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Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Monday Night Raw
Date: November 15, 2010
Location: Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole
Well it’s the go home show for Survivor Series but it’s also a three hour Old School Raw. This is basically another chance to run out the old guys again while no one really wants to see them again but we’re going to do it anyway just because. This isn’t anything I particularly want to see but we’re getting three hours of it. Oh and there are three matches set for Survivor Series. Let’s get to it.
The main appeal here is the chance of the return of the Warrior. Yes that Warrior.
They open with the WWF logo and the word Federation scratched out and Entertainment under it. We get the OLD SCHOOL Raw intro with the 93 music but modern highlights. They even have the old banners and graphics. This could be awesome.
EVERYTHING is old school here with the red white and blue ropes, the standard guardrails, and here’s Gene Okerlund to do the interviews from a PLATFORM!
Gene brings out Bob Orton who says Randy isn’t here yet. I’m marking out like a bitch here. Orton rambles on about not caring for Cena at all and how Orton is going to win this Sunday. Before he finishes here’s Barrett. Big RAW letter set too. Barrett says he didn’t get anything from the Old School and got here himself. After some more stuff from Barrett, here’s Miz with Riley who is in the old Raw is War shirt.
Miz gets on Barrett for no apparent reason. He says he might cash in tonight which he hasn’t said in awhile. If he does, Cena would be in Nexus forever. Cena pops up on the screen and says he’s going to stop Miz from cashing in because if he’s on the line Sunday he’s going to do it Sunday. Cena says tonight he’s protecting Barrett tonight by challenging Miz to a match which he accepts.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Mark Henry
We get an inset promo from Ziggler saying he was ripped off last time he was…..IT’S SEXUAL CHOCOLATE!!! I hated that gimmick but I’m loving this already. The ring looks GREAT and we have the bowtie referees. Lawler compares Henry to Bruno Sammartino. Let that sink in a bit. Henry looks at Vickie with those googly eyes. It’s a standard big man vs. smaller man here.
The fans chant chocolate which is a weird one indeed. Oh and Ziggler compared him and Vickie to Macho and Liz. So one will die and the other will be banished? Henry gets a powerslam for two. The splash misses though as I guess some things never change. A short range Fameasser (called the Zig Zag because Cole is a very stupid man) gets two. The REAL Zig Zag only gets two as well. Ziggler runs up behind him and gets a very bad sleeper to end it.
Rating: C-. After I got over the shock of Sexual Chocolate (well it is in Hershey after all) I saw a decent match here but you can really see how limited Henry is. He more or less stood there while Ziggler did 90% of the work. At least Andre moved. Henry just stood there and jumped a bit on the splash. Decent match though and it keeps Ziggler looking strong so it has that going for it.
The Hart Dynasty come to the ring in old school Wrestlemania shirts but are stopped by Tony Atlas who I can barely understand. He has a can of WD40 which he sprays on his arms and literally doesn’t stop talking for about a minute and a half, including talking about potato salad.
Back from a break and he’s still talking, this time about taking someone’s daughter out while Yoshi Tatsu is standing beside him and pretends to stab himself. Funny stuff.
Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel vs. Hart Dynasty
Gabriel vs. Smith to start us off here. Smith stays in there far longer than he should be and walks into a forearm from Slater for his troubles. I love these referee shirts with the bowties too. The crowd chants Nexus Sucks. Smith goes for the tag and gets kicked in the head by Kidd to break up the team. 450 ends it. This was like two minutes long so no rating. Kidd was never in the ring.
Gene is in the back and talks to the Ortons. Truth comes up in an old Survivor Series shirt. He says that Cena is going to screw him over at the PPV. Orton says he won’t be able to screw him over if he punts Cena in the head tonight.
UPDATE WITH GENE OKERLUND!
This is brought to you by WWEshop.com which has all kind of old school PPV shirts. I’m drooling. What was actually updated there?
