Santino for the win. You would have thought he broke Kane's record for eliminations in one Rumble on the way to winning with the celebration he threw. Thus far, everything Del Rio has done has been gold in his short time in WWE. Miz interrupted and played the perfect, disingenous heel in congratulating Del Rio and noting the things Edge said "behind his back". It was perfect timing for Edge to come out and note that what Miz said Edge said about Del Rio was true, but they he would say it to his face. I thought Edge would get to fire the first shot in this likely Wrestlemania feud with the spear, but Del Rio using the guitar and putting Edge in the cross arm-breaker was great heel stuff. A strong opening to the show.

Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov vs Nexus: I was certain Nexus would win the tag titles last night, but I was pleased to be wrong. They would have simply served as a backstory to the inevitable Punk-Orton feud. This was a good match as well, and Santino and Kozlov are doing a good job as champions as well. Harris eating the pin also served as nice backdrop for what would happen next. More on that later.

Jerry Lawler: Whether it was his interactions with Ted Dibiase and Michael Cole or his work in the Raw Rumble, Jerry Lawler was gold last night. He worked well in the Raw Rumble, and his win was a good thing. It should allow the IWC to get Miz his "clean victory" that those have been clamoring for, and keeps him relevant on the "Road to Wrestlemania" in what hopefully will lead to his first Wrestlemania match and "moment". An all-around good night on the mic and in the ring for Lawler.

Vickie Guerrero makes an announcement:Vickie Guerrero came out to tremendous heat, as usual, to tell Edge he would participate in a World Heavyweight Championship match that was the "first of it's kind" was excellent. If left at that(which she did), it would have made for one of the best plugs Ive ever seen to tune into a show. Why WOULDN'T one want to tune in to Smackdown to see a title match with that hook? It's a shame they didn't leave the match as a surprise. This was a hit, but the announcement later of WHAT type of match it would be took alot of air out of this, and a TNAish type match at that in Edge and Kelly vs Ziggler and LayCool. But Vickie was her typical great, heat drawing magnet as usual.

Randy Orton: Orton attacking Nexus after the tag title match was appropriate as Orton was screwed out of the title last night by Nexus. It was obvious that Orton was going to punt Harris regardless of Punk's intervention, but his pleading and then threatening of Orton was a nice touch as well. Orton's smile upon hearing Punk threaten him was perfect for the execution of the punt. Perhaps this will be Harris taken off TV to get in shape. This was a great job to set up the inevitable Orton-Punk feud that will likely be teased until Wrestlemania with Orton taking all of the New Nexus without getting his hands on Punk until Wrestlemania. A nice start.

2-21-11 Vignette: A friend of mine said it best: It was a nice tease that was perhaps spoiled by the arena's website advertising the return of the Undertaker that night. That said, it's also possible that the company has signed Sting for WrestleMania and a challenge will be issued that same night, as this vignette was quite similar to some of Sting's WCW/TNA vignettes. I really hope that they didn't spoil it because this site alone is evidence they've generated alot of interest with that video. Knowing WWE, they have a big payoff for this. A nice tease.

Raw Rumble Match: An excellent match. Some may call me crazy, but I actually thought this seven man Rumble was a better version then the Royal Rumble itself. This isn't a knock on the Rumble as much as it is praise for this match. I called Morrison or Lawler before the match, and John Morrison was great aside from the terrible Starship Pain on Jerry Lawler and John Cena. This match featured great work from all 7 men, making it an entertaining television main event. It also set up the Elimination Chamber match nicely. It's odd that the losers of the match are automatically entered into the Elimination Chamber match, as Id prefer qualifying matches instead. But that's a small quibble. As I said earlier, I love the idea of Jerry Lawler getting a title shot on a show that doesn't need to be carried by the WWE Title match, and it's good to see that all signs point to Lawler finally getting his WrestleMania match.

2011 Elimination Chamber announcement:I’m absolutely thrilled that they're making this the No.1 Contender's match for Wrestlemania rather then for the title again. I’ve always felt s that putting up the title in a six person Elimination Chamber demeans the whole point of earning the title by putting the champion at an extreme disadvantage, especially right before Wrestlemania. On the converse, it’s the perfect opportunity to have 6 challengers go through hell for the shot at the prestigious belt at the last PPV before Wrestlemania. A great decision by WWE.

Overall Show: This was a strong post-Rumble show following Wrestlemania. It had good mic work from Miz, Del Rio, and Edge, a decent tag match, and a great post-match attack by Orton. His expresssions continue to be priceless. Jerry Lawler was great throughout the night taking verbal shots at Cole, in his interaction with DiBiase, and in winning the Raw Rumble match. A great night for Lawler. The mysterious vignette is a great one with a nice tease of Undertaker, Sting, or a debuting wrestler. Whatever it is, something big is going down. Vickie Guerrero's tease for the championship match on Smackdown was great, even if the surprise was stupidly given away later. The Raw Rumble was a great match where all 7 men looked great and Lawler winning was the right call. A very good show. B+

Raw Misses:​

The Miz vs Edge: This was a good match that was ruined by a predictable, terrible finish. Cena costing Miz the match made sense, but why can't one man simply be better then the other on a given night? I don't care if it's one champion vs the other. Further, WWE forgets their own history, as Edge has done far worse to Cena over the years(like slapping his father), but now that both are faces, they're best friends! So instead, John Cena distracted Miz with a microphone while in the crowd and Edge hit a spear for the pin. In my opinion, one the top reasons why match results don’t matter, titles don’t matter as much as they used to, and PPVs buyrates are down are these incessant distraction finishes, at least in my mind.

The Great Khali and Mark Henry vs The Usos in a dance-off: Why? Why in the world does WWE subject us to things like this? I can't see how this is entertaining to any age or demographic. The booking following the dance-off was mind-boggling as well as it buried one of WWE's only established tag teams by having them attack and get beat up by the much larger heels. Just a head scratching segment.

Friday's match given away: As great of a decision it was to have Vickie Guerrero give the surprise tease for the title match on Friday, it was as bad a move to plug the title match by giving the mystery away. Im assuming WWE believes that all people read spoilers, so it doesn't matter, but a large many of us don't. What could have been a great reason to turn into Smackdown just turned into a terrible announcement of a TNA-ish type match.

Daniel Bryan vs Tyson Kidd: I get that they want to get Bryan on TV, but this could have been a good feud between two solid wrestlers. Instead, it was Bryan burying Kidd and a backdrop to another Gail/Bellas brawl that noone cares about. They gave as much time to the brawl as they did the match, time that could have been given to the match.

