Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread | Page 88 | WrestleZone Forums

Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter raymond27913
  • Start date Start date

Grade tonight's RAW.

  • A

  • B

  • C

  • D

  • F


Results are only viewable after voting.
This. I hate how they're acting as though this is some monumental event in WWE history that is an amazing privilege for everyone to see at 'Mania XXVII, when it's already fucking happened. My biggest concern is that HHH hasn't wrestled in almost a year and 'Taker hasn't had a match since October. This could end up being a colossal waste of everyone's time if they put on a bad one at WM. Beyond that, the promos have been boring and predictable, even forced. It's like they're going through the motions. I mean, someone telling The Undertaker that he will "rest in peace"? Never heard that before.

More people need to see this match for what it is - Plan C.

Couldn't get Brock Lesnar - Plan A

Couldn't get Sting - Plan B

Now we have this thrown together mess with one guy who can't wrestle due to injury and another guy who just plain can't wrestle.

So they put them in a No Holds Used Match and expect the sheep to forget that they're getting a Wrestlemania Rewind Match with what are, at this point, lesser talents than they were 10 years ago!

I think the company should be ashamed of the poor effort put into this year's Super Bowl of Wrestling. Two weeks before the biggest event of the year and they're still throwing matches together as afterthoughts. A year to plan and this is what they come up with? Time to make some needed changes behind the scenes.

And I hope folks also take notice of this fact, what do the worst RAW shows of the past month plus have in common? Triple H or Undertaker being on 'em!

I knew as soon as the Son-in-Law's music hit that I was in for a disappointing evening...
 
I don't have time for my usual review today so it'll be brief.

Overall, Raw was a decent show last night but it was definitely a filler show. There's been so much activity buzzing about on Raw the past month or so and this show had kind of an eye of the storm feel to it. Meaning there wasn't much going on but it gave people a breather until the next bit hits. Next Week's Raw is the last before WrestleMania so WWE was definitely saving it's load last night for next week. I thought Triple H's promo was good overall. It had a somber feeling about it, which I liked because it goes well with how important the streak has become. DiBiase looked good for a few minutes before getting destroyed.

Not much to speak of for wrestling content overall last night. I thought the mixed tag match was a lot of fun last night with some good action. Trish looked comfortable and the chemistry between Ziggler & Morrison is spot on. Mysterio vs. Orton was pretty decent while it lasted and I liked the segment with Punk mocking Orton's wife after taking him out. They didn't try to go over the top with it. The vignette featuring current WWE stars and legends talking about Taker vs. Triple H was great. It just lends more creedence to how big a part of WrestleMania Taker's streak has become. I was a little let down with Miz's segment last night. I was all happy that we were gonna get a new WWE Championship belt and the wind was let outta my sails. However, it was a clever little play on words that Miz used during the whole thing, but I still wanted a new belt.

Last night wasn't a "must see" episode of Raw but it did further storylines along and gave viewers a chance to sort of catch their breath until next week. I give it a C.
 
The way Cole keeps getting involved with the Divas and saying how horrible they are and a waste of time I wonder if they are either

1.) Bring Kong in to squash Cole on her first night
2.) have Cole bring in Awesome Kong and manager her to take over the womens Division
 
What a boring and waste of time Raw was yesterday. Only cared about the part with Orton/Punk and Cena pulling a stunt and also claiming that he'll settle his differences with The Rock next week, which makes me think they'll double-team to whoop Miz's ass at WM. Sheamus/Bryan rematch at WM was another worthy part but that's it. I don't even know why Dibiase turned up during another boring HHH promo? It's like they choose random mid-carders to get a beating from HHH in order to "send a message".
 
WWE Friday Night Smackdown 3/25/11
March 25th, 2011
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: ???


The Road to Wrestlemania takes a stop in Columbus, Ohio tonight for another episode of Friday Night Smackdown. Last week on the show Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a cage match but both he and Edge were beaten down after the match as the show went off the air by Del Rio and Brodus Clay. Tonight, Christian faces off against Del Rio again in our main event. Sounds like a good show, so let's jump right in.


We open the show with Edge and Teddy Long arguing backstage about a new ruling Teddy has made that if either he or Del Rio touch each other again before Wrestlemania, they'll both be banned from participating in the event. Cue that...errr..."catchy" theme music!


Your hosts are Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, and Booker T


Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk

Oh HELL YES, now this is how you start off a show! These two have had some fantastic matches in the past, so hopefully this will be more of the same as this is another "Wrestlemania Rewind" match. Mysterio goes for the 619 early but Punk avoids it only to eat a kick for a quick two count. Punk hits a baseball slide dropkick and tries a cover of his own, but Mysterio gets the shoulder up at two. Punk works an abdominal stretch for a bit but Rey fights him off and sends him to the floor. Punk lifts Rey up onto his shoulders in the electric chair position and just launches him face-first into the guard barrier! We take a commercial break while Rey recovers and when we return Punk has Mysterio rolled up in the ring in a pin attempt, but Rey kicks out at two. Punk drops a leg and tries for the pin again, but again Mysterio kicks out at two. He tries a suplex but Mysterio counters, only for Punk to his a cross-body block on him for another near fall. Punk comes off the top rope but Mysterio meets him with a dropkick inmid-air. Mysterio flips Punk out of the ring and hits a beautiful springboard moonsault to the outside floor! Moments later though Cody Rhodes runs down the ramp and tosses Rey into the steel post for the DQ at 5:30 (shown). After the match Cody continues the beatdown on Rey until we go to commercial. Aw man, this was just starting to get good too before the DQ finish, but you can understand why they wouldn't want to have another guy lose clean so close to Wrestlemania. Still, it's Mysterio and Punk out there, give 'em five minutes atleast and the results are always going to be entertaining. **½


Backstage Edge and Christian share a few words, with Edge promising to be in Christian's corner tonight for his match with Del Rio.


Edge vs. Drew McIntyre

I have no idea what their plans on for McIntyre anymore. It looked like at one point last year he was bound for the main event, but now it's like they can't make up their mind about whether to push him or not. His music sure does rock though. Both men are fired up to start, trading big lefts and rights which Edge quickly gets the upper hand of. McIntyre hits a back elbow though and starts to work on Edge's injured and wrapped-up left arm. Drew slams his knee into Edge's arm, getting a near fall in the process. Edge counters a wristlock attempt and goes for the DDT, but his arm is too hurt and he can't get the move. Drew tries for the Futureshock DDT, but Edge counters into that unique variation of the Sharpshooter he's been using lately and that's enough for Drew to tap out at 2:27. After the match Edge gives McIntyre a Spear for good measure. Nothing match, not sure what the point of feeding Drew to Edge here was as it doesn't really accomplish anything for either man. ¾*


Video package hyping up the Undertaker-Triple H match at Wrestlemania. Same one we've been seeing for the last week, one of the better video packages they've come up with since last Wrestlemania with tons of blurbs from past and present wrestlers. Tonight, Undertaker addresses Triple H on Smackdown.


Michelle McCool/Layla vs. Kelly Kelly/Rosa Mendes

Michelle comes out to the ring with her hair done up like Snooki's, mocking the Jersey Shore cast-member with a fake tan spray can and some lame fist-pumping. This is actually kind of funny in a weird, bizarre way. Michelle and Layla keep doing their lame little fist pump dance while the bell rings and both Kelly and Rosa take them down and start laying in fists. Kelly and McCool fight on the outside while Layla and Rosa exchange forearms in the ring. Rosa hits a clothesline and a nice suplex. What the shit, when did Rosa learn to wrestle? McCool distracts Rosa long enough for Layla to hit a big neckbreaker on her, and that's enough to give Layla the pin at 1:10. After the match Michelle and Layla get on the mic and talk some more trash to Snooki at home, McCool looking smoking hot in the process. Usual diva's filler here, but hey, Rosa hit a few nice moves and looks like she might actually have some potential as a wrestler. ¼*


WWE Intercontinental Title Match
Kofi Kingston © vs. Wade Barrett


So this is quite the random title match out of nowhere. Quick lock-up to start but Kofi quickly uses his speed to hit a few big kicks and get an early near fall. Wade whips Kofi into the corner and then sweeps his legs out from under him. They fight to the outside of the ring briefly but Wade tosses Kofi back inside.Kofi hits a series of forearms but then eats a huge sidewalk slam from Barrett for a two count. Barrett drives his knee into Kofi's back in a bow and arrow like submission. Barrett misses a big elbow drop off the top rope and Kofi fights back with some big chops and a dropkick. Barrett tries a pumphandle slam but Kofi counters out and comes off the top rope with a big cross-body block for another close two count.Kingston goes for the Boom Drop but Justin Gabriel distracts the referee while Heath Slater climbs up on the apron. Kofi gives Slater the Trouble in Paradise and then tries to deliver the same move to Barrett, but Wade catches him on his shoulders in mid-air and delivers the Wasteland on Kofi! That looked awesome, and it's enough to give Wade the pin and the title at 5:19. After the match Gabriel hits Kofi with the 450 Splash. So, that was quite unexpected. I like the idea of giving Barrett the IC title as he finally has actually WON something and can be taken seriously as a main player on the show after struggling to find credibility following the many losses to Cena. I wonder if this means a bump up the card for Kofi as well after 'Mania? Only time will tell. Pretty decent match with a hot finish. **


Backstage Alberto Del Rio argues with Teddy Long about the ban on any interaction between himself and Edge.