Justin Roberts introduces HOWARD FINKLE! That voice is just awesome. He brings out Harvey Whippleman and the Brooklyn “I take Pat Patterson up the ass” Brawler. Brawler issues an open challenge.
Brooklyn Brawler vs. Ezekiel Jackson
Norcal called this one. Oh do I need to explain this one? Cole says it’s 2011. Do you see why I can’t stand this guy?
Otunga talks to the Nexus and says he’s the leader. Cue Barrett of course and we’re going to get Otunga vs. Truth tonight in a pro vs. rookie match. As they’re talking we get an e-mail. King is in old school clothes tonight too. Otunga isn’t fighting Truth apparently as he has a special match later. Barrett gets Truth instead. Cena comes in and says nothing to note. Harris and McGillicutty are assigned to protect him.
We open a commercial with an ad for Smackdown and close it with an ad for Smackdown. Nice to see them covering it, but damn man they’ve been on Syfy for how long now? It’s not new anymore.
John Cena vs. The Miz
Cena puts his hat on a kid and the kid is about to cry. That’s awesome. Miz says since the GM never sanctioned this match so Riley is in this instead.
John Cena vs. Alex Riley
Ok then. Cole corrects the year thing from earlier on. Cena of course toys with Riley because he’s John Cena and he’s against Alex Riley. Cole tries to force the A-Bomb From A-Ri line to get over and it continues to fail. Riley isn’t much in the ring at all. He hits something that we don’t see because we’re looking at Miz instead. Riley gets in some basic offense but the FU and STF end this easily.
Rating: C. It wasn’t a squash but there was no real point to this other than for Cena to look awesome and set up the showdown that comes after the match, which we’ll get to now.
Miz comes in and here’s Orton to fight him. McGillicutty and Harris come out and jump Orton who clears the ring other than Cena. Cena punches him and suits/referees come out for the save. An E-Mail says tonight it’s PIPER’S PIT with Cena and Orton.
After a break Sheik and Volkoff are in the ring and it’s singing time. Santino and Kozlov interrupt. Kozlov wants to sing with Volkoff. Nikolai looks BAD. Santino says he wants to sing something and needs some help with it. Cue SLICK to sing Jive Soul Bro. After Sheik does his usual thing (including having his mic cut thank goodness) it’s time for a #1 contenders match.
Usos vs. Vladimir Kozlov/Santino Marella
Snuka is in the Usos corner. Apparently Sheik started dropping F Bombs. That’s awesome. We come back from a break with the match already having started. More or less the faces are a lock to win this. Kozlov hits a fallaway slam on an Uso as this is one sided so far. This is an awkward match with weird mat stuff for the most part. The heels double team Kozlov for two.
One of the Usos gets the Russian in a front facelock and the look on his face is just awesome. Vlad gets a backdrop from his knees. That’s pretty awesome. Santino Canaditalians up, hitting his diving headbutt for two. Santino and one of the Usos fuck up something and the Cobra ends it.
Rating: D+. Awkward match that was never in doubt but I think this could work pretty well for the whole tag title scene. They’re a regular team so why not give them a chance at the titles? The match was nothing special in the slightest but this was ok for the most part. Snuka was completely worthless here mind you.
Post match Sheamus comes out and beats up everyone in sight but here’s Morrison. He says that he’s doing this because Sheamus is a bully and bullies will leave when stood up to. Sheamus actually leaves.
Kofi Kingston vs. David Otunga
Well nice to see Kofi getting some direction for a change. Yep no more random matches for him. In another inset interview he says he’ll be flying like Koko B. Ware. After some basic stuff, George Freaking Steele wanders down to ringside. He just kind of gets in the ring and eats a turnbuckle. Kofi sends Otunga into the exposed buckle and Trouble in Paradise ends it. No rating again as the vast majority of this was Steele, making it cool.
In the back Arn Anderson and Gerry Brisco are talking to Morrison but he gets his head kicked in by Sheamus. The match is made for Survivor Series. Shame there isn’t some team competition they could be in there instead.