Eve and Natalya vs LayCool: I don't care that she's a face, Natalya should not have been smiling or happily teaming with Eve the night after she took HER title. Further, this was more about teasing LayCool dissension with the pre-taped segment that aired before the match. Finally, they job out the new champion to Layla in her first night as champion. A miss on all counts. I really felt the women's division was making solid strides with Natalya as champion and Beth Phoenix' return, but it's taken a step back since the table's match at TLC. A huge miss.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Last night's episode of Monday Night Raw scored a 3.5 Nielsen Rating with an average of 5.3 million viewers. The was Raw's biggest night, numbers wise, since the August 30th episode, which was just before the start of the Fall 2010 television season.

I don't expect next week's show to sustain this rating, it'll probably go back down to about the 3.3 mark, because new episodes of shows like American Pickers & Pawn Stars on The History Channel are consistently drawing 6-7 million viewers. Those shows also do very well in key male demographics, which means that they're probably going to consistently cut into Raw's ratings.

At any rate, a very good number for Raw and the show did generate a lot of interest for next week so maybe it can keep pulling these kinds of numbers at least until after WrestleMania.

 

[Long Island Iced WXYZ]

RAW was okay this week.

I took away a few things from it.

1. How the hell can Lawler be the #1 contender for the WWE Champioship if it's an ELIMINATATION CHAMBER match?

2. Why are Natalya and Eve friends and all smiles? Didn't Natayla get screwed at Royal Rumble? Eve got put into the Divas match at the last minute and she won the title. Nataylas' title! And they come out all happy and smiles? Makes no sense!

3. I am getting so tired of seeing Laycool, it's like they have nothing better to put on. And Gail Kim is stuck in this worthless angle with the Bellas and Bryan.

4. The Rumble they had was pointless unless they're going to explain why they had it when it's an Elimination Chamber PPV in three weeks.

5. About the match. Morrison did his usual spots and then botched his finisher (again) and people think he's a great wrestler. Give me a break.

6. About Lawler winning. I would rather see Lawler vs The Miz one on one than the chamber match. Miz could then actually get a strong victory for once.

7. Oh yeah, and Miz getting pinned by Edge. Didn't like it, they tried to protect him somewhat by having Cena in the crowd distracting him. But still. The WWE Champion got pinned by the World Heavyweight Champion. You can't have a world champion pin another world champion and not have that affect EVERYTHING.

Unification better be on the table soon.

8. I liked the Bryan/Kidd match up until the end. Why did Bryan have to beat him? They could have built a storyline and have Kidd beat him and then become the #1 contnder for the US Title. But they squandered that oppurtunity to push this stupid angle with the Bellas.

9. Poor Ted Dibiase, actually, scratch that. He just sucks in everything he does.

10. Dance off, ugh, next.

All in all, a forgettable RAW.

 

[MisterRob]

Thoughts:

Anyone whose criticizing Alberto Del Rio after his Royal Rumble win is out of their mind. Alberto Del Rio is gold. The man can wrestle, the man has great charisma and presence, and the man can talk. In fact, Alberto Del Rio just LOOKS like a champion. You see him in that ring, like in the opening segment of RAW lastnight, and you just know he's meant to be in the main event. He's a natural star, and I don't see how anyone could possibly deny that, especially after the year he's had. The Miz? I'm still not buying him as THE champion. He just doesn't feel the part for me, or look it, even though he's competent in his role. I enjoyed the opening segment though, and especially the last part of it where Del Rio attacked Edge and left him hurt in the ring. I'm not really as interested in a match between Edge and Alberto Del Rio as much as I wish I was, but for me it's more so because of Edge and I just don't feel he's an interesting face to be put across from Del Rio, especially for the WrestleMania main event. But, maybe the Road to WrestleMania will change that and really make me interested, because I will admit I did enjoy the start of that feud lastnight during this segment.

Alberto Del Rio is a future champion and top star, there's no question about it.


I was disappointed by the World Tag Team title match. I was really hoping McGillicutty and Harris would win the titles as I really enjoy the pairing of them as a team, I think it would be great for the New Nexus to have championships and it's younger talent to have a more prominent role besides the larger group dynamic, and I really don't think Santino and Kozlov even need the titles as they're over without them just as a pairing together. After the match Randy Orton comes stalking down to the ring and takes a part both members of the Nexus and I couldn't help but wish he'd have come out sooner and taken out both members during the match. That way the match could've still happened but a disqualification could've allowed McGillicutty and Harris to save face, and for this feud for the tag titles to continue for another match for the titles. The champions have already beaten McGillicutty and Harris now, so there's no reason they should realistically get another shot. I also think it would've been a better option to show Orton's anger over the Rumble, since the Nexus cost him a chance at his title shot, why wouldn't he cost them one in return? Why would he wait until after the match to come out and get at the Nexus? I think it all could've been booked better, personally, and benefitted all parties involved that way.


I'm assuming the Ted Dibiase stuff is building towards something, especially now that Maryse slapped Dibiase and it may be the end of that relationship, finally. I don't mind this string of burying Dibiase if it develops into some sort of new angle for him or a push, so hopefully that's the case. I liked him coming out and asking for Lawyer's spot, and I think he really was right in his logic in doing so, too. Here's to hoping Dibiase and Maryse are over (I just wasn't feeling that couple) and that Dibiase now gets a new valet at his side going forward.


The 2/22/11 Vignette was really well done and it definitely got my attention. I enjoyed this and I do wish WWE would do things like this more often hyping new talent before their debut, returning talent, or just to hype wrestlers in general. It had me wondering who this video was for and got me anxious for something interesting to come, although I have a feeling it's just going to end up being the Undertaker's return, which is the obvious result. People keep talking about Sting, and while that would be really great I think, I'm not going to believe it or jump to that conclusion at all until there's really clear signs that could actually be an option. It's Undertaker.

Another disappointing thing for me was the Daniel Bryan and Tyson Kidd match. Both of these guys have so much potential and they could have a phenomenal series of matches and a great feud if given the opporunity. Instead we get a short match that's entirely forgettable, combined with the Bella Twins on commentary and this continued feud between them and Bryan/Kim. I'm glad to see Bryan getting some sort of an angle, and I definitely love seeing Gail Kim getting a push instead of being buried in the background and totally misused. But, at the same time, why are the Bella Twins getting a push right now? This better lead to the Bella's siding with someone who can actually have a solid feud with Bryan around the United States title.