After a quick commercial break, Johnny Cash's "Ain't No Grave" plays and out comes the Undertaker, as promised. That is seriously one of the best entrance themes, ever. Undertaker doesn't even come down to the ring this time though, instead cutting his promo on the rampway. He says that Triple H thinks he has the "equation" as to how to defeat him, but that he can see Hunter's confidence begin to fade as they come closer and closer to their match. He says he looks forward to seeing Triple H on RAW and telling him all of this face-to-face. Nothing new here really, just your standard Undertaker promo.


Jack Swagger vs. R-Truth

Poor Truth, from a spot in the Elimination Chamber to jobber extraordinaire in a month. Swagger hits a big belly-to-belly suplex to start but Truth kicks out at two. Cole is going ape-shit throughout this entire match, cheering on his coach Swagger. Lots of heat for Cole and as a result, the crowd is even more into Truth than usual. Swagger shoots Truth into the corner but he comes back with a series of clotheslines. Swagger gets tossed to the outside floor and Truth slingshots himself over the top, taking out Swagger (and himself) in ugly fashion. Either Truth launched himself too far or Swagger didn't catch him when he was supposed to there. Truth goes to the top but Swagger knocks him down and Truth's ankle gets caught in the ropes. Like a shark smelling blood, Swagger focuses on the ankle now, going to work on it. Swagger applies the ankle lock and Truth taps out at 2:54. After the match Cole hits the ring and gives Truth the ankle lock as well, garnering more heat. Just another squash match for Swagger so we can take him seriously as Cole's coach after months of jobbing and doing nothing. ¼*


We recap the events that took place on RAW this week. I really hate how they waste a good 15 minutes every week on this show recapping what happened on RAW. It was four days ago guys, I think we can remember what happened four days ago.


Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian

Edge does indeed come out to be in Christian's corner, hopefully negating Brodus Clay's role in Del Rio's corner. Both men lock-up to start as the crowd is into this one early. Del Rio hits a few knees and tries a side-headlock, but Christian counters out with a shoulderblock for a quick one count. Del Rio lays a stiff kick into Christian's ribs in the corner and stomps away until the ref pulls him off. Del Rio runs towards Christian but get's backdropped over the top rope and to the floor outside. Christian climbs to the top turnbuckle and flies off the top with a beautiful cross-body block all the way to Del Rio on the floor! We take a quick commercial break and when we return Christian hits a sunset flip for a near fall. Christian clotheslines Del Rio out to the floor again right in front of Edge, who does nothing while Christian misses a baseball slide and is tossed into the guard barrier. Del Rio slams his arm into the steel steps and throws him back inside for a cover, but Christian gets the shoulder up at two. Del Rio tries working an armbar (not his finisher version) for a bit but Christian fights out of it. Del Rio hits a sweet back senton splash off the top rope, but again Christian kicks out at two."Let's Go Christian" chant starts up as Del Rio is in control here, stomping away on Christian. He goes to the top but Christian meets him up there and gives him a Frankensteiner off the top rope, 1-2--NOO! Del Rio kicks out at two. Big right hands from Christian and a flying forearm. Christian does his little spot where he slingshots out of the ring and punches Del Rio in the face, then he climbs to the top rope and tries for another huge cross-body block, but Del Rio moves at the last moment. Del Rio tries for that running enziguri into the corner, but Christian ducks and delivers a huge tornado DDT to Del Rio, 1-2--NOO! Ricardo Rodriguez, Del Rio's personal ring announcer, puts his foot on the ropes. Edge goes to chase after him but big Brodus Clay attacks him from behind. Del Rio tries for his flying armbar finisher, but Christian counters and tries for the Killswitch Engage. Del Rio avoids it though and connects with the running enziguri for a VERY close two count that the crowd totally buys into as the finish. Del Rio applies the armbar finisher, but Christian quickly gets to the ropes. Both men clothesline each other while Edge delivers a huge spear to Brodus Clay on the outside! Edge grabs a chair and attacks Clay with it, which distracts Del Rio long enough for Christian to give him the Killswitch Engage and get the pin at 8:53 (shown)! Another excellent TV match between these two men, though again you have to question why Del Rio is losing clean only a week before his Wrestlemania title shot, but hey, as a Christian fan I can't complain. Maybe they're finally going to give Christian that main event push after all. Damn good main event for the time it got. ***


After the match Edge teases hitting Del Rio with the chair, but Christian grabs the chair out from his hands to keep his Wrestlemania match alive, and Christian hits Del Rio with the chair for him! We go off the air with Edge and Christian talking smack to a fallen Del Rio, extracting a measure of revenge for the beatdown they received last week to close out the show.


Bottom Line: Another solid week of Smackdown here. They got most of the Wrestlemania programs some TV time, we got another great main event, and the show really just flew by in no time at all. Nothing to set the world on fire or anything, just a good, solid 2 hours of WWE programming that continues the build for Wrestlemania while still giving us a match worth watching in the main event. Thumbs Up.


Score: 7.5/10



REMEMBER! You can find ALL of my reviews and match ratings at my blog:
X's Wrestling Review
 
SmackDown surpassed Raw this week by a lot!!
I really am surprised how they are building the "B" Show, so they say!!

1st Match - Rey Mysterio vs CM Punk​
Cody Rhodes assault Mysterio and:
Winner - Rey Mysterio by diqualification

2nd Match - Edge vs Drew McIntyre​
Edge hits the Edgecator and McIntyre taps out!!
Winner - Edge by submission

3rd Match - Laycool vs Kelly Kelly & Rosa Mendes​
Layccol making fun of Snooki and beating the hell out of Kelly and Rosa.
Layla hits the Layout on Rosa and get the victory!
Winner - Laycool

4rd Match- Wade Barret w/ Corre vs Kofi Kingston for the IC Tittle​
Great match, very well performed by both of the, and in th end due to distraction by the Corre, Wade Barret reversed a Trouble in Paradise to a Wasteland!
Winner: Wade Barret New IC Champion

5th Match - Jack Swagger vs R-Truth​
Jack Swagger uses the Ankle Look and Cole get more heat towards Wrestlemania.

Main Event Match - Christian/ Edge vs Alberto w/ Brodus
Also a good match, very well performed, with some good Wrestling moves and with a great kick and a Crossarmbreaker by Del Rio, but in the end it was Christian who used The Killswitch and get the Three-count!
Winner: Christian

There was also promos, with Teddy Long saying to Edge and Del Rio, if some of them touch each other, they will be banned from Wrestlemania!!

So my questions:

Do you think that SD! was better than Raw this week?
Whats your thought about each match?
Do you think that they are buring Drew McIntyre?
Wade Barret is going to be a good IC Champ, or that means that he was buried to the mid-card?
Do you think that The Corre is going to WrestleMania?

Christian will be in Wrestlemania fighting for the World Championship?
 
I fear - like, genuinely, bottom-of-my-stomach fear - that this will get merged with the reviews thread. I, on the other hand, will gladly treat this as a thread discussing how SmackDown is now better than Raw.

I created a thread discussing how Raw was much better than SmackDown but a few weeks ago. Could have been five, could have been ten, could have been fifteen. Point is, it was likely a multiple of five.

Now it's not better, which is bizarre, seeing as I much prefer Raw's talent pool. I never thought I'd be singing the praises of the likes of Rhodes, Mysterio, Kingston, Barrett, Christian, (especially) Del Rio and (especially especially) Edge over the likes of Cena, Miz, Lawler, Cole, Punk, Orton, Morrison, Triple H and The Undertaker. And Snooki. She fits in there somewhere, the fucking waste of skin and oxygen.

Probably has something to do with the fact that SmackDown had four decent to good matches and Raw had-- well, Raw had fuck all.

Edit: I should point out that Punk was actually on SmackDown this week though, having a good match, so you can probably remove him from the above list.
 
So my questions:

Do you think that SD! was better than Raw this week?
Whats your thought about each match?
Do you think that they are buring Drew McIntyre?
Wade Barret is going to be a good IC Champ, or that means that he was buried to the mid-card?
Do you think that The Corre is going to WrestleMania?

Christian will be in Wrestlemania fighting for the World Championship?


2nd Match - Edge vs Drew McIntyre​
Ugh... OMG. This isn't the same thing as Ted DiBiase jobbing to Triple H on Raw. This is something much worse, and more unjust. McIntyre bites the dust against Edge in 3 min? Not 5? Not 10? In my opinion, seemingly these two would be a little more evenly matched than 3 min. I'm calling foul. For someone I'd like to see in the Main Event picture, who was heralded as "The Chosen One", they're making it look as though he's only chosen to fail.

3rd Match - Laycool vs Kelly Kelly & Rosa Mendes​
I missed the promo at the beginning cus I was making F'n tea for my mom... TEA!!! From what I was able to catch, both Rosa and Layla looked very good, relatively to their respective pasts.
The main point in all of this...

How hot is LayCool?? Did you see Michelle? OMG.
4rd Match- Wade Barret w/ Corre vs Kofi Kingston for the IC Tittle​
I don't see this is a burial into the mid card for Barrett. I see it as more finding a niche for Corre as a team. At least for now. It seems more like placement, for lack of a better word. I think the Corre, with the exception of not doing anything with Ezekiel Jackson (c'mon, not even a match?), Corre is right where they should be.

5th Match - Jack Swagger vs R-Truth​
Another straight-up, 3 minute squash. Now this is a burial. Good stuff promotion for Mania though.

Main Event Match - Christian/ Edge vs Alberto w/ Brodus
It's looking to me like Christian is going to be World Champion soon. He's beaten Del Rio... 2 or 3 times now since his return? He seems to have the guy's number.
 