Aksana is walking around with the Million Dollar Title but Duggan walks us with the flag attached to his 2x4 and gets on her for stealing his USA gimmick. Apparently her mom is here. It’s Dusty Rhodes in a wig. He shouts to Kelly who drops a net on her. Goldust comes up and wants the title back.
He gives it to the original owner: Ted DiBiase Senior who is with IRS. He hands it off to his son who doesn’t want it. Goldust stands next to them and Dashing Cody Rhodes is there. Goldust wants grooming tips but Cody says not to breathe on him. Goldust: Oh come on and help a brother out!
Dusty, still in the wig, says he has some weird kids. Now hit his music! American Dream starts playing as Dusty, still the wig, dances along with Kelly, Aksana who still has the damn net over her, IRS, Ted, TATANKA in full costume and Duggan. Simmons pops up to say DAMN. This was greatness.
I usually don’t mention LD lines but IC just had a gem. “WWE extended an invitation to Owen Hart tonight. He’ll try to drop in.” IC and I will be headlining hell later this year.
ALFRED HAYES’ VOICE DOES THE VOICEOVER! WHICH IS IMPRESSIVE SINCE HE’S DEAD!
R-Truth vs. Wade Barrett
Eve is gorgeous and incredibly sexy but she flat out cannot dance. Truth dominates to start and hits a big dive over the top to the floor. Barrett hits a Boss Man Slam to take over again. He adds a top rope elbow for two. This is a rather short match as Truth misses the Axe Kick and gets out of Wasteland before the regular Wasteland hits for the pin. Somehow this was 5-6 minutes. There just wasn’t anything to say besides that.
Rating: D+. The match wasn’t bad but it’s the definition of forgettable. I don’t remember much of anything in this other than a little bit here and there. That’s not something terrible as not every match is going to be a classic, but I would expect to remember something about a match. Barrett won clean though which gives him some momentum for Sunday. At least there’s that.
They do the intro again for the third hour as they did for the second hour too. That’s old school for the most part.
Alberto’s ring announcer sets up his intro but TITO SANTANA does his intro instead. Chavo Classic is driving the car and apparently is going to captain a Survivor Series team! Oh man I’m in Heaven here.
Alberto runs down fat Americans and here’s the SARGE! He wants a match RIGHT NOW.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Slaughter is very bald. Cobra Clutch goes on and gets him nowhere. Alberto kicks him very hard in some very skinny legs but Sarge gets the Clutch again and again it fails. The running enziguri ends this quickly. No rating once again. Alberto gets the armbar post match but here’s MVP for the save. Cole says this isn’t Alberto’s show. Well it isn’t MVP’s either.
Same WWEshop thing from earlier.
Clip of the Mania tickets going on sale.
Gene is with Mae Young. Oh sweet merciful crap no. She’s in wrestling gear too. The Bellas bring her out. We get a highlight reel of Mae Young who is 87 years old. The Moolah and Mae with Gene and Bobby at Mania XX is still hilarious. Laycool comes out to run down Mae of course. They talk about adult diapers etc.
She wants a match with these ****s. WOW. She wants it to be No DQ and calls them little bitches. MAE YOUNG IS AWESOME. It’s falls count anywhere too. Here are all the Divas. The other girls, mainly Natalya, beats up Layla and Mae puts her foot on her for the pin after a BIG slap. Ok that I can live with as a match.
Fink brings out JIM ROSS FOR THE NEXT MATCH! Jim won’t talk to Cole. Awesomeness.
Daniel Bryan vs. Jack Swagger
Swagger is in something at Survivor Series apparently. Cole keeps trying to get under Ross’ skin and he keeps ignoring him. Obviously the main point here is JR who is his usual old self. Cole can’t get Ross’ attention and it’s cracking me up as Ross is calling this straight. Ross hasn’t lost a step at all. Him and Lawler on Raw is just RIGHT.