Edge vs. the Miz was nothing special, nor anything that really interested me. Usually one would think a champion vs. champion match would be something big, but this didn't have a big time feel to it at all and I just had no excitment for it. Maybe if other stars had been holding these championships and competing against one another it would be different, but I'm finding Edge to be stale and I don't find Miz at all a credible or competent champion. So this felt like two champions from a company on the level of StrikeForce fighting each other instead of what two champions from UFC would feel like fighting one another. It obviously made sense for John Cena to run in and cost Miz the match, which then leads into their up coming feud going into WrestleMania. This is really the only option if Miz is headlining the RAW brand as champion at WrestleMania, because people will pay to see and be interested in John Cena agaianst ANYONE. But, no one would care at all if it was basically anyone else against Miz. Miz just isn't there.

Why did Eve win the Diva's Championship? I can't for the life of me figure the WWE's reasoning. Eve gets no reaction, no one cares about her, so she makes no sense being champion right now, especially not in such a random way as she won it at the Royal Rumble. The only reason I can come up with is that Awesome Kong's going to debut, squash Eve, and become the Diva's champion right off the bat, and they didn't want Natalya to be fed to Kong in that way so they needed to get the title off her. Not the best booking, though, by any standards. This match itself wasn't bad, and I liked the finish with Layla.

Now we come to the worst part of RAW this week. Nothing else even remotely compares to the horrendous segment with Henry/Khali and the Usos having a dance off. What the hell was the point of this? Who in creative thought this was an idea, and why? It baffles me to no end. What a waste of television time on people who aren't over at all, doing something that has asbolutely no meaning to anything. This was just GOD awful and it really put into perspective how clueless the WWE can be sometimes. If I knew any of the names of the people on the creative team I'd have been chanting a "Fire" them chant during this pathetic segment..

I did enjoy the RAW Rumble, though, and I thought it was well done. Sheamus and John Morrison were definite highlights for me in that rumble. I even enjoyed R-Truth's involvement in it. The ending was predictable and I had a feeling all RAW that this was going to happen once Jerry Lawler was announced as being in the match (why again?). I was hopefully, mind you, that my gut instincts weren't true and someone else was going to get the win and face the Miz. I would've much preferred John Morrison and a really good feud built up between the two of them, former tag team partners. But, I guess that was asking too much. Instead of a potentially good feud, with great history and a good push for two young stars of WWE's future, we're going to get the Miz in a throw away title match against an old veteran who shouldn't even be wrestling anymore. I can understand people liking Lawler, and I'm all for a story building up to Lawler's WrestleMania moment as he finally gets a match on the big stage. I just do NOT think this was the way to go. It devalues the worth of the WWE Championship in my mind, when you have this match on your PPV and the Elimination chamber match (which won't even be for RAW's top title) is going to be of more meaning and likely the main event for the RAW brand. That just devalues the Miz as champion. It just makes the Miz look weak, too. His reign as champion really isn't impressing me at all and I'm actually disappointed by it.

Overall, I watched a full RAW for the first time in a while and I was disappointed. There were some good aspects to the show, but I felt like there was much more that just didn't do anything for me or outright disappointed me with this show. The Lawler story throughout the show was definitely well done, as stories go for an episode of RAW, but the fact that it was Jerry Lawler just dragged it down for me and I can't say I'm interested in it. I'd give RAW this week a C+, and hopefully it improves going into the Elimination Chamber PPV and beyond.

 

[JGlass]

Tonight's Smackdown had a lot of highs and a few lows, but was an overall fun show. All the major players on Smackdown got a chance to show their stuff tonight, and everyone from Edge down to Hornswoggle impressed.

The Important Stuff

Booker T is a New Commentator- Can you dig it, suckas? I certainly can. Booker started the night off slow but he get better as the night went on and wound up being a strong commentator. He and Josh teamed up against Cole all night long and it was terrific. I think Cole is having trouble figuring out how to play off Booker, so Cole was quiet tonight... well, quiet compared to how noisy he usually is. If Lawler retires, I expect to see Booker T and Striker weigh down the Smackdown desk and Cole and Matthews to take care of business on RAW. That's some good announce pairings right there if you ask me.

Show Opening- Ziggler and Vickie are out to trash talk and foreshadow the upcoming match, and then Vickie calls Kelly Kelly out and demands she come down to the ring. Kelly says Vickie snoops around her stuff, eavesdrops on her, and has it out for Kelly since day one. Kelly is screaming her head off here, I think it's pretty good but most people thought she was overacting. Dolph blames Kelly for his loss and then demands she leaves the ring, Kelly slaps him, LayCool comes out to double team Kelly, but Edge comes out to protect her. Aww, how romantic. I really enjoyed the show's opening, I'm gonna give it a B+

Koztino vs. Gabriel and Slater- This match was kind of lame, never really caught my attention. Kozlov got some offense in before getting teamed up on and having to tag in Santino, Santino got whooped, tagged in Kozlov, Kozlov wound up getting pinned by Slater. The end.
Match gets a D.

Kofi vs. Drew McIntyre Elimination Chamber Qualifier- Kofi comes out to a big pop as usual. Drew comes out to crickets. The program with Kelly and Baretta wound up hurting him more than helping. Drew became such a neutral force, and then they dropped it before they could polarize him, so now nobody knows whether to cheer and boo... so they do neither.

The match itself was actually very good, and Kofi looked great and got the audience very involved. Kofi had Drew all but beat when Alberto Del Rio came on the big screen and distracted Kofi by... winking at him? Drew took the opportunity to hit the Future Shock DDT, got the win, and he's in the Elimination Chamber. Really disappointing ending, I don't understand why Kofi gets distracted by the screen and not Drew, it's not like Alberto was calling out Kofi in particular. The match was still good though, I give it a C+, but I officially care 1/6 less about the Smackdown Elimination Chamber.

Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger Elimination Chamber Qualifier - Rey is out to a sizable pop, Swagger out to some good heat, and the match is underway. Rey has the upper hand for the beginning, even tossing Swagger out of the ring very early and we go to commercial. Rey is still in command when we get back, but Swagger makes sure that doesn't last very long. He keeps control for most of the rest of the match, hitting his corner splash spot once and a couple power bomb. Mysterio manages to get Swagger on the ropes for a 619 set up, but Swagger blocks it. Swagger goes for another corner splash, but Mysterio moves out of the way. Mysterio goes after Swagger but gets caught in an ankle lock. Mysterio manages to throw a kick at Swagger that sends him into the corner and then Rey rolls Jack up for the 3 count. The match was very good, but these two have put on better together. I give it a B-. Drew McIntyre is in the chamber but Jack Swagger isn't? Go figure.