WWE RAW 3/28/11
March 28th, 2011
Allstate Arena,, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 17,000 +/-


It's almost Wrestlemania time as the WWE rolls into the former Rosemont Arena in Illinois. Tonight The Rock is IN the building live, as are both John Cena and The Miz. Triple H and the Undertaker have promised to have a face-to-face tonight as well, so this is a big RAW for the company, let's see how they deliver.


Your hosts are Michael Cole, Josh Matthews and Jerry Lawler


We open the show with CM Punk in the ring and the lights dimmed as he shows us a video package of the attack on Orton last week In front of his wife, which gets him a ton of heat. Punk keeps calling Randy by his full name, Randall Keith Orton, and it's delightful. Punk says he's glad he got to show Randall's wife what Randy Orton really is. He says he'll close this sick and twisted chapter at Wrestlemania, but Orton's music hits and he comes out with a heavily bandaged knee from the attack last week. Orton limps to the ring and they start fighting immediately. Orton uppercuts Punk and prepares for the RKO, but instead he wants to go for the punt but his leg is too injured for him to run and he collapses! Small “CM Punk!” chant starts up as Punk realizes Orton only has one leg. Crowd is chanting for Randy now as Punk lays him out with a kick. Dueling chants tonight and I'm guessing we'll get them at 'Mania as well Punk hits the GTS on Orton and leaves the ring with a smile on his face. Excellent way to open the show and add heat to this feud.


Backstage we see Edge and Christian together, Edge wearing an old trench coat of his. Edge says he doesn't get why he can fight Del Rio on RAW but not on Smackdown, but Christian reassures him the RAW GM will be okay with it. Apparently Edge and Christian reunite on RAW for the first time in a decade next...


Edge/Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio/Brodus Clay

This is the first time Edge and Christian have teamed together on RAW in ten years. Or, atleast that's what the WWE wants you to think, as they tagged more than once on RAW around 04-05 before Christian left for TNA. Edge and Clay start us off, trading shots and quickly Edge and Christian trade quick tags and beat up on Clay. They both get in the ring and Edge whips Christian into Clay as they use some double-team maneuvers like they haven't missed a lick. Clay bails and Christian tries the slingshot splash, but Brodus catches him so Edge dropkicks Christian's back, sending him down to the floor. We take a quick commercial break and when we return we see replays of Alberto Del Rio beating up Christian. Both men are in the ring, trading shots. Del Rio nails Christian with a superkick for two. Del Rio tags Clay back in and he drops an elbow for a two count of his own. Del Rio tags back in and this a top rope elbow drop, but again Christian gets the shoulder up. Christian hits a big tornado DDT from the top though and gets the hot tag to Edge, who nails Clay and gets prepared for the spear, but Del Rio sweeps his feet. Christian and Del Rio whip eachother into the guard barrier outside the ring while Edge hits the spear on Clay in the ring, and that's enough to get Edge the pin at 4:42 (shown). This was an excellent, HOT tag match for the time it got but it felt a little rushed and that held it back from being something great. The near five minutes they did show us though were killer with Edge and Christian hitting great double-team moves and bumping around. **¾


After the match Del Rio locks on the armbar on Christian briefly until Edge runs him off. Edge thinks Del Rio is gone and comes back to check on Christian but Del Rio just runs out afterwards and slaps the armbar onto Edge as well. Del Rio gives him a little wink before he takes his leave. Great match and segment to add heat to this feud.


We see footage of Trish Stratus and Snooki drinking at a bar in New Jersey, apparently Trish is in “Snooki's world” tonight. Pretty sure these are pre-taped segments. We take a commercial break and when we return we see The Miz backstage with an upside down WWE logo hung up, texting on his phone with Alex Riley.


We hear the e-mail noise and the Anonymous GM has sent an e-mail to Cole on his iPad this time apparently. The email says that The King will have to wrestle Jack Swagger tonight to prepare for his match against Cole at 'Mania. So are we just confirming Cole is the RAW GM now or something? When we return The Corre is in the ring and they announce an eight man match at Wrestlemania pitting The Corre against Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella, and Vladimir Kozlov. So Christian's not involved there, good.


Justin Gabriel vs. Santino Marella

This...could be fun. Big Show/Kane, Vladimir Kozlov, Tamina, and The Corre are all at ringside so it's almost like a lumberjack match at this point. Gabriel gets a quick cover on Santino for two and tries to work a hammerlock. Santino starts laying in shots though and hits a big hip-toss and headbutt combination, and he's already calling for the Cobra. Everyone is fighting outside at this point but Santino hits Gabriel with the devastating COBRA and that's enough to get the win at 1:53. Just a nothing match to get The Corre vs. Big Show feud some TV time going into 'Mania. Nothing wrong with that at all, as even Big Show and even KANE does the freaking trumpet gesture that Santino does! Okay, that's just funny. ¼*


When we return Undertaker's music hits and he makes his way to the ring. Triple H's music hits next and he does the same, but when he tries to do his signature water bottle-spewing bit on the apron, a loud gong is heard instead and the lights go out. When they come back on both men do the staredown in the middle of the ring when suddenly....Shawn Michaels music hits! This year Hall of Fame inductee is live on RAW and fired up! Great pop for Shawn and FINALLY they've smartened up and brought Shawn into this feud like they should have from the start. Big HBK chant as this crowd has been RED HOT all night long. Shawn grabs a mic and says he's really sorry to interrupt, but there was no way he was going to miss this. HBK does a great job on the mic here putting over both guys. Shawn looks to Triple H and asks him seriously what makes him think he can do what Shawn couldn't. Triple H grabs the mic and says that Shawn got soft and used to losing, but Triple H isn't Shawn and he HAS to win. Triple H talks about how resilient Undertaker was when he first entered the WWE 16 years ago. Hunter says that he wanted to emulate the Undertaker and that he's learned to respect him more and more each day. Triple H says he and HBK made a pact on the road five years ago that if they ever stopped living up to their standard of wrestling in the ring, they'd retire, or they would make them retire. Triple H looks to the Undertaker and says very seriously that that time has come for him, drawing some boos from the crowd. 'Taker has been broken down for years, this is true. Triple H promises he's the one who's going to end the streak at 18-1 and that the Undertaker will rest in peace.. Undertaker grabs the mic from him and says that if he ever felt the need to be put down, he'd go to Triple H because that's the respect he has for him as well, but to quote 'Taker, “It ain't that time”. Undertaker brings up how he doesn't see the same arrogance and confidence in Shawn Michaels eyes after he “humbled” him at Wrestlemania last year. Crowd doesn't like that. He says he ended Michaels career and that he's going to go into the Hall of Fame with regrets. Shawn tries for the Sweet Chin Music on Undertaker after this, but Taker grabs him by the throat and Triple H separates the both of them. Triple H grabs the mic and asks Shawn to show Undertaker why he's going to beat him at Wrestlemania, but Shawn just leaves the ring to some boos. I've never seen Shawn run in defeat like this, but he does just that much to Triple H's surprise. Undertaker tips his hat to Triple H as his music hits and the segment's over. Yeah, to say this was a great segment would be an understatement. This whole segment came off incredible and added a ton of heat to a match that really had none at all until now. This is EXACTLY what this match needed to convince people to buy the PPV and tune in for that main event. Excellent work by everyone involved.


Jerry Lawler vs. Jack Swagger

After a commercial break we return and it's time for Lawler's match against Swagger. Cole distracts Lawler to start and Swagger takes the early advantage with a big Swagger bomb. Swagger takes Jerry outside the ring and tosses him into the ring announcer's section, where Jerry finds a handy steel chair that he slams into Swagger's back for the DQ at 1:17. After the match King tries to destroy Cole's glass box with the chair and then tries climbing into it, but Cole's security takes him down and Cole throws a drink in his face. This crowd is hot and they want Michael Cole DEAD. Match itself was obviously absolutely nothing, but it served it's purpose. ¼*


After a quick commercial break we return and Vickie Guerrero comes out and mocks John Morrison's entrance routine, much to Michael Cole's amusement.Vickie gets in the ring and introduces her boyfriend, Dolph Ziggler. Oh Ziggles, I hope you can recover from this.


Daniel Bryan/John Morrison vs. Sheamus/Dolph Ziggler

Nice to see they found a way to work these two feuds into the show in one match, good use of time here. Sheamus and Morrison start us off with Sheamus taking the upper hand with big strikes. Morrison goes for a springboard sidekick but Sheamus catches him and gives him the Irish Curse backbreaker as we cut away to commercial. When we return Sheamus is still dominating Morrison in the ring with a bow and arrow-like submission, driving his knee into Morrison's back. Morrison gets the hot tag to Bryan, who cleans house on Ziggler and puts him in the LaBelle Lock briefly until Sheamus breaks it up. Morrison and Ziggler fight to the outside while Bryan goes for the LaBelle Lock on Sheamus now, but Sheamus is too big and he powers out and hits the High Cross powerbomb and gets the pin on Bryan at 2:44 (shown). Not bad at all for the time they were given, in fact this is about as good of a 3 minute tag team match you're ever going to see. It was rushed though, obviously, so it never really got off the ground. **¼


We cut away to a supposedly “live” segment with Trish and Snooki in a bar at New Jersey. Josh asks them about their training and Trish says she's shown Snooki some moves. Some guy keeps hitting on them and Snooki ends up smacking him. We go back to Josh but then right back to the bar again, where LayCool are now apparently. Snooki throws her drink in Layla's face immediately, and our reality show drink throwing quota for the month has been met I do believe. LayCool and Trish/Snooki tussle for a bit until security separates them. Snooki is very clearly hammered.