We go to a break with Bryan on the floor as I haven’t paid a bit of attention to the actual wrestling. Back with Swagger dominating as Ross talks about Bryan. This is what we’ve been missing on commentary: making matches seem important. Ross is SELLING this. You couple that with Cole cracking me up and this is awesome.
Bryan makes his big comeback, hitting a running knee from the apron and then a dropkick off the top. I haven’t talked about it enough but the match has been awesome. Swagger gets the Vader Bomb for two. LeBell Lock is countered but Swagger goes for the gutwrench but it gets countered into a BIG kick to the head for the pin. Cole stands up and applauds it being over.
Rating: B. This was a very solid match actually. Swagger can still go in the ring but he just doesn’t need to be in the world title scene so thankfully he’s done with that. Him in the midcard/upper midcard works FAR better for him. He just didn’t have enough seasoning but this worked. I was impressed here and it was rather entertaining.
Post match Ted DiBiase comes out and beats up Bryan, hitting Dream Street. I can work with this. He gets the title and drapes it over Bryan’s chest.
We run down the card and we’re going to get a Survivor Series match with Rey as a captain with MVP, Chris Masters, Kofi Kingston and Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio as captain with Tyler Reks, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes and Jack Swagger. This works very well for me and will DEFINITELY flesh out the card somewhat.
Ross hits Cole with his hat as he leaves in a funny bit.
They bring out the legends one more time.
Here’s Roddy Piper. He runs down all the things he’s done over the years which are all pretty cool. Piper has lost a ton of weight and looks far better than he did before. Cena comes out and Piper talks about being hurt that he’s never been WWE Champion. He lists off some people that never got the title and tells Cena that if he hands the title to Barrett Sunday then he’ll be spitting in the face of every legend he says he respects.
This promo is actually very good. Piper always was a great talker. Cena talks about how he wants to respect the legends because they were his heroes. This is great stuff. Cena says he’s tired of the free or fired stuff because if he has to hand over the championship then the freedom means nothing. He’s going to call it right down the middle on Sunday.
Here’s Barrett, Nexus shirt over his shoulder. Barrett says if he doesn’t win then it’s all over on Sunday. Piper gets in Barrett’s face and yells at him that even if he has the title on Sunday he won’t be a champion but rather just a joke. Barrett asks Piper who he thinks he is.
Barrett says tonight is Cena’s last night with the Nexus on Raw and it might be his final Raw ever. He holds up the Nexus shirt to Cena and says put it on. It goes on to a nice heel reaction. Cena says after the match Sunday he’s going to end Barrett. Barrett says once the match ends then Nexus can take him out.
Here’s Orton who says he could kick Cena in the head tonight and end this. Cena asks what’s stopping him. Orton spins around and blasts Barrett then sets up for the RKO but Cena stands in his way to HUGE boos. RKO to Cena instead and it appears to be punting time. Barrett gets up and Orton tosses him. He goes for the Punt but Cena gets up and hits an FU on him. Barrett says to raise his hands but Cena hits an FU on him too and throws down the shirt, leaving to his own music.
Overall Rating: A. This show was about having old school guys there and having fun. This show hit that on all cylinders. The wrestling was barely memorable but that’s just fine here. This wasn’t supposed to be a great wrestling show and it wasn’t, but the Bryan/Swagger match was good. The PPV card is fleshed out now and everything seems to be getting better. I was incredibly entertained by tonight’s show and it was definitely a success on all fronts.
Date: November 15, 2010
Location: Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole
Well it’s the go home show for Survivor Series but it’s also a three hour Old School Raw. This is basically another chance to run out the old guys again while no one really wants to see them again but we’re going to do it anyway just because. This isn’t anything I particularly want to see but we’re getting three hours of it. Oh and there are three matches set for Survivor Series. Let’s get to it.
The main appeal here is the chance of the return of the Warrior. Yes that Warrior.
They open with the WWF logo and the word Federation scratched out and Entertainment under it. We get the OLD SCHOOL Raw intro with the 93 music but modern highlights. They even have the old banners and graphics. This could be awesome.