Chavo Guerrero vs. Kane Elimination Chamber Qualifier- At Wrestlemania 24 Kane beat Chavo in 8 seconds to win the ECW Championship. Can Chavo get his revenge tonight? Short answer: NO! Chavo actually gets the better of Kane for the first 45 seconds of the match, and even goes for a Frog Splash... but it's all for naught as Kane catches his throat and hits a Chokeslam. Kane loves beating Chavo, and he's now in the Elimination Chamber. Match wasn't really a match, but I'll give it a C just because.

Big Show vs. Wade Barrett Elimination Chamber Qualifier- Show comes out and gives Booker a shout out in the ring. Barrett comes out with all of Corre in tow, and they definitely won't be getting involved. Truthfully, I stopped paying attention during this match for one reason or another, but the ref got knocked out and Nexus got involved. Barrett wound up getting the win with a weak looking DDT. After the match Show attacked Corre, but as always, Zeke wound up body slamming him. I assume that since the match couldn't hold my attention it was bad, and the Big Show-Corre interaction has become incredibly predictable. I give it a D

Edge and Kelly Kelly vs. Dolph Ziggler and LayCool in a 3 on 2 handicap mixed tag team match for the World Heavyweight Championship- Say that 3 times fast, Chimmel. Right before the match begins, Vickie outlaws the spear again. This match was really mediocre. Dolph and Edge started with Dolph going right after Edge, but that doesn't last long. Edge winds up beating on Dolph for a while, but Dolph tags in Michelle. Edge is hesitant to tag out, and scares Michelle before he tags in Kelly. The rest of this match is straight up divas. Kelly Kelly gets beat on by LayCool for about the next 5-8 minutes, but after forcing Layla and Michelle to accidentally hurt each other (is it just me or do they wind up accidentally hurting each other in every match?) Kelly Kelly nails the spear and gets the pin! Edge and Kelly stand tall in the middle of the ring to celebrate their victory, and Vickie looks pissed, but then she smiles and climbs into the ring and gives the pair a slow clap. Vickie congratulates Kelly Kelly on winning her last match in the WWE, and then fires her, causing Kelly Kelly to cry. Vickie berates her all the way up the entrance ramp. She then tells Edge that he'll defend his Championship in a match against Dolph Ziggler next week with Vickie as the special guest referee, and laughs a maniacal match. Dolph hits the ZigZag on Edge, and taunts Edge as Smackdown closes. The match + segment gets a B.

Things I didn't mention

Kelly Kelly and Edge had a talk backstage where Kelly whined about how Edge didn't believe in her. It was stupid.

Alberto Del Rio celebrated his Rumble win again with a pinata that he let Hornswoggle try to break, but Hornswoggle wound up hitting Del Rio with the stick and Del Rio kicked Hornswoggle. Kofi came out for the save, but Del Rio wound up getting the better of him and locking the armbar on.

Overall the show wasn't great, the opening and closing were solid. The Elimination Chamber is going to be interesting with a good mix of talent, though I worry Drew will hold everyone back, and Kane doesn't have particularly good chemistry with anyone in this match, but Kane's always fun in these matches. Expect him to kick the shit out of everyone and then have everyone team up on him to pin him.

Like I said, decent show, I give it a C.

 

[daby]

WWE Smackdown 4.02.2011

Opening Segment - Uninteresting. But I have to admit that Dolph Ziggler has developed some good mic skils lately, but is pathetic to proclaim yourself "the uncrowned WWE champion" and to argue about it with some worthless **** like Kelly Kelly.

Marella & Kozvol vs Corre - Boooring, no one cared.

Drew McIntyre vs Kofi Kingston - Kinda boring. It had its moments with that bump on the ring stairs and the kick Kofi received in the abdomen. The scene with Del Rio was pointless and stupid.

Jack Swagger vs Rey Mysterio - Good match, kinda slow here and there, but it was a good match. Rey and Swagger have ring chemistry and they can put on a good match. Oh, and Bookah, Rey actually said "I quit!" and it was even in your King Booker WWE era, in a match with Chavo.

Alberto Del Rio segment - Boring, boring, boring, this is so boring! and so Stupid. It was pathetic, pointless and made Del Rio, which by the way, is the Rumble winner, look like a fucking idiot!

Chavo Guerrero vs Kane - It was nice to see Chavo back on tv after months, but they killed him again, instead of giving him a good match with Kane, which I know he is capable of. And it makes WWE look bad that they had to use a guy like Chavo, who didn't appear on television in months just fill a spot in those matches for a chance at the World Title!

Big Show vs Wade Barrett - Oh, common! WWE are making Big Show look like a big pussy just to put Ezekiel over ? Ezekiel is 0 comparing with The Giant. You can't pretend that Ezekiel Jackson is the new Giant. This was not a match, and I can't understand a single world from Ezekiel.

Main Event - So this was the legendary history making main event that Vickie hyped in the opening segment ? It is an insult for wrestling fans to pretend that. This match was a fucking mess, a disaster!

The show was horrible and best part was Booker T's Spin-a-Ronnie in the beginning.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Friday Night SmackDown! - February 4, 2011

Opening Segment - SmackDown! started off last night first of all with Booker T coming out to a huge pop as the newest member of the SmackDown! announce team. He got into the ring and did the Spinaroonie, or however you spell it, and the crowd was already hot. Vickie Guerrero & Dolph Ziggler come out to some great heat with Vickie & Dolph both doing their thing before Vickie calls out Kelly Kelly. Kelly makes her way down and damn did she look hot. There's no way...no way that her wrestling attire can be PG rated, praise the lord. At any rate, there was a lot of energy to this opening and it was fun to see Vickie & Kelly getting in each other's faces. Vickie's put downs of Kelly seemed genuine and both of them lay the blame on Kelly for Dolph not being World Heavyweight Champion due to her interference/distraction at the Royal Rumble. Kelly winds up slapping Dolph and knocking Vickie down to a great crowd reaction before LayCool hits the ring and bully Kelly back into the corner. Edge comes in and makes the save, clearing the ring. I thought the opener was fun and I'm ultimately not sure how I feel about the main event match. It's different, but that doesn't necessarily imply that it'll be good. At any rate, the opener set the tone and did a good job of hyping the main event. Thumbs Up