And it's time. The Rock is there live, and backstage, preparing to go out. His music hits and the arena explodes as he makes his way to the ring. Huge sellout crowd with a ton of Rock fans in the house, but shit, who isn't a Rock fan? Massive “Rocky!” chants the moment his music stops of course. He does the “Finally The Rock has come back to Chicago” line and says this is the city where it all started for him. The Rock competed in his very first Wrestlemania right here in this building. He says for the first time that night he decided to “bring it” and says that was the unofficial birth of “Team Bring It”. There's already a fan in the crowd with a sign for it. The Rock says Team Bring It is a way of life, and that way of life basically devolves into the usual taking of objects and inserting them up others anuses. The Rock says he has a dream of his own when he called out John Cena (Cena gets MASSIVE boos and HUGE “Cena Sucks!” chants we haven't heard the likes of which since 2006). He calls Cena a “homeless Power Ranger” and says Cena will see his fist and his boot up his ass. The Rock says the People's Champ is here and Cena's music hits, gaining more boos. This is a totally pro-Rock anti-Cena crowd. Cena hits the ring and both men circle each other. Cena has his own mic and says that this is exactly what Cena wanted, The Rock back in a WWE ring. Cena tells The Rock this is where he belongs and I silently mark out to myself. Cena says he was one of The Rock's fans and he didn't know why he left and wanted him back for moments like this. Cena says he wanted to know what problem The Rock had with him, and Cena found it. Cena says his audience is kids and he's damn proud of it and who he's become as more boos reign down but Cena says he works his tail off for this business and wants to know who the hell The Rock is to tell him what to do. Cena is fired up and this is some of the best promo work I've ever seen from him. Cena says no one can judge him but God basically. The Rock agrees with him about the good lord, but says the lord can't save Cena from The Rock whipping his ass all over Chicago. Cena drops his mic as if to fight The Rock and then The Miz's music hits. Oh yeah, The Miz, the WWE champion. I forgot about that guy (just kidding). Miz hits the ring and says the usual stuff, Cena is going to lose at 'Mania, etc. Miz says he knows a secret about The Rock, that he's not going to do a thing tonight. Miz cites some of his movie numbers and I just noticed the mic in Miz's hand has the upside down WWE logo for Miz, which is awesome. The Miz says he guaran-damn-tees that he'll embarrass The Rock if he even looks at him funnily. The Rock just says bluntly that it doesn't matter what he thinks, and Alex Riley of all people at The Miz's side jumps The Rock with The Miz. The Rock fights back though and hits some of those patented smacks. He gives a DDT to Riley and gives him the People's Elbow! But Cena hits the ring as soon as it's done and gives him the Attitude Adjustment! Massive boos reigns down on Cena. If I was a betting man, I'd bet that Vince will in fact be able to convince The Rock to come back for one more match, against John Cena after all of this. It's the only thing that makes sense. That closes out the show.


Bottom Line:​
This show had that elusive BIG SHOW feeling all night long. This was one of the best go-home shows I've seen before Wrestlemania ever. Every major feud got a good chunk of time with great promo work from almost everyone tonight and the crowd was huge and red hot all night long, into everything. There was a severe lack of wrestling, sure, as we only had about 10 minutes of combined ring time, but this was the rare case where that didn't hurt the show at all. This was all hype for 'Mania and it did that absolutely perfectly. The Rock-Cena confrontation at the end is something that will go down in wrestling history as one of the great moments in this modern age in which the WWE struggles to find it's new identity. Great, great show and an easy Thumbs Up.


Score: 9.5/10



REMEMBER! You can find ALL of my reviews and match ratings at my blog:
X's Wrestling Review
 
Easily one of the best Raws we've had in many years. I actually felt that adrenaline that I used to feel when I was a kid watching the Attitude Era.

I actually screamed out "boo" when John Cena hit The Rock with the F-U...errr "Attitude Adjustment." But that was expected. Hopefully this means the Rock will get his payback at Mania with a Rock Bottom and People's Elbow which will somehow allow Miz to retain.
 
Great go home show for Raw. Got me way more hyped for several of the matches which is the point, particularly HHH/Taker, which aside from that awesome video last week has been lacking.

But I posted this in the LD and will post it here too since I feel it's worth letting people hear.

Just saw a noob actually post an interesting idea on some thread.
We are all assuming Cena vs Rock at Summerslam so what if this is the way they're going to turn him heel. Of course he's gonna beat the Rock since he's the current star. But it could be a huge heel turn.
And then he goes on with that to WM 28 to face Taker, also which most of us think will happen, as the heel that we thought he'd have to be for that match to occur.

This actually makes sense.
 
I'm not going to get into a huge deep indepth review on raw. Instead of reviewing the whole show I'm just going to review certain parts.

Opening Segment:The opening segment with Punk was good, as always, punk delivers a top notch promo and manages to get heat even in his own town. Orton selling the leg injury was also great, him not being able to deliver the punt was good story telling and gives you a feel that Punk has a strong chance at walking out of mania the victor. All in all it was a good segment. Punk and Orton seem to click well together.

Undertaker and HHH face to face: It seems over in the LD, some people found this boring. I will agree that the whole feud has fallen quite short of spectacular but this was a powerful segment, adding HBK was a smart move as it brought something a little more personal to the segment. I don't know what people were complaining about, I ate this shit up, especially when Shawn was looking at Taker and said the words"what makes you think*turns to HHH* you can do what I can't. That was pure entertainment. HHH's promo was solid, while taker didn't get as much time it was still good. The facial expression with Micheals also really made this promo even more special, it really told a good story. Micheals seemed angry,conflicted and doubtful at what Taker had said, but a part of him seemed to agree with him. Then the ending was fantastic with HBK whispering..."you can't win...you can't win" To HHH and then Takers little chuckle and tip of the hat..leaving HHH alone in the spotlight. While, the segment couldn't make up for the last 3 or 4 weeks, I thought it was really powerful and adds another layer to the psychological aspect to this match up, a very interesting segment.

and Finally the confrontation between Rock and Cena....oh yeah..and Miz to. The crowd was very pro Rock throughout the entire segment, it truly was a sight to behold. As far as the actually confrontation goes, I have to say..Cena completely owned Rock. He spoke with complete passion and truth and called it like it was, the crowd may not have favored it but it was a very heartfelt speech by Cena and it sound like Cena was about to choke up a few times. I have to say..Miz completely ruined it for me, he just doesn't seem to belong in that feud and his promo was hardly different than was he usually delivers, hardly anything special. It seems he was only there to engage Rock and provoke a physical encounter. Nice to see Rock layeth the Smackdown again. The final Part where Cena gets the best of Rock I think was a smart move, it sets up so many possibilities for a future match between the two. It was a good segment..I expected more verbal assaults from Rocks part but all in all the segment did its job.
 
WWE Monday Night Raw - March 28, 2011

Opening Segment - Strong segment from Punk & Orton to open the show with. The novelty of simply having Punk sitting in the middle of the arena with the lights off was a nice touch. Punk seemed very casual and relaxed, just feeling very comfortable in his skin. Punk was solid on the mic and the crowd explodes when Orton's music hits. Orton sells the injured right knee well throughout the segment. His leg giving out while he was about to punt Punk was a nice little bit. It was simple, logical and it just plain worked. Punk ultimately getting the best and leaving Orton laying was a great way to put heat on Punk less than a week before the show. Thumbs Up

Edge & Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio & Brodus Clay - Good solid tag match here that the crowd was just plain hot for. Edge & Christian still looked like a well oiled machine. I like that they really kept Edge & Del Rio apart during the match. Edge & Christian get the win with Edge hitting Clay with the spear. The post match stuff with Del Rio ultimately getting the best of E & C, especially with putting the armbar submission on Edge worked. Fun tag match. **1/2

Undertaker/Triple H Video - The WWE does such a good job with these video packages. They often have a knack for finding these cool songs to go with them. The usual footage you'd expect of the two was included and I just thought the whole thing came off as really well done. Thumbs Up

Justin Gabriel vs. Santino Marella - Nothing match here that served as a means of introducing the 8 man tag match at WM. The action was kinda pointless and there just really wasn't anything to sink your teeth into. Santino ultimately gets the win at the 2 minute mark with the Cobra. The Corre vs. Big Show, Kane, Santino & Koslov is really the only weak match on the card that I can see. Maybe we'll all be pleasantly surprised but I'm not gonna hold my breath on it. N/A

The Undertaker, Triple H & Shawn Michaels - This was a fucking incredible segment. THIS THIS THIS is how you put the final hype into a huge money match. The atmosphere was charged for this. The crowd was read hot for both of them and I love how things got started off. Even though Taker came out first, he used his "powers" to dim the lights and toll the bell to interrupt Triple H's entrance. I marked out a little when HBK came out, it was great to see him and it just added another element to the feud. Everyone put all their cards out on the table here and Triple H's comments about respecting Taker and the pact that he & HBK made really put this into perspective. We all know that The Undertaker physically isn't what he used to be. His body is giving out on him and to finally hear someone give some voice to that really hammers home the concept of The Streak being in jeopardy. Taker's words to HBK looked like they rocked him to his core because, based on how their Mania matches were built and hyped, they came across as very true. HBK wanted to end The Streak and no matter what, he simply could not do it. Taker touches on HBK's arrogance not being there and saying that he "humbled" him worked perfectly. The ending with HBK walking out of the ring and looking at Triple H with his face filled with sorow and saying that he couldn't win was just plain excellent. Taker smirking and doing the little thing with the hat was the perfect way to close things. Everyone played their part perfectly and I know that at least some people came away from this wondering if The Streak really will end. Helluva job. Thumbs Up