EVERYTHING is old school here with the red white and blue ropes, the standard guardrails, and here’s Gene Okerlund to do the interviews from a PLATFORM!
Gene brings out Bob Orton who says Randy isn’t here yet. I’m marking out like a bitch here. Orton rambles on about not caring for Cena at all and how Orton is going to win this Sunday. Before he finishes here’s Barrett. Big RAW letter set too. Barrett says he didn’t get anything from the Old School and got here himself. After some more stuff from Barrett, here’s Miz with Riley who is in the old Raw is War shirt.
Miz gets on Barrett for no apparent reason. He says he might cash in tonight which he hasn’t said in awhile. If he does, Cena would be in Nexus forever. Cena pops up on the screen and says he’s going to stop Miz from cashing in because if he’s on the line Sunday he’s going to do it Sunday. Cena says tonight he’s protecting Barrett tonight by challenging Miz to a match which he accepts.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Mark Henry
We get an inset promo from Ziggler saying he was ripped off last time he was…..IT’S SEXUAL CHOCOLATE!!! I hated that gimmick but I’m loving this already. The ring looks GREAT and we have the bowtie referees. Lawler compares Henry to Bruno Sammartino. Let that sink in a bit. Henry looks at Vickie with those googly eyes. It’s a standard big man vs. smaller man here.
The fans chant chocolate which is a weird one indeed. Oh and Ziggler compared him and Vickie to Macho and Liz. So one will die and the other will be banished? Henry gets a powerslam for two. The splash misses though as I guess some things never change. A short range Fameasser (called the Zig Zag because Cole is a very stupid man) gets two. The REAL Zig Zag only gets two as well. Ziggler runs up behind him and gets a very bad sleeper to end it.
Rating: C-. After I got over the shock of Sexual Chocolate (well it is in Hershey after all) I saw a decent match here but you can really see how limited Henry is. He more or less stood there while Ziggler did 90% of the work. At least Andre moved. Henry just stood there and jumped a bit on the splash. Decent match though and it keeps Ziggler looking strong so it has that going for it.
The Hart Dynasty come to the ring in old school Wrestlemania shirts but are stopped by Tony Atlas who I can barely understand. He has a can of WD40 which he sprays on his arms and literally doesn’t stop talking for about a minute and a half, including talking about potato salad.
Back from a break and he’s still talking, this time about taking someone’s daughter out while Yoshi Tatsu is standing beside him and pretends to stab himself. Funny stuff.
Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel vs. Hart Dynasty
Gabriel vs. Smith to start us off here. Smith stays in there far longer than he should be and walks into a forearm from Slater for his troubles. I love these referee shirts with the bowties too. The crowd chants Nexus Sucks. Smith goes for the tag and gets kicked in the head by Kidd to break up the team. 450 ends it. This was like two minutes long so no rating. Kidd was never in the ring.
Gene is in the back and talks to the Ortons. Truth comes up in an old Survivor Series shirt. He says that Cena is going to screw him over at the PPV. Orton says he won’t be able to screw him over if he punts Cena in the head tonight.
UPDATE WITH GENE OKERLUND!
This is brought to you by WWEshop.com which has all kind of old school PPV shirts. I’m drooling. What was actually updated there?
Justin Roberts introduces HOWARD FINKLE! That voice is just awesome. He brings out Harvey Whippleman and the Brooklyn “I take Pat Patterson up the ass” Brawler. Brawler issues an open challenge.
Brooklyn Brawler vs. Ezekiel Jackson
Norcal called this one. Oh do I need to explain this one? Cole says it’s 2011. Do you see why I can’t stand this guy?
Otunga talks to the Nexus and says he’s the leader. Cue Barrett of course and we’re going to get Otunga vs. Truth tonight in a pro vs. rookie match. As they’re talking we get an e-mail. King is in old school clothes tonight too. Otunga isn’t fighting Truth apparently as he has a special match later. Barrett gets Truth instead. Cena comes in and says nothing to note. Harris and McGillicutty are assigned to protect him.