Santino Marella & Vladimir Koslov vs. Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel - I just wasn't feeling this match. Truth is, I was pretty bored by it. It only lasted about 3 minutes and had a far too blah formula going for it. Nothing ever really got started though both teams did a decent job with the time given. Slater & Gabriel do get a clean win with Gabriel hitting the 450 Splash on Koslov. Good win for the young team but nothing at all particularly stood out here. Thumbs Down

Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre - I thought this was a really good match, it was also the first qualifying match for the SmackDown! Elimination Chamber match. I thought the match was high quality, physical and competitive with the live crowd being into it from top to bottom. Kofi is still super over with the SD! audience and McIntyre has very much improved in the ring. It was really anybody's match until Alberto Del Rio appeared on the Titan Tron when Drew had just barely avoided being hit by Trouble in Paradise. Del Rio didn't really do much, just looked smug and gave a wink that was enough to distract Kofi. Drew catches him with a kick to the knee and hits the Future Shock DDT for the win at the 13.5 minute mark. I would have preferred Kofi be in the EC match, but I've really started to like McIntyre over the past 6 months or so. Del Rio's distraction could be a potential hint of a feud between the two that they're building up for since Kofi pinned Del Rio in a tag match on last week's episode. Thumbs Up

Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger - Good match between these two, but not their best. Not by a long shot. Both wrestlers were able to get in most of their signature moves during the match with Swagger spending a lot of the match working on Mysterio's knee. As with everything else on the show thus far, there was a lot of energy during the match both from the wrestlers themselves and the fans. I think one thing that held this match back some was the fact that it was pretty obvious that Rey was going to win. Swagger has been on a losing streak as of late and he just doesn't have momentum going for him. Mysterio gets the win with a kick/roll up combo on Swagger at the 11.5 minute match. Pretty good match overall. Thumbs Up

Edge & Kelly Kelly - They're shown talking a little backstage with Kelly getting sort of defensive when Edge said that he couldn't believe that his title reign was going to end this way. Kelly said that Edge didn't believe in her but Edge tried to say that wasn't what he meant at all. I thought that this was kind of lame because they turned it into a segment in which Edge is trying to keep from hurting Kelly's feelings more than anything else. If they were going to do this, I wish that they would've had Edge say that he didn't believe in Kelly, just come right out and say it. After all, it fits in well with the storyline that they have going for this. When you look at the participants of this match, Kelly is obviously the weak link here and I think having them build on that by giving Kelly something to prove to Edge would've been better. It wasn't bad or anything, but it just didn't click. Thumbs Down

Alberto Del Rio & Hornswoggle - I cringed when I saw Hornswoggle & Rosa Mendes come to the ring because I just had a feeling we were gonna see something awful. Del Rio comes out to some really good heat and does his thing on the mic. Hanging above the ring, as it had been all night, is a pinata shaped like the WM 27 logo and he sort of explains to Hornswoggle what a pinata was. So, Ricardo Rodriguez puts a blindfold onto Horny, spins him around and hands him a big stick. Eventually, Hornswoggle accidentally wound up hitting Del Rio in the nuts with the stick and I gotta good chuckle out of it. I have no love for Hornswoggle at all but, let's face it, midgets hitting grown men in the sack with a stick is just plain funny. Del Rio sells the hit pretty good for a minute or two as Horny is still swinging for the pinata. Del Rio gets angry and kicks Horny pretty hard before pounding on him. Kofi Kingston's music hits and he comes in and makes the save, eventually clotheslining Del Rio over the top. Rodriguez provides a distraction, allowing Del Rio to jump Kofi from behind. Del Rio then bets on Kofi with the stick, including several shots to the arm before locking in the armbar. This segment was designed to put heat on Del Rio and it worked out just fine and this does seem to be further indication of a feud between Kofi & Del Rio somewhere down the line. I'd like to see WWE take their time in building this up so that it happens after WM because we know that Del Rio is most certainly going to get the best of Kofi right now. He's the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship so he's not gonna come out on the short end of the stick until at least after WM. Thumbs Up

Kane vs. Chavo Guerrero - Lame 1 minute squash match. There are any number of wrestlers that they could've chosen to go against Kane in this EC qualifying match but they have to go with Chavo, the biggest scrub on the SD! roster? Kane wins, predictably. Thumbs Down

The Big Show vs. Wade Barrett - The match lasted about 2 minutes, as I figured it would, because all the members of The Corre were hanging out at ringside. Show & Barrett do their thing before a few members try to interfere. Show uses Barrett to knock Slater off the apron and then hits Gabriel only to take a huge clothesline from Ezekiel Jackson while the ref is distracted. Barrett goes for a pin with Show kicking out. Barrett then hits a modified DDT for the win. Show recovers and starts taking out the other members of The Corre before they get the best of him. Big Zeke Jackson picks Show up for a body slam and delivers. I know it's just a body slam but damn, it's impressive as all fuck. Zeke doesn't just slam show, he holds the man up on his shoulder with ease and looks like he could just stand there holding him all day. Zeke then gets on the mic and delivers the quote from the Book of Ezekiel that he used to say on ECW. Basically, this match was really more of a backdrop to set up a match between Show & Zeke at some point. Believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to it. They've built Zeke up into this extremely powerful guy that can hold his own against Show. It won't be a standard Show match in which he's just physically dominating the smaller guy. Barrett qualifies for the EC, which is great, and Zeke looks impressive. Nothing special, but decent and passable I thought overall. Thumbs Up