Jerry The King Lawler vs. Jack Swagger - This match/segment worked great as a final push towards the Lawler/Cole match. The match didn't consist of all that much but it was nice seeing Lawler go ape shit on Swagger with a chair. Michael Cole is a walking furnace. The friggin' Chicago crowd wants Cole's head on a spit. The crowd at Mania is gonna go nuts when Lawler finally gets his hands on Cole. We all know it's not going to be some mat classic, we just wanna see Michael Cole get his balls kicked in and piledriven about a dozen times. 1/2*

John Morrison & Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus & Dolph Ziggler - Fun match while it lasted and it gave us a little taste of what we'll see from WM. This would've been a fantastic match had it been given the time, but they did very well with the 6.5 minutes they had. All 4 wrestlers did a good job and worked well together. I was a little surprised to see Sheamus get the clean pin over Daniel Bryan. I figured Bryan & JoMo would go over here with Bryan scoring the win against Sheamus. Booking 101 says that Bryan goes over Sheamus at WrestleMania since he's been cleanly pinned twice. **1/2

The Road Warriors - The Road Warriors are the final members of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2011 and it's a great choice. It's long overdue and it's fantastic that they're finally getting in. The video package was great and brought back some very fond memories for me. They were my favorite tag team when I was a kid. Everything about them just screamed dominance. Bully Ray can call Team 3D the greatest team in wrestling history all he wants. Everyone knows it's bullshit. If Team 3D is ever mentioned in the same breath as the Road Warriors, Ray should drop to his knees and thank the Lord. Thumbs Up

Trish Stratus, Snooki & LayCool - This segment was short, to the point and painless. The bar fight segment was well done and it did look, sound and feel much like something you'd see on some episodes of Jersey Shore. The bleeped out swear words were a nice touch. If they keep Snooki's in-ring involvement in the match at WrestleMania to a minimum and use her in just the right spots, this could come off as a much better match than most people are expecting. Thumbs Up

John Cena, The Rock & The Miz - This was just beautiful, just friggin' beautiful. Did the WWE manage to sell the final hype for the two biggest angles at WM tonight to perfection or what? As with the segment featuring Taker, Trips & HBK everyone here played their part perfectly. The Rock came out to a thunderous ovation from a WHITE HOT crowd and did his thing. Everyone cheered or laughed and just generally felt good while he was doing it. John Cena came out to a large chorus of boos and I love the fact that he was serious out there. He didn't come out there and make corny jokes, he didn't try to play the cutesy cute babyface. He just came out and spoke with simple, straight forward honesty and it works. The Rock is so colorful with his catchphrases and bigger than life charisma that having Cena play himself as so grounded and as a tell it like it is guy just balanced out all of Rock's shenanigans. The Miz came out and was great in his role as well. I love how Cena got out of the ring so that all the attention would be placed on Miz & The Rock. The Miz mocked Rock, got in his face, said his peace and I simply do not see how anyone can now doubt that Miz belongs in such a huge angle. Miz & Riley jumping Rock and beating him down for a bit was good fun as was The Rock getting the better end of things. We all marked out a little when he hit the People's Elbow on Miz. Cena sneaking up from behind and hitting the Attitude Adjustment on The Rock was killer. Damn near everyone in the arena was booing Cena and it looks like that there ain't gonna be no handshakes and hugs of respect from Rock & Cena at WM. Thumbs Up

Overall Show - This was a fantastic and extremely memorable go home show. Orton & Punk were great and Punk put some great heat on his shoulders tonight. Orton has looked so strong for weeks against Punk's flunkies in the New Nexus that Punk needed this tonight. Wrestling content was ok this week, nothing much to brag about. The two tag matches were quite solid and really fun I thought. I can't say that I'm excited about The Corre vs. Show, Kane, Santino & Koslov but it could be worse. Great final push toward's the Lawler/Cole match at WrestleMania. Cole has so much heat you could roast a turkey if you put it 10 feet away from him. The final hype for the two top angles at WM was done to perfection tonight. The Taker/Triple H/HBK & Cena/Rock/Miz segments were excellent and everyone involved played their parts beautifully. Overall, this was just a great show from top to bottom. Even the Jersey Shore segment between Trish Stratus & Snooki and LayCool was well done.

Grade: A
 
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I am too tired to write a lengthy review of Raw, but I'll give this Raw 9/10. It was packed with "big time" moments, from Cena/Rock to CM Punk's fantastic promo at the beginning, along with several good matches. Let's also not forget the confrontation between HHH and Undertaker. I have a feeling that HHH will end the streak.
 
A really great RAW in my opinion. The HHH-Taker-HBk segment was epic and so was the Miz-Rock-Cena one. One gripe tho i have is why oh why are they pairing up Miz with Alex Riley again. Miz was looking credible as a Main Eventer just recently and i believe it was because of the fact that A-Ri was not with him, he was doing alot of these dominant performances on his own. Even Cole has shifted focus away from Miz a little and seems to be now to be trying to put Swagger over. Thing is it just seems really bad to go back to A-Ri after what i thought was a great couple of weeks for The Miz without him.
 
While Raw may have appeared successful on the surface, it still had alot of the same fundamental problems that have plagued it for weeks, if not months.

There were far too many promos, not enough wrestling, most of it was Attitude Era nostalgia, the rest of it was "celebrities" and announcers, and the predictable booking lets you know exactly what will happen at Wrestlemania.

Sorry, but for me, that doesn't cut it as the final show before Wrestlemania. I expect something fresh, not leftovers from ten years ago.
 
While Raw may have appeared successful on the surface, it still had alot of the same fundamental problems that have plagued it for weeks, if not months.

All right, I'll hear you out, let's see what you think.

There were far too many promos

For once that was NOT a problem at all, they needed those promos to hype Wrestlemania, that's always what your go-home show is intended for. The Triple H-Undertaker promo in particular probably convinced a ton of people to buy the show now, and that's what the purpose of TV in general is, to build to the PPV and convince you to buy it.

not enough wrestling

While I agree there was a pitiful amount of wrestling last night, like I said, for once that didn't hurt the show. They had to fit A TON of stuff into last night's show, and they did so wonderfully. They managed to get every major feud besides Mysterio/Rhodes a segment in a 2 hour show, and still managed to give both the Triple H/Undertaker and Rock/Cena segments a good 20 minutes each. That's a damn good use of time. Yeah, we all would have loved if the Bryan/Morrison vs. Sheamus/Ziggler match got a good 10 minutes, but there just wasn't enough time for that last night unfortunately. Again, the point of TV is to convince you to buy the PPV. You're supposed to want to see the wrestling, AT the PPV. Not get it for free on TV. Obviously they're good enough to throw out good matches on TV almost every week, but it's not like they're required to. They hyped the show, and that's all they had to do.

most of it was Attitude Era nostalgia

That's just flat out false. Nothing about last night was "Attitude Era nostalgia". Just because The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H and other people who were big stars during the Attitude Era were there last night, doesn't mean the focus was on nostalgia. On the contrary both segments with those Attitude Era guys were focused primarily on building to Wrestlemania, in the future. The exact opposite of nostalgia, really. It's not like Rock just went out there, said a few catch phrases, recalled some Attitude Era stories and left. It was all about building hype for the matches at Wrestlemania, which just so happened to include those Attitude Era wrestlers.


the rest of it was "celebrities" and announcers

...What? Are you serious? Snooki got a grand total of about 3 minutes of TV time in a 2 hour show last night. That was the only "celebrity" segment on the entire show. That's a terrible criticism of last night's show.

, and the predictable booking lets you know exactly what will happen at Wrestlemania.

This is rich, this I have to hear. Please, tell us all right now EXACTLY what will happen at Wrestlemania since it's so predictable in your eyes. I'd love to hear what you think is going to happen, so that we can return to this thread after Wrestlemania and laugh at how wrong you'll be.

Sorry, but for me, that doesn't cut it as the final show before Wrestlemania. I expect something fresh, not leftovers from ten years ago.

Everything last night was fresh. You just apparently had blinders on, preferring to find things to criticize instead of objectively evaluate the show. Find me a better go-home show for Wrestlemania than that.

Your argument is extremely flawed here I'm afraid to say.
 
Raw Review

Don't Typically do this sort of thing, but I had the intresting sitation of having two of my close buddies (one who used to sorta follow wrestling when he was in high school, and another who has always thought wrestling was a waste of money).. They have both been semi-paying attention the last 6 weeks as we usually hang out every monday, and I will flip over periodically to raw (usually tape it because they just don't enjoy it so we watch other programing, and I watch raw later)..


So they had a basic knowledge of what was going on, and I have to say they were both absoutely sucked into RAW this week.. Neither one would even let me change the channel.

The opening segment sucked you in, Orton and Punk were very entertaining.. While it wasn't the best segment in the world it wasn't supposed to be, it made you want to keep watching to see what happened next..

The Christan & Edge Vs. Ablerto Del Rio and Brodus Clay worked well , it was a solid match that really held your intrest and made you wonder how it will all play out at wrestlemania.. It added a much needed bit of wrestling to an otherwise very promo-filled show.

Snookie and Trish Stratus (even though a semi-poorely taped segement) absoutely drew in both of the non-fans with me, they kept wondering "when snooki was going to be on".. Neither one of them are Jersey Shore fan's, but the fact that she was wrestling really was a must- see for them, especially when paired with somebody like Trish Stratus, who has great name recognition.

Lawler vs Cole I personally enjoyed, but neither of them particuarlly liked it. It was entertaining enough to keep it going, but neither one of them really understood why, or how this was even a big deal.