We open a commercial with an ad for Smackdown and close it with an ad for Smackdown. Nice to see them covering it, but damn man they’ve been on Syfy for how long now? It’s not new anymore.
John Cena vs. The Miz
Cena puts his hat on a kid and the kid is about to cry. That’s awesome. Miz says since the GM never sanctioned this match so Riley is in this instead.
John Cena vs. Alex Riley
Ok then. Cole corrects the year thing from earlier on. Cena of course toys with Riley because he’s John Cena and he’s against Alex Riley. Cole tries to force the A-Bomb From A-Ri line to get over and it continues to fail. Riley isn’t much in the ring at all. He hits something that we don’t see because we’re looking at Miz instead. Riley gets in some basic offense but the FU and STF end this easily.
Rating: C. It wasn’t a squash but there was no real point to this other than for Cena to look awesome and set up the showdown that comes after the match, which we’ll get to now.
Miz comes in and here’s Orton to fight him. McGillicutty and Harris come out and jump Orton who clears the ring other than Cena. Cena punches him and suits/referees come out for the save. An E-Mail says tonight it’s PIPER’S PIT with Cena and Orton.
After a break Sheik and Volkoff are in the ring and it’s singing time. Santino and Kozlov interrupt. Kozlov wants to sing with Volkoff. Nikolai looks BAD. Santino says he wants to sing something and needs some help with it. Cue SLICK to sing Jive Soul Bro. After Sheik does his usual thing (including having his mic cut thank goodness) it’s time for a #1 contenders match.
Usos vs. Vladimir Kozlov/Santino Marella
Snuka is in the Usos corner. Apparently Sheik started dropping F Bombs. That’s awesome. We come back from a break with the match already having started. More or less the faces are a lock to win this. Kozlov hits a fallaway slam on an Uso as this is one sided so far. This is an awkward match with weird mat stuff for the most part. The heels double team Kozlov for two.
One of the Usos gets the Russian in a front facelock and the look on his face is just awesome. Vlad gets a backdrop from his knees. That’s pretty awesome. Santino Canaditalians up, hitting his diving headbutt for two. Santino and one of the Usos fuck up something and the Cobra ends it.
Rating: D+. Awkward match that was never in doubt but I think this could work pretty well for the whole tag title scene. They’re a regular team so why not give them a chance at the titles? The match was nothing special in the slightest but this was ok for the most part. Snuka was completely worthless here mind you.
Post match Sheamus comes out and beats up everyone in sight but here’s Morrison. He says that he’s doing this because Sheamus is a bully and bullies will leave when stood up to. Sheamus actually leaves.
Kofi Kingston vs. David Otunga
Well nice to see Kofi getting some direction for a change. Yep no more random matches for him. In another inset interview he says he’ll be flying like Koko B. Ware. After some basic stuff, George Freaking Steele wanders down to ringside. He just kind of gets in the ring and eats a turnbuckle. Kofi sends Otunga into the exposed buckle and Trouble in Paradise ends it. No rating again as the vast majority of this was Steele, making it cool.
In the back Arn Anderson and Gerry Brisco are talking to Morrison but he gets his head kicked in by Sheamus. The match is made for Survivor Series. Shame there isn’t some team competition they could be in there instead.
Aksana is walking around with the Million Dollar Title but Duggan walks us with the flag attached to his 2x4 and gets on her for stealing his USA gimmick. Apparently her mom is here. It’s Dusty Rhodes in a wig. He shouts to Kelly who drops a net on her. Goldust comes up and wants the title back.
He gives it to the original owner: Ted DiBiase Senior who is with IRS. He hands it off to his son who doesn’t want it. Goldust stands next to them and Dashing Cody Rhodes is there. Goldust wants grooming tips but Cody says not to breathe on him. Goldust: Oh come on and help a brother out!