Edge & Kelly Kelly vs. Dolph Ziggler & LayCool - You know, this actually wasn't bad at all. It was actually better than I expected it to be and that's saying a lot when you take into consideration that Kelly Kelly & LayCool worked about 90% of the match. I liked that they kept Edge & Ziggler apart for the vast majority of this match because we all just somehow knew that the WWE wasn't going to have Edge lose here. Having the WHC change in this sort of match setting would've been deplorable. The women did a good job in the match and Kelly Kelly showed a lot of heart against LayCool. The Divas were pretty physical with each other and the crowd was into everything that was going on. I almost forgot, before the match, Vickie said that Edge using the spear tonight was illegal and that he'd be stripped of the title if he used it. Kelly Kelly actually manages to pick up the victory by hitting Layla with the spear at the 11 minute mark, having Edge retain the title. The follow up with Vickie Guerrero firing Kelly, screaming at the top of her lungs & Kelly crying was a nice touch. Vickie was getting massive heat as Kelly left the ring crying with Edge looking like he was about to snap. Kelly is portrayed as this very sweet hottie and, even though we know she isn't actually fired, there's still that little spark of resentment towards Vickie Guerrero that's there. Just goes to show how good Vickie is in her role. Vickie confronts Edge and says he'll face Ziggler for the World Championship next week with her as the special referee. Ziggler comes in and hits the Zig Zag on Edge from behind, leaving he and Vickie standing over Edge to close the show. The match was actually pretty good. It told a good story and had an interesting dynamic to it. The post match stuff did it's job of closing out the show well. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - I thought SmackDown! was pretty good overall last night. It wasn't a fantastic show but it did a good job of building hype and anticipation towards the Elimination Chamber. Edge is in the match defending his title, of course and Ziggler is in the match due to Vickie giving him a by and not making him work a qualifying match. I have no problem with that because we all know that Ziggler was going to be in it, so there's no need to go through the motions of putting him in a match. The rest of the field includes Kane, Drew McIntyre, Rey Mysterio & Wade Barrett. It's a really good mix of veterans and young stars and a mesh of styles. Kofi vs. Drew McIntyre was a great match and the match of the night. Mysteiro & Swagger put forth a good effort, but it wasn't their best match together. Del Rio did a good job of getting heat last night and the prospect of a potential feud between he & Kofi Kingston is interesting. I also like that they seem to be keeping Edge & Del Rio apart from each other right now. We all know that Edge & Del Rio have a match at Mania but the EC is up first and I like that they aren't sacrificing the focus of Edge's partcipation at the Elimination Chamber for their WM match. There's plenty of time and the hype is already building nicely. The main event was a lot better than I expected and the Divas did a good job of working most of the match so that Ziggler didn't have to look weak in defeat against Edge. Some of the EC matches were a little disappointing. It would've been nice to see Kane get an actual opponent. Barrett's match against Big Show was little more than a set up for Big Zeke to take Show out again, but at least Barrett got in the EC.

Grade: B-

 

[MrHashasheen]

"Kelly Kelly is defending the World Championship"

God that sounded so wrong. Still, she did a great showing on Smackdown and did a few brutual spots (for the Divas) along with Laycool. I've gotten a lot more respect for her for doing that. Though she still sold her firing like shit.

 

[daby]

You may be right, but I was really pissed off to see her in the position she is right now, like MrHashasheen said above, it's so wrong to have Kelly Kelly in that storyline, in fact, to have any diva like McCool or Layla in that position is stupid. It was a stupid storyline, with stupid divas, if they reeeeaaaaaally wanted to do something with divas, they should have used Lita, even if she really is a ****.

 

[The Eighties]

Vince kicking off the show was fortunately short and sweet, I don't really care who this Mania host is unless it's Randy Savage but my guess is Rock or Bob Barker.

The Orton/Punk promo was solid, Punk as always elevated things with his reactions and mannerisms, many here were right about his motivation but I still couldn't care a less about this feud as I don't rate Orton as a face and still feel a Punk/Cena program had much more to offer.

The beat down worked and made complete sense despite King trying to act like Orton didn't beat Punk down in the EXACT same way with help from sidekicks, Punk's accidental bloody nose just enhanced the moment as he mocked Orton's mat punching shtick.

Mason Ryan vs R-Truth was mostly dreadful but Mason's leg work was passable and it was nice to see him bust out the Brock-lock, I'm thinking the leg angle may take Truth out of the Chamber match.

The 6 Diva tag was too short but not bad at all, I am liking Eve in the ring and I like Nattie getting her personality over on commentary, Cole's overbearing heel crap was just irritating.

JoMo vs McGillicutty was basically a squash which was fine with me, JoMo looked great on offense and hit the SSP beautifully, Punk's after-match attack worked well enough and it will be interesting to see if the damage to JoMo's eyes becomes an angle.

The King/Miz promo started out quite well but lost it's way, I get that Miz is the coward and unworthy champ, but every face having zero respect for him isn't a great idea since he never proves them wrong.

The tag match that resulted from the promo segment was fun and a good rub for Bryan and to a lesser extent Dibiase, hopefully both guys get to push on from here. Riley was outstanding on commentary, for me he has a better upside than Miz long term, but why Cole kept trying to down a fellow heel and Miz lover was odd to me, unless they are planning a jealousy angle.

Sheamus getting his ass handed to him by Mark Henry made no sense to me, In fact none of the booking for Sheamus has made sense to me for a while now.

Del Rio is a world class athlete and looked good out there tonight, but he should have squashed a dopey comedy act like Santino, he certainly shouldn't have taken 2 risky bumps, in fact Del Rio was so eager he botched a move and seemed to knock himself goofy for a moment.

Vickie and Ziggler coming out was a surprise but I'm guessing it was more about just giving Cena a chance to mock Vickie some more, as it really didn't help Ziggler or really promote his match with Edge for SD. I like Cena, he seems like a decent guy and I think he's a good worker and excellent sports entertainer, one of the best pure babyface's the business has seen, however one thing he is not is funny, his promo tonight made me want to saw my ears off.

Cena vs Punk was once again quality, not as good as their first match but then it didn't have as much time, but the 2 clearly have great in ring chemistry and I can't help but lament the fact they are not the WWE title match for Wrestlemania. Punk looks to be in the best shape of his career and his offense was crisp tonight, his body shots in the corner looked particularly good. The finish was fine as it didn't harm either guy, Cena being the only one to thwart Nexus didn't bother me, it's standard top face booking.

Overall it was the best Raw since the one where Mason Ryan debuted, some dodgy booking aside, it forwarded angles and had a good mix of promos and in ring action.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Monday Night Raw - February 8, 2011

Opening Segment - Raw opened last night with Vince McMahon coming out to a good pop from the live crowd. McMahon congragulated the Green Bay Packers on their Super Bowl victory and went on to hype WrestleMania. He said that there'd be a guest host for the show this year before leaving. I liked Vince coming out and just making it short and sweet. I know people are probably going to dislike it but I thought it was refreshing. Vince himself said last year that he doesn't want to be on television very often at all and that the Mr. McMahon character is pretty much finished. I'm not sure what to think about the guest host idea. It could be a good idea or a bad one. I think if it's anyone other than The Rock, it'll be a big letdown. If it's Justin Bieber, then the WWE deserves any criticism thrown at it. At any rate, it'll be interesting to see who it is. If it is The Rock, it'll guarantee that some fans will purchase WM just to see him. The opener was short, sweet, effective and to the point. Thumbs Up