Undertaker - HHH- HBK Confertation.. Obviously despite not avidly folowing or caring about wrestling they all knew who HBK/HHH/Taker were due to high-school/ Grade school when kids would have there Taker Backpack , ect. After this confertation I swear, both of them asked me if they gave me 20 bucks, if I would order some pizza, and order Wrestlemania sunday so we can all hang out and watch this.. As of 8:55 I was worried they would make it through the first segment due to how little intrest they have always shown, and by the end of this segment they both wanted to PAY to watch wrestlemania just to see how THIS feud ends.. For all the lack of build, they hashed everything out tonight, this was a legendary confertation that probably sold Wrestlemania.

It was one of the funniest things I have saw because before this they were literally laughing at why people would pay 40-50 Bucks to watch what is basically a weekly T.V. Show, and after this segment they not only understood why people paid for it, but wanted to buy it themselves.. It was the epitome of entertainment, all three men did a fantastic job in selling the PPV.


Tag Match Ziggler Sheamus vs Morrison/ Bryan- It was nice to see these guys get some time to fit there feud in before wrestlemania, and it definatly was a nice little match that set up mania nicely.

Cena- Rock- Miz... What Can I say, this was the icing on the cake, Taker-Hbk- HHH got them talking about how much it would cost to buy mania, and after Cena AA'ed The Rock , we all but decided it was time to throw a little shin-dig sunday night, drink a couple beers and order the PPV..


I hope other people can see the merit in this experience, neither one of the guys I was with were wrestling fans before this show, and after wrestlemania there intrest will probably die out and I will end up taping Raw on Monday Nights again and watching it later, but This is the type of show that convert's people and sells PPV's.. It was infinitely succesfull in drawing in your attention, and was very entertaining from start to finish. This is what a Go-home Wrestlemania show should be, this is the type of show that makes Wrestlemania such a worldwide event.
 
Yesterday's Raw was excellent and the best I've seen in all of 2011 which has been a great year so far.

The Rock/Cena/The Miz segment pretty much made my interests for WM complete and I'm sure enough about skipping a non-important school day for it. I would have loved a happy ending with Cena & Rock becoming friends to team on Miz/Riley though. But that would've killed a lot of WM interests. I still hope Cena gets the championship cause Miz just doesn't deserve the main event status yet, specially in a feud like this where he's an afterthought.

The HHH/Taker feud was so uninteresting for me that I kept skipping it every time they would talk when watching every Raw/SD on youtube cause every time they said the same thing. But with HBK added to this feud, my interests were completely renewed and I'm hyped up for it.

The Punk/Orton promo made me happy because seeing Punk get the upper-hand in every confrontation between the two, makes it seem like clear enough that Orton gets the win at WM. Hopefully with Orton finishing this feud, he can get back to the main event and take the WWE championship back since he never lost clean in the championship matches.

The 8 man tag team between Kane/Big Show/Santino/Kozlow and Corre could I expect even before yesterday and it just got confirmed.

I like how Morrison/Bryan could get their feuds in a match against Sheamus/Ziggler but I don't really care for the mixed tag team match that includes JoMo and Ziggler (unless the focus is on just these two or Trish beating down the opponents, specially Vickie).

I like the build-up for the Del Rio vs Edge/Christian feud too and this is the one match where I totally can't be sure about who I expect to come out as winner.

Also good to see Lawler get the upper hand for once in his Cole feud and I can't wait till WM when Lawler and Stone Cold finally kick Cole's and Swagger's ass.
 
The numbers are in for last night's show and, overall, I'd say that Vince has to be pleased with the interest that the hype for WrestleMania has created. Last night's Raw drew a 3.81 rating with an average audience of 5,838,000 viewers.

The first hour drew a 3.56 rating with 5,445,000 viewers and the second hour drew a big 4.06 with 6,231,000 viewers.

While Raw hasn't quite gotten to the 4.0 for the overall show during the WrestleMania season, it's gotten quite close and the past 5 or 6 weeks of strong ratings have brought the 2011 average for Raw around the 3.5 mark.
 
Raw Review

Don't Typically do this sort of thing, but I had the intresting sitation of having two of my close buddies (one who used to sorta follow wrestling when he was in high school, and another who has always thought wrestling was a waste of money).. They have both been semi-paying attention the last 6 weeks as we usually hang out every monday, and I will flip over periodically to raw (usually tape it because they just don't enjoy it so we watch other programing, and I watch raw later)..


So they had a basic knowledge of what was going on, and I have to say they were both absoutely sucked into RAW this week.. Neither one would even let me change the channel.

The opening segment sucked you in, Orton and Punk were very entertaining.. While it wasn't the best segment in the world it wasn't supposed to be, it made you want to keep watching to see what happened next..

The Christan & Edge Vs. Ablerto Del Rio and Brodus Clay worked well , it was a solid match that really held your intrest and made you wonder how it will all play out at wrestlemania.. It added a much needed bit of wrestling to an otherwise very promo-filled show.

Snookie and Trish Stratus (even though a semi-poorely taped segement) absoutely drew in both of the non-fans with me, they kept wondering "when snooki was going to be on".. Neither one of them are Jersey Shore fan's, but the fact that she was wrestling really was a must- see for them, especially when paired with somebody like Trish Stratus, who has great name recognition.

Lawler vs Cole I personally enjoyed, but neither of them particuarlly liked it. It was entertaining enough to keep it going, but neither one of them really understood why, or how this was even a big deal.

Undertaker - HHH- HBK Confertation.. Obviously despite not avidly folowing or caring about wrestling they all knew who HBK/HHH/Taker were due to high-school/ Grade school when kids would have there Taker Backpack , ect. After this confertation I swear, both of them asked me if they gave me 20 bucks, if I would order some pizza, and order Wrestlemania sunday so we can all hang out and watch this.. As of 8:55 I was worried they would make it through the first segment due to how little intrest they have always shown, and by the end of this segment they both wanted to PAY to watch wrestlemania just to see how THIS feud ends.. For all the lack of build, they hashed everything out tonight, this was a legendary confertation that probably sold Wrestlemania.

It was one of the funniest things I have saw because before this they were literally laughing at why people would pay 40-50 Bucks to watch what is basically a weekly T.V. Show, and after this segment they not only understood why people paid for it, but wanted to buy it themselves.. It was the epitome of entertainment, all three men did a fantastic job in selling the PPV.


Tag Match Ziggler Sheamus vs Morrison/ Bryan- It was nice to see these guys get some time to fit there feud in before wrestlemania, and it definatly was a nice little match that set up mania nicely.

Cena- Rock- Miz... What Can I say, this was the icing on the cake, Taker-Hbk- HHH got them talking about how much it would cost to buy mania, and after Cena AA'ed The Rock , we all but decided it was time to throw a little shin-dig sunday night, drink a couple beers and order the PPV..


I hope other people can see the merit in this experience, neither one of the guys I was with were wrestling fans before this show, and after wrestlemania there intrest will probably die out and I will end up taping Raw on Monday Nights again and watching it later, but This is the type of show that convert's people and sells PPV's.. It was infinitely succesfull in drawing in your attention, and was very entertaining from start to finish. This is what a Go-home Wrestlemania show should be, this is the type of show that makes Wrestlemania such a worldwide event.


This right here is proof that WWE is doing what they are aiming to do by drawing in folks who don't usually follow wrestling. This is one thing that makes Wrestlemania the biggest show. Folks want to watch it who never watch another wrestling program all year.

I thought the Raw last night did a heck of a job building Mania. I saw alot of folks in the live discussion forum dissing the HHH/Taker/HBK segement. In my opinion, that was one of the BEST segments on RAW in a LONG time. It was three of the best of all time building the match like only they can. HHH cut one heck of a promo in my opinion.

The end of RAW was enough to make anyone want to see Mania. Personally, I hope it is a prelude to seeing John Cena hit "ROCK BOTTOM" at Mania!
 
WWE RAW 4/4/11
April 4th, 2011
Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 16,697 +/- ?



We're 24 hours removed from Wrestlemania XXVII, the biggest show of the year, and we've got a lot more questions than answers to be blunt. There's been a lot of backlash over last night's show online among the IWC, some overly negative, others sharing the same thoughts that I had, that the show was underwhelming/disappointing, but certainly not bad. The booking, however, certainly was bad. Del Rio loses his title match in ten minutes, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus get nixed from the live show in favor of bad comedy segments with Pee Wee Herman (seriously), and most importantly the main event title match between The Miz and John Cena was full of questionable booking. Bad enough to do a false finish of a double countout/draw for your MAIN EVENT OF WRESTLEMANIA, but then to have The Rock come in and make total chumps of both Cena and The Miz? The only way that booking is forgivable is if we do in fact get confirmation of a Rock-Cena wrestling match sometime this week, and a lot of people are hoping that's what will be announced on tonight's show. There's a whole lot riding on tonight's show, so let's see what they have in store for us.


Your hosts are Jim Ross (hell yeah!) and Jerry "The King" Lawler


We open the show with Triple H's music hitting and The Game making his way out to the ring to a nice pop from the still raucous Atlanta crowd. He says that he's never been a guy to get nervous, but last night he was almost hyperventilating before his match with the Undertaker. Triple H puts over how tough the Undertaker is, yadda yadda yadda, he can survive over 9000 tombstones and pedigrees, about what you'd expect to hear from him following his match with Undertaker. Triple H says that he just wanted to say "Thank You" to the Dead Man for the fight of his life last night. He hints that last night may be the last we ever see of the Undertaker, only to basically contradict himself seconds later to say that he knows Undertaker will be back and when he is back, he'll be waiting for him. So what, we're setting up a rematch for next year's Mania? Hard to understand the logic there as everyone is probably expecting Cena to face 'Taker next year.