Dusty, still in the wig, says he has some weird kids. Now hit his music! American Dream starts playing as Dusty, still the wig, dances along with Kelly, Aksana who still has the damn net over her, IRS, Ted, TATANKA in full costume and Duggan. Simmons pops up to say DAMN. This was greatness.
I usually don’t mention LD lines but IC just had a gem. “WWE extended an invitation to Owen Hart tonight. He’ll try to drop in.” IC and I will be headlining hell later this year.
ALFRED HAYES’ VOICE DOES THE VOICEOVER! WHICH IS IMPRESSIVE SINCE HE’S DEAD!
R-Truth vs. Wade Barrett
Eve is gorgeous and incredibly sexy but she flat out cannot dance. Truth dominates to start and hits a big dive over the top to the floor. Barrett hits a Boss Man Slam to take over again. He adds a top rope elbow for two. This is a rather short match as Truth misses the Axe Kick and gets out of Wasteland before the regular Wasteland hits for the pin. Somehow this was 5-6 minutes. There just wasn’t anything to say besides that.
Rating: D+. The match wasn’t bad but it’s the definition of forgettable. I don’t remember much of anything in this other than a little bit here and there. That’s not something terrible as not every match is going to be a classic, but I would expect to remember something about a match. Barrett won clean though which gives him some momentum for Sunday. At least there’s that.
They do the intro again for the third hour as they did for the second hour too. That’s old school for the most part.
Alberto’s ring announcer sets up his intro but TITO SANTANA does his intro instead. Chavo Classic is driving the car and apparently is going to captain a Survivor Series team! Oh man I’m in Heaven here.
Alberto runs down fat Americans and here’s the SARGE! He wants a match RIGHT NOW.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Sgt. Slaughter
Slaughter is very bald. Cobra Clutch goes on and gets him nowhere. Alberto kicks him very hard in some very skinny legs but Sarge gets the Clutch again and again it fails. The running enziguri ends this quickly. No rating once again. Alberto gets the armbar post match but here’s MVP for the save. Cole says this isn’t Alberto’s show. Well it isn’t MVP’s either.
Same WWEshop thing from earlier.
Clip of the Mania tickets going on sale.
Gene is with Mae Young. Oh sweet merciful crap no. She’s in wrestling gear too. The Bellas bring her out. We get a highlight reel of Mae Young who is 87 years old. The Moolah and Mae with Gene and Bobby at Mania XX is still hilarious. Laycool comes out to run down Mae of course. They talk about adult diapers etc.
She wants a match with these ****s. WOW. She wants it to be No DQ and calls them little bitches. MAE YOUNG IS AWESOME. It’s falls count anywhere too. Here are all the Divas. The other girls, mainly Natalya, beats up Layla and Mae puts her foot on her for the pin after a BIG slap. Ok that I can live with as a match.
Fink brings out JIM ROSS FOR THE NEXT MATCH! Jim won’t talk to Cole. Awesomeness.
Daniel Bryan vs. Jack Swagger
Swagger is in something at Survivor Series apparently. Cole keeps trying to get under Ross’ skin and he keeps ignoring him. Obviously the main point here is JR who is his usual old self. Cole can’t get Ross’ attention and it’s cracking me up as Ross is calling this straight. Ross hasn’t lost a step at all. Him and Lawler on Raw is just RIGHT.
We go to a break with Bryan on the floor as I haven’t paid a bit of attention to the actual wrestling. Back with Swagger dominating as Ross talks about Bryan. This is what we’ve been missing on commentary: making matches seem important. Ross is SELLING this. You couple that with Cole cracking me up and this is awesome.
Bryan makes his big comeback, hitting a running knee from the apron and then a dropkick off the top. I haven’t talked about it enough but the match has been awesome. Swagger gets the Vader Bomb for two. LeBell Lock is countered but Swagger goes for the gutwrench but it gets countered into a BIG kick to the head for the pin. Cole stands up and applauds it being over.