Randy Orton & Nexus - The follow up with Orton & Nexus was extremely well done. Randy was doing his thing before getting interrupted by CM Punk. Once again, Punk excels in the role he's in right now and was gold on the mic. Punk explained his actions at costing Orton the WWE Championship by showing what happened to him at the hands of Orton & Legacy 2.5 years ago at Unforgiven in which Punk was beaten down in the back and forced to forfeit the World Heavyweight Championship. It was a great idea to acknowledge it and tie it into this feud as Punk's overall motive. Nexus eventually comes down and beats Orton down though it takes several tries. Orton's facial expressions are terrific and the part where he actually bloodied Punk's nose with a headbutt just made the intensity of their feud seem all that much more heightened. Punk eventually hit the GTS and left Orton laying. Really well done segment that I thought gave a lot of depth to this feud and it just plain worked. Thumbs Up

R-Truth vs. Mason Ryan - The match really wasn't all that much to speak of but I have to give them credit for the direction they were going with here. Mason Ryan is still quite green inside the ring and I thought that was plain to see. However, I did like the fact that they portrayed Ryan in this match as more than just some big muscled bruiser by actually having him focus on a body part, in this case R-Truth's knee, and spend most of the 2.5 minutes of the match working on it. Ryan did initially get the win via submission by taking Truth's injured knee and bending it against the back of his head and neck, using his neck as a brace while putting tork on the knee. It wasn't something overly complicated but, as I said, it's nice to see that they didn't take the stereotypical route they went with him. Ryan continues to beat on Truth afterward, even standing up and holding Truth as if he weighed nothing while still working on his knee. The ref reversed the decision and gave Truth the win via DQ when Ryan wouldn't stop, which I thought was kinda lame. Truth seems like the odd man out in the EC match and maybe this means he'll wind up being replaced. This wasn't great and Ryan is still green, but he looked pretty dominant and the WWE didn't go the obvious route with him here so this was good for what it was. Thumbs Up

CM Punk & Nexus - Punk & Nexus are backstage when Mason Ryan arrives back. It initially looks as though Punk is about to chew Ryan out for the decision being reversed, though he tells him "well done" and shares a laugh with him. Punk tells the others that he doesn't care about winning tonight and that it's all about Nexus doing damage to the other EC participants. This added a little extra meaning in the previous match and set something of a tone for the rest of the night: to generate heat for CM Punk by weakening his EC opponents all while hyping the match itself. Thumbs Up

Eve Torres, Gail Kim & Tamina vs. Melina & The Bella Twins - This was alright while it lasted. Again, nothing particularly special about this match and it was really too short for a 6 Diva tag team match. If the WWE would give more time to the Diva matches, I think it'd improve things more. Still, it was alright for what it was and gave Eve a credible pinfall victory over Melina. Natalya was out doing guest commentary during the match and she faces Eve next week in a return match for the Divas Championship. I thought Natalya did a nice job last night, she hyped Eve and the championship match in and of itself with Michael Cole doing his thing out there. I think they need to take the title off of Eve next week, they shouldn't have taken it off Natalya, because Eve gets absolutely no reaction whatsoever. All things considered, this was ok. Thumbs Up

John Morrison vs. Michael McGuillicutty - Again, a really short match and it just didn't click with me this time around. I'd say that the WWE isn't quite ready to put the Nexus members into long matches yet. JoMo looked good in this match and got the victory, but I'm just not getting anything from McGuillicutty. I was just mostly bored by this. Punk comes out after JoMo gets the win and sprays him in the eyes with something up on the ramp then lays him out with a roundhouse kick. Again, it goes with the flow Nexus has set up tonight but I just wasn't feeling this. Thumbs Down

The Miz & Jerry Lawler - The promo segment featuring The Miz & The King did a good job of further hyping their match at the Elimination Chamber ppv. The Miz & Lawler have good chemistry together and The Miz saying that he sort of patterned himself after Lawler with Lawler responding that he didn't pattern himself after anyone because he was original was a nice little touch. The live crowd was solidly behind Lawler and, as we knew it eventually would, it broke down into a fight. Lawler was holding his own against Miz & Alex Riley until, even tossing Riley over the top rope while Lawler continued to assault The Miz. Ted DiBiase ran down to the ring and both he & Miz were working on The King until Daniel Bryan came out and evened things up. Michael Cole is going apeshit, screaming at Lawler and all until the Raw GM chimes in and sets up a tag match between Miz & DiBiase and Lawler & Bryan. Good promo segment that did it's job. Thumbs Up

Jerry The King Lawler & Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz & Ted DiBiase - I thought this was a fun match that did a good job of telling a story and it was good to see Daniel Bryan involved in something that's actually kind of meaningful. Alex Riley was out there commentary during the match and did a good job of putting over The Miz and generally helping to hype the WWE Championship match at the Elimination Chamber ppv. Daniel Bryan carried much of the match for his team with the crowd solidly behind him and energized by his offense. The King did pretty well all things considered. Lawler was never flashy inside the ring and I'd say he's capable of doing everything now that he'd do in his prime 35 years ago. Lawler eventually gets the win for his team at the 10 minute mark by pinning DiBiase while Bryan took out The Miz with a suicide dive between the ropes, knocking Miz up against the barrier. As I said, a good tag team match and it's nice to see Bryan not being bogged down by Divas. Hopefully, this means the WWE is getting back on track with him. Thumbs Up

King Sheamus, David Otunga & Mark Henry - This was a unique segment and one that I actually preferred to seeing Sheamus demolish David Otunga in about 2 minutes. Josh Matthews runs out while Sheamus is coming down the ramp and asks Sheamus if he's heard that Mark Henry is talking some stuff about him. Sheamus responds by insulting Henry, making a couple of fat jokes, before heading into the ring. David Otunga is making his way out looking like he's heading to the gas chamber when Henry's music hits. He hits the ring and he and Sheamus have a good brawl for a few minutes with Sheamus eventually gaining the upper hand. As Sheamus is setting up for the Brogue Kick, Otunga climbs up onto the top rope and provides a distraction for Sheamus, who knocks Otunga off. Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick again but Henry has had time to recover and dodges it and hits Sheamus with the World's Strongest Slam, picks him up, and hits it again. Otunga climbs into the ring afterward, smiling as he stands over Sheamus with his arm raised. It then becomes clear that Mark Henry talking smack was a set up by Nexus in the hopes of having Henry weaken Sheamus for them. I liked the way this was set up overall. We don't have to see a lame squash match, Henry gets a little moment of glory and Sheamus is protected in the sense that Otunga provided a distraction for Henry to recover. Sheamus has beaten Mark Henry numerous times in the past, so this didn't hurt Sheamus and was the progression of the Nexus plan. Thumbs Up