At ringside Jim Ross lets us know that tonight Michael Cole apparently will challenge Jerry Lawler to another match. I don't know how they managed to fuck up the easiest angle on the entire show last night, but they did. To add to my nostalgic feeling with JR on commentary and guys like Triple H, The Rock, and Stone Cold on RAW we get a trailer for the upcoming Scream 4 during the commercial break. It's 90s nostalgia everywhere man!


When we return Michael Cole comes out, still in his goofy amateur wrestling ring gear from last night. He gets some nice heat, bragging about his DQ win over The King last night at Wrestlemania. I truly have no idea what the point of continuing this angle is. Cole wants the crowd to forever refer to him as "Mr. Wrestlemania", but something tells me that won't stick. King gets on the mic as well and tells him to shut his pie hole. Can someone explain to me why they gave these two guys nearly 15 minutes last night at Wrestlemania if they were going to wait to blow it off the next night on free TV? Someone, anyone? Cole challenges him to a rematch and King accepts on the spot, but the rematch is against Swagger of course, not Cole. Sure, whatever.


Jack Swagger vs. Jerry Lawler

Not sure what the point of this is, but one things for sure: it is GREAT to hear Jim Ross back on commentary on Monday Night RAW. He's been gone too long man. King avoids some of Swagger's early offense only to get speared in the corner. Swagger misses a leg drop and King gets a near fall. Swagger misses the Swagger Bomb and the King lays him out with a nice dropkick. King goes to the second rope for the fist drop but Cole distracts him and the King winds up chasing him around and back into the ring. He pummels him for a bit until Swagger grabs the King's ankle and locks the Ankle Lock on and Jerry taps out at 3:47. Swagger doesn't break the hold so the ref reverses the decision and awards the match to the King. Again I ask what the hell is the point of all of this? This angle should have been blown off last night at 'Mania, and for it to continue does nothing to elevate Cole or King. ¼*


After the match Cole finds some of JR's famous BBQ sauce in his destroyed "Cole Mine" (complete with yellow safety tape tied around it) and squirts it onto JR to try and get some measure of revenge, causing JR to chase him off to the back as we cut to commercial.


When we return Michael Cole is on commentary, flipping out about what just happened. Damnit, you couldn't have JR call the rest of tonight's show? Seriously? END THIS COLE HEEL SHTICK ON COMMENTARY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! Cole works great as a heel. He works terribly as a play-by-play man and basically buries the talent every time he opens his mouth. Booker T and Josh Matthews join him.


Randy Orton/Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk/Cody Rhodes

Orton and Rhodes start us off, I wonder if they'll even acknowledge the Legacy connection. I shit you not, Michael Cole is doing traditional babyface play-by-play man commentary now, talking about how Punk scarred Orton and his wife last week. Orton gets a few shots in on Cody and then tags Rey in, who's wearing all white which is interesting considering the rumors of Sin Cara (Mistico)'s debut being tonight and the all-white look being Mistico's traditional look. Rey's mask is even all white like Mistico's, which is weird. We take a commercial break and when we return Orton is in the middle of dropping a big knee on Cody for a quick two count. Mysterio tags in and springboards in with a seated senton for a quick two count of his own on Rhodes, but Cody quickly gets back to his feet and tags CM Punk in. He and Cody trade quick tags, double-teaming Rey but he just tags Orton in quickly anyways. Clothesline gets Orton two on Cody again Punk tags back in and goes to work on Randy's injured leg, which is still bandaged. He puts Orton up for the GTS, but Orton counters and tries for the RKO only for Punk to evade and sweep the knee for a near fall. We take ANOTHER commercial break, which is weird as hell since we JUST took one but I guess they're saving up TV time for the big overrun later tonight. When we return Punk has Orton tied up in an Indian death lock briefly but Randy breaks it and gives him a back suplex. He gets the hot tag to Rey and Mysterio is fired up, hitting a seated senton and a big quebrada on Punk for a two count. Rey tries for the 619, but Rhodes catches him with a big knee to the face off the second rope, 1-2--NOO! Mysterio gets the shoulder up at two just barely. Rey's sternum gets slammed into the turnbuckle in Bret Hart fashion by Rhodes and Punk tags back in, continuing the isolation of Rey in the heel's corner. Rey counters with a hurricanrana on Punk and gets the hot tag to Orton, who cleans house on Rhodes with the snap powerslam. Elevated DDT from the second rope on Rhodes and Orton goes into Viper mode, pounding the mat. Orton hits an Olympic Slam on Rhodes but Punk breaks the pin up at a count of two. Rhodes gets hit with the 619 from Mysterio and walks right into the RKO from Orton, which puts him away at 10:08 (shown). This is more like it, this is what RAW has been lacking the last few weeks---just a good, long TV match to hype the crowd up and add some extra heat to both corresponding feuds. I'm shocked this got as much time as it did, but I'm certainly not complaining, good stuff. ***


After the match we see Stone Cold Steve Austin backstage, who runs into Triple H and gives him credit for a hell of a match last night and says he'll be there the next time it happens. I assume he's just here to hype the Tough Enough premiere tonight after RAW, but we'll see what they have him do here. We take a commercial break and when we return we get another Sin Cara video package.


Stone Cold's music hits and the Rattlesnake makes his way out to the ring while Michael Cole harps on commentary like an evil, screeching demon queen. He's become that bad on commentary, truly. Austin lets us know Tough Enough is on after RAW tonight (REALLY?!) and has the crowd give him a few "Hell Yeahs" before introducing a few of the contestants for this season of Tough Enough. A few model-looking women and quite a few nondescript looking guys. It's too weird seeing M-Dogg 20 in there with these guys. Austin puts over the trainers and the kids before letting the kids introduce themselves briefly to everyone. First up is a blonde kid named "Ryan Howe", who claims to be a rock and roller and a wrestler. I'll try to write down all of their names here, hold on..."Christina Crawford", followed by "AJ Kersh", "Arianna Andrews", "Luke Robinson", "Jeremiah Riggs", "Rima Fakih", "Michael Zaky", "Eric Watts" (big and black with an afro, so no, not Bill's kid), "Matt Cappicioni" (M-Dogg 20) and some other trashy skank as well as "Martin Kisouse" I think? I don't know, don't quote me on some of these names, it's just what they sounded like, I'm sure I misspelled a bunch of their names and whatever. Austin gets back on the mic and the crowd chants "Stun them all!" until The Miz's music hits and he comes out with a mic. Miz, having been on Tough Enough years ago, gets a nice pop from the crowd. Miz puts over his "valor and determination" while fighting Cena at Wrestlemania last night. He brags about his win last night and walks down to the ring, telling the Tough Enough contestants to soak in the spotlight now because this is as close as they'll ever get to a WWE championship. Oh you can just smell the stunner a mile away here. For some bizarre reason I've just noticed that Alex Riley next to him is wearing a tuxedo straight out of a James Bond film, looking ridiculous. The crowd chants "One more match!" at Steve as Miz challenges Austin here and now to "one more match". Austin has the Tough Enough contestants clear the ring and as soon as they do Miz and Riley get a cheap shot on Austin and Riley works him over in the corner. Austin of course turns the tables, stomps a mudhole in Riley, and then gives him a Lou Thesz press. He gives Riley the Stunner and the crowd loves it of course. Austin celebrates with some beers and ends up tossing a bunch of beers to each of the contestants, which for some reason the crowd actually boos (and wow they boo even louder when one or two of them don't catch Steve's throw). Austin and the Tough Enough contestants all celebrate with your traditional beer bash until Austin comes over to Cole in his Cole Mine and he pours a couple of beers on Cole and his equipment. The look on Michael Cole's face is hilarious in a sad, solemn kind of way after all of this. I get hyping Tough Enough for later, but this was a bit too long of a segment for what it was.


Alberto Del Rio vs. Evan Bourne

Let's see where Del Rio's push stands after last night's semi-burial. Bourne doesn't even get a ring entrance, so it looks like jobber city for him tonight. Del Rio dominates to start before Bourne hits a spinning heel kick. Del Rio hits him with a big boot in the corner and then kicks Bourne out to the floor. He follows him out and just tosses him into the barricade before throwing him back into the ring for a near fall. Small but noticeable "Del Rio!" chant starts up while Bourne rolls up Del Rio for a quick two count. Bourne hits a big jumping knee and gets another near fall. Bourne sets up for the Air Bourne but Del Rio runs up with his big running enziguri and then locks on the flying armbar to finish Bourne off at 2:43. Just a total squash to try and get back some of Del Rio's squandered heat, but I don't like having Bourne do the job duty here as they continue to seriously waste that kid. Just filler really. ¼*


After a commercial break we return to see Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler come out. Usual "Excuse me!" heat-seeking stuff as apparently they're facing Morrison and Trish next. Glad to see Trish still sticking around, for now atleast. She looked good last night and I'd actually love to see her return to the women's division, though I'm doubtful that will ever happen.