Rating: B. This was a very solid match actually. Swagger can still go in the ring but he just doesn’t need to be in the world title scene so thankfully he’s done with that. Him in the midcard/upper midcard works FAR better for him. He just didn’t have enough seasoning but this worked. I was impressed here and it was rather entertaining.
Post match Ted DiBiase comes out and beats up Bryan, hitting Dream Street. I can work with this. He gets the title and drapes it over Bryan’s chest.
We run down the card and we’re going to get a Survivor Series match with Rey as a captain with MVP, Chris Masters, Kofi Kingston and Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio as captain with Tyler Reks, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes and Jack Swagger. This works very well for me and will DEFINITELY flesh out the card somewhat.
Ross hits Cole with his hat as he leaves in a funny bit.
They bring out the legends one more time.
Here’s Roddy Piper. He runs down all the things he’s done over the years which are all pretty cool. Piper has lost a ton of weight and looks far better than he did before. Cena comes out and Piper talks about being hurt that he’s never been WWE Champion. He lists off some people that never got the title and tells Cena that if he hands the title to Barrett Sunday then he’ll be spitting in the face of every legend he says he respects.
This promo is actually very good. Piper always was a great talker. Cena talks about how he wants to respect the legends because they were his heroes. This is great stuff. Cena says he’s tired of the free or fired stuff because if he has to hand over the championship then the freedom means nothing. He’s going to call it right down the middle on Sunday.
Here’s Barrett, Nexus shirt over his shoulder. Barrett says if he doesn’t win then it’s all over on Sunday. Piper gets in Barrett’s face and yells at him that even if he has the title on Sunday he won’t be a champion but rather just a joke. Barrett asks Piper who he thinks he is.
Barrett says tonight is Cena’s last night with the Nexus on Raw and it might be his final Raw ever. He holds up the Nexus shirt to Cena and says put it on. It goes on to a nice heel reaction. Cena says after the match Sunday he’s going to end Barrett. Barrett says once the match ends then Nexus can take him out.
Here’s Orton who says he could kick Cena in the head tonight and end this. Cena asks what’s stopping him. Orton spins around and blasts Barrett then sets up for the RKO but Cena stands in his way to HUGE boos. RKO to Cena instead and it appears to be punting time. Barrett gets up and Orton tosses him. He goes for the Punt but Cena gets up and hits an FU on him. Barrett says to raise his hands but Cena hits an FU on him too and throws down the shirt, leaving to his own music.
Overall Rating: A. This show was about having old school guys there and having fun. This show hit that on all cylinders. The wrestling was barely memorable but that’s just fine here. This wasn’t supposed to be a great wrestling show and it wasn’t, but the Bryan/Swagger match was good. The PPV card is fleshed out now and everything seems to be getting better. I was incredibly entertained by tonight’s show and it was definitely a success on all fronts.
) at the moment. This raw was simply AWESOME. It was great to see the old school ring, and arena. Mae Young was amazing with her comments (Is this a sign that things are going to be a little bit looser now?) and HOLY SHIT it was amazing to hear JR on the mic again. Him and King ARE RAW! Sorry Michael Cole, but you are not, nor will you ever be half as good as JR is on the commentary mic. However, I think the big thing about this Raw is that it reintroduced a very important concept to the WWE. One that they have preached for generations. ANYTHING can happen. What was the last true "Holy Shit" moment on Raw? Nexus appearing and beating down Cena? Yeah, one Holy Shit moment in 5 months is not good IMO, and I hope WWE learns from this show. I want a Mark Out Moment on every Raw. Not just every once in a while, but every Raw. I want that feeling that anything can happen again, even if it is just a little thing like Mark Henry returning with the Sexual Chocolate gimmick. There were so many mark out moments on this Raw that I was literally exhausted from screaming at the end. That was what Raw was all about at the start, that was what Raw was all about during the Attitude Era, and that is what Raw should be again. It is what makes a Raw truly epic IMO.