Alberto Del Rio vs. Santino Marella - Del Rio eventually comes out and does his thing on the mic, bragging about winning the Rumble and going onto WrestleMania. Del Rio got some really good heat before Santino's music hits. Santino runs to the ring and they fight for a few minutes before the match actually starts. I just wasn't really feeling this match. It was alright while it lasted but, generally speaking, I just didn't really see a need for it. Del Rio got the win via the armbar submission. Thumbs Down

John Cena, Dolph Ziggler & Vickie Guerrero - This started out with Vickie & Dolph hyping the WHC match against Edge this Friday on SmackDown!. Vickie was getting absolutely MASSIVE heat. She's spectacular in her role and nobody in wrestling, not in any company, gets the kind of heat she does. Cena comes out to a massive pop and they start getting into it. Cena was doing some of the stuff out there that gets him so much hate on the net sometimes, but the live crowd was eating it up. Dolph Ziggler didn't really say anything and that's ok because the chemistry between Cena & Vickie and the reaction their stuff gets from the live crowd works just fine all on its own. Dolph & Vickie leave and Cena then gets serious and talks about Nexus and their plans and all that. Overall, another really good promo segment in my view. Thumbs Up

John Cena vs. CM Punk - It was a good match while it lasted with Punk actually controlling most of it. Cena never really got started offensively in the match and wound up taking most of the punishment. At the 5 minute mark, Cena is reprimanded by the ref after beating Punk down in the corner and is being told he'll be DQ'd if he keeps it up. He shrugs and delivers a low blow to Punk to end the match. It's been a while since we've seen a low blow in WWE. Punk sells it well and rolls to the outside as Nexus comes out. Mason Ryan checks on Punk as McGuillicutty & Otunga hit the ring. Lawler hands Cena a chair and he lays out the two Nexus members. This worked well in the sense that it didn't let Nexus have their complete victory for the night and John Cena came out ahead. Let's be honest, Cena ultimately getting the better end of things is something that we haven't seen too much on Raw for a little while and the crowd went home happy. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - Raw was a pretty good show last night that was heavily driven by the ongoing hyping of the Elimination Chamber ppv, the Raw Elimination Chamber match itself and promo segments. I thought the show did a really good job of hyping the ppv last night and the Raw EC match as well. The WWE Championship match between The Miz and Jerry Lawler continues to look interesting and the crowds continue to be interested in The Miz & Lawler's interaction. Their match might not be a technical masterpiece but there'll be some top rate storytelling going on I'd imagine. Another 2/21/11 vignette aired and it's almost a certainty now that it's The Undertaker. The end of the vignette played a little bot of Johnny Cash's version of "Ain't No Grave" that the WWE used last year while hyping Taker vs. HBK II at WM 26. It'll be nice to see Taker on Raw and there's still always a slight chance that a swerve is coming, but I wouldn't bet on it. Overall wrestling content could've been better, but really all of the matches at least had some purpose for the night even if they were short. The tag match was fun and I hope it's the beginning of the WWE getting back on track with Daniel Bryan. This was far from a barn burner but the promo segments were really good and the show did a great job of hyping the ppv. With next Monday being the go home show to the Elimination Chamber ppv, it should be a pretty hot show and I'm hoping to see R-Truth replaced in the Raw EC match.

Grade: B-

 

[WolfNyte]

I must say I was impressed for the first time with Raw in a looooong time.

To me the highlight was the Punk/Orton interaction with Punk coming out and sitting down and explaining to Randal why he did what he did. So many, including myself, forgot how Randal and his gang attacked Punk 2.5 years ago and made him loose his title via forfit.

This reminded me of the old days where feuds did not end after a month or two how they would bring up things from years before and I for the first time in 10 years Marked out for it. It was well done even showing the video clip.

It also enhances the SL of Punk and the New Nexus going after thugs who hurt people. Bringing up Randals past transgressions it power just like doing it with Cena. Here are your babyfaces who have done evil in the past. It makes you say hmmmm should I really be on Punks side after all. Cena and Orton are not nice people after all are they. I think this whole SL is perfect. The SES taken up a huge notch.

There was no reason for the attack on Punk except Randal trying to make a point to his band of thugs back then and now as cole said its coming to bite him in the end.

I loved it last night and 90% of the matches were top notch as well. Could it be the E is starting to improve its stories? Now if only TNA would do the same and we might have a competiton between the companies.

Bravo WWE writers and CM Punk for makig Raw amazing this week.

 

[MWRedskins]

WWE Monday Night Raw - February 8, 2011
Randy Orton & Nexus - The follow up with Orton & Nexus was extremely well done. Randy was doing his thing before getting interrupted by CM Punk. Once again, Punk excels in the role he's in right now and was gold on the mic. Punk explained his actions at costing Orton the WWE Championship by showing what happened to him at the hands of Orton & Legacy 2.5 years ago at Unforgiven in which Punk was beaten down in the back and forced to forfeit the World Heavyweight Championship. It was a great idea to acknowledge it and tie it into this feud as Punk's overall motive. Nexus eventually comes down and beats Orton down though it takes several tries. Orton's facial expressions are terrific and the part where he actually bloodied Punk's nose with a headbutt just made the intensity of their feud seem all that much more heightened. Punk eventually hit the GTS and left Orton laying. Really well done segment that I thought gave a lot of depth to this feud and it just plain worked. Thumbs Up

i agree, this was a great in my book. What's funny was when i first heard about Punk costing Orton the WWE title and i knew a feud could happen, i thought, WWE would be VERY smart to play up how Punk lost his title the first time and they did. Even though Punk is a heel, this makes his actions logical and isnt just a feud that was thrown together. This was very well planned and i think a match at Mania will happen for these two and it could be one that steals the show.

 

[Kofi/ZigglerClassic]

Great RAW and I'm loving the feud between Orton and Punk. The story behind it has more depth than story/feud to come in awhile. I love the moral ambiguity behind it. Instead of them feuding just because one is a heel and the other a face, there's a logical reason behind this battle and Punk's lines were gold in solidifying this story. Makes you question on who to side with in this battle. What Orton did as the Legend Killer/Viper was uncalled for and Punk has a good reason to go after him. Just brilliantly handled.

9/10