John Morrison/Trish Stratus vs. Dolph Ziggler/Vickie Guerrero

Ziggler and Morrison start us off briefly but it's not long before Vickie tags in, bringing Trish in. Vickie tries to replicate Snooki's handspring back elbow but fails miserably in some lame comedy stuff. Trish rolls her up for a near fall and then lays in some big chops. Trish really deserves more than this man. Vickie gets a cheap shot and gets a near fall of her own. Vickie misses a butt splash and Morrison and Ziggler tag back in. Morrison hits a leg lariat and then misses a springboard cross-body block attempt. Ziggler gives Morrison a German suplex that takes him all the way inside out, 360 degrees for a close two count before Trish breaks it up and slaps the taste out of Ziggles' mouth. This sets up Morrison for the Starship Pain, and that puts Ziggler away at 3:24. Again just a waste of time here. Vickie's comedy is lame, Trish is being wasted, and we'd all rather just see Morrison and Ziggler wrestle each other without all these women thrown in the mix. ½*


WWE US Title Match
Sheamus © vs. Daniel Bryan


Hey look! It's those hard-working, over midcarders who had their match disposed of in favor of some Big Show comedy wrestling. I figured they would just disappear forever. Glad to see we're getting this match tonight at the very least though. Sheamus has new trunks. Sheamus overpowers Bryan to start with a big double axe handle for a near fall. Bryan gets tossed into the corner and Sheamus stomps on his fingers and lays in some stiff forearms as the crowd is pretty dead here since they've done everything in their power to totally kill Bryan's heat over the last few months and it seems they've finally accomplished their goal. Sheamus locks Bryan into an abdominal stretch as a nice "Daniel Bryan!" chant starts up. See, even when being buried the kid's still over. Sheamus hits the Irish Curse backbreaker but Bryan gets the shoulder up at two again. Bryan finally gets some offense in with a few big kicks and a couple of clotheslines and he hits a running knee for a two count. Bryan tries for the LaBelle Lock, which gets a nice pop, but Sheamus powers out and counters with a nice backbreaker and follows it with the big Brogue Kick which is enough for the win at 3:52. And the Daniel Bryan burial continues. I like Sheamus and as a former WWE champ it's no huge insult for Bryan to lose to him, but he's been beaten clean by Sheamus several times now in under five minutes, and it's not helping anyone at all. Decent for the time it got I guess.


After the match Sheamus continues the beatdown on Bryan until suddenly Sin Cara's music hits and the Mexican sensation is live here on RAW! He sprints down to the ring hits a big jumping hurricanrana on Sheamus followed by an spin kick and then he flies off the top rope with a BEAUTIFUL cross-body, wiping out Sheamus. He runs off afterwards. Not quite the debut most of us were expecting, but he showed some of his high-flying ability and the crowd clearly is going to LOVE this guy once they get to really see him work, so this was an exciting debut.


After a quick commercial break we return and John Cena's music hits as he comes out to his expected boos at this point. Things seemed to turn around in 2010 for Cena in terms of fan reactions, but ever since The Rock returned he's gone back to almost 2006-levels of fan heat. Cena gets to the ring and grabs the mic, lamenting on The Rock's actions last night at Wrestlemania, costing him his title match. Cena doesn't seem to hold it against The Rock though, and seems glad that the match didn't end in a draw. He congratulates The Miz and says that he's earned everyone's respect. For what? Pinning him after a Rock Bottom? Cena says it's obvious that The Rock doesn't like or respect him very much. He says The Rock got involved in his business last night, so they have some business of their own to settle right now. And with that The Rock's music hits and the Great One makes his way out to the ring. "Fruity Pebbles!" chant starts up as the two men eye each other in the middle of the ring. The Rock says that Cena had to know what was going to happen last night after what he did last week on RAW, as it's what the people love. He says Cena is wrong about respect though, and The Rock claims to respect Cena (which gets some boos stupidly). He says that he knows Cena lives and breathes the WWE and it was that drive that made him one of the best WWE champions of all time. This doesn't change the fact though that he just flat out doesn't like Cena. The Rock claims they are completely opposite in how they look, talk, and fight, but they're very similar in how they both want to be the best at whatever they do. Rock cracks a joke on Cena's fashion, and Cena cracks at him about the Tooth Fairy movie. Cena tells The Rock to listen to the people and that everyone is there not because they want them to talk, but they want them to WRESTLE. Cena says the fans want to see John Cena vs. The Rock, comparing it to legendary match-ups like Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James or Muhammed Ali vs. Mike Tyson. Cena asks The Rock if he wants to talk about it, or "bring it", and takes his shirt off. The Rock tells Cena he has "no idea" what he just asked for. The Rock says he's asking for the biggest match-up of all time and he says they put it on the grandest stage of them all, at Wrestlemania 28! The Rock offers Cena his hand...and Cena shakes it! We are ON Ladies and Gentlemen! The biggest match up in YEARS is officially on the cards! Afterwards suddenly The Corre runs down to ringside and surrounds The Rock and Cena in the ring. They enter the ring and beat down both Cena and The Rock for a bit until Cena hits Heath Slater with the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Not to be outdone of course, The Rock gives Wade Barrett a spinebuster and delivers the People's Elbow to him! Slater gets the Attitude Adjustment and Rock gives Barrett the Rock Bottom as this has become a game of one-upmanship here. We close out the show with The Rock and Cena celebrating in the ring.


Bottom Line: Decent show for the most part here. We got a great tag match between Punk/Rhodes and Orton/Mysterio which gave the show some badly needed wrestling, but they still ended up having several segments that were just flat out filler if not total wastes of the audience's time. Sin Cara's debut was fun if a bit underwhelming and having him take out Sheamus like that was a great way to introduce him to the WWE fans. Fortunately though the final closing segment to tonight's show saved it by FINALLY confirming that The Rock vs. John Cena WILL happen, and thank god because if they didn't truly build up to an actual match then many, MANY fans were going to be royally pissed about the end of Wrestlemania. The finish to the show sealed it as a good show though, because finally we get confirmation for what will be the biggest hyped match in many, many years. Thumbs Up.


Score: 6.5/10

REMEMBER! You can find ALL of my reviews and match ratings at my blog:
X's Wrestling Review
 
HHH's interview about his match at Wrestlemania was really good. Paying respect to Taker for their absolute war of a match at Mania. It was cool seeing HHH thank Taker at the end of the segment. The fans were totally into this segment.

Michael Cole coming out and pronouncing himself Mr. Wrestlemania is just plain laughable. Cole offering a rematch to Lawler and tricking him to fight Swagger was kinda predictable in my opinion. The match itself was pretty lackluster. The blowoff for this feud should've been at Wrestlemania, and not still continuing. Cole spraying JR with barbeque sauce makes me wanna punch him in the face. He's doing his job well of being an utterly annoying heel.

The Punk/Rhodes vs Orton/Mysterio tag match was good I thought. The match was given around 15 minutes, which was a plus. I would've liked to have seen more Punk action in this match. This group seems to work pretty well together.

Austin plugging TE and bringing out the contestants was time consuming. Did anybody really care to see each person introduce themselves? That's what watching the show is for. Miz coming out and talking trash to Steve was the highlight of the segment. Typical jumping of Austin from Miz and A-Ri. Austin gives the fans what they want by hitting Riley with the usual. Awesome ending by Austin pouring beer in Cole Mine.

ADR vs Bourne was pretty dumb in my opinion. I get wanting to make ADR look strong due to his loss at Mania, but why Bourne?? I swear Bourne has the worst luck in the E.

Ziggler/Guerrero vs Stratus/Morrison was pretty bland. Can we PLEASE drop the divas and have Ziggler/Morrison feud? The kick and SSP looked awesome as Ziggler sold both moves really well I thought.

Sheamus/Bryan was pretty disappointing to me as well. Sheamus has just dominated Bryan in every match. Sin Cara coming out was sweet. The huge dive from the top was sick looking. Reminds me of Rey in the early cruiserweight days of WCW.

The Rock/Cena showdown to end the show was good. It's good that the E is giving the fans the match everyone wants to see. But really? REALLY? They are going to make us wait a whole year? I'm interested to see how the build-up is done throughout the year. The Corre hitting the ring at the end made no sense. Just a way for Rock and Cena to one-up another.

Overall, I thought Raw was pretty good tonight. Storylines were continued and there was some decent wrestling. I wish Sin Cara would've had an actual match. Cole is just overly annoying at times on commentary as well. I hope his heel persona is put to rest in the near future.
 
My damn power went out half way through the show so I missed the entire second half. Pissed me off pretty well but I enjoyed what I did see.

I thought Triple H's promo was really good, nice somber tone with some genuine emotions going on there. The stuff with Lawler, JR, & Cole worked out well for me and Cole is still generating monster heat. Lawler's match with Swagger was pretty decent for what it was while it lasted and I'm hoping that tonight isn't the last we see of Jim Ross commentating. I really enjoyed the tag match between Orton & Mysterio vs. Punk & Rhodes and was surprised to see this thing get about 16 minutes of time. Since the hype of WM, there's been a lack of good long tv matches and it's good that they're getting back into the swing of things. The crowd was hot for it and there was some good energy going on. Cody Rhodes has come a long way in my view since he was Randy Orton's stooge and was holding his own with Orton while he was in there. Overall, really good 3 star match in my view.

Just when Stone Cold was bringing out the Tough Enough cast is when the juice went out so I'm not really sure how this went. It sounds like the rest of the wrestling on the show was pretty uneventful overall and things were kept short due to the stuff with Cena & The Rock. Daniel Bryan is out of the United States Championship picture I'd say, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him head to SmackDown! before long and it looks like that maybe Sin Cara has tossed his hat into the ring. I was looking forward to seeing what he'd do tonight.

The live crowd might not have been all that hot for the announcement for John Cena vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 28 but I dig it personally. This could be the biggest hyped match we've seen in many, many, many years.
 
Can someone get me a timing for the content of Raw?

I know shows are split up by adverts, but this week's felt like a joke.

Out of a two hour show, it felt like there was an hour of adverts.

I don't care if Tough Enough is on next or that a DX DVD is on sale or that there's leftover Wrestlemania merchandise to sell.

They should have to show a logo that denotes product placement, as that's what Raw is, one long advert.
 

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