[Dicko Author's Note: I'm hoping to make this a recurring post in which I review WWE Monday Night Raw. But for now, just enjoy this one.]
Segment 1. Ryback's in-ring promo. Vicki Guerrero interrupts. Ryback def. Tensai.
A good showcase for Ryback who needs to continue to be booked strong.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 2. Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett, Part One.
The conspiracy to keep a belt on Kofi continues. Wade's post-Survivor Series promo was excellent. Spoke like he actually cares about the Intercontinental title.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 3. Barrett def. Kofi. Brad Maddox video package. Punk, Heyman & Stryker backstage.
I was surprised at how well Cole and Lawler sold for Barrett, even pointing out his strategy. Classic example of winning a crowd with wrestling. Match started slowly but with Barrett dominating in ruthless fashion. Then the fast-paced finish really got the crowd back into it. Crowd pops for a Barrett win. Excellent build to an eventual title match.
Don't know what the payoff is in the Maddox angle but the video package was well done.
Striker's pornstache nearly distracted from the entire backstage segment with Punk and Heyman.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 4. Kaitlyn def. Aksana.
These girls are both sloppy but the action came across as stiff. I was more impressed with Aksana's character. I have yet to be impressed with Kaitlyn. Not a terrible effort. At least it was mercifully short.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 5. Antonio Cesaro def. Brodus Clay. R-Truth on commentary. John Cena, Make-A-Wish video package.
I don't really care about Brodus Clay losing because I don't believe the character had any real longevity to begin with. He can still lose and be given the occasional push now and then. Cesaro on the other hand, has a very bright future. I think he has impressed crowds enough with in-ring performances like this one to be taken seriously and I like that they're taking the time to build toward something with R-Truth even though he sucked on commentary.
Although we're all tired of John Cena, this video piece was excellent PR for the company. More wrestling promotions, meaning TNA, could learn from this.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 6. Vicki, AJ & John Cena in-ring. Dolph Ziggler attacks Cena. Cena gets "injured."
Vicki still has legitimate heat. AJ still gets a big pop. That's what makes this situation eerily similar to the Cena-Zack Ryder-Eve Torres angle from a year ago. Ryder was the trendy Superstar who seemingly came out of nowhere and suddenly developed a cult following. Cena was out of the title picture at the time, so I guess it was easy to stick him in a program with a guy who was already over. That way the fans are guaranteed to be emotionally invested. Unfortunately it didn't work out to well for Ryder so I'm not terribly optimistic for AJ's future. She's a talented actress but not a great wrestler though so, the way I see it, she doesn't have much a future anyway. Hopefully Ziggler avoids any negative blowback from his involvement in this angle and ends up in perfect position for cashing in his MITB contract.
Basically, this angle shouldn't be happening. I think there are better ways of putting this talent to use rather than sacrificing them all on the altar of WWE's Golden Goose and Cena and AJ's make-out session was just gross.
Last Word: MINUS -
Segment 7. ADR vs. Randy Orton, Part One
Del Rio really needs a gimmick change. It's like he's doing "The Darn Amigos" and nobody cares. Randy Orton, on the other hand, has reached that point in his career where he is now a "Money Guy." You put his name on the card, I think fans are going to show up and go home happy to have seen him regardless of what else happened on the rest of the show.
BUT...the reason for that is because he's a winner. Sure, he may lose from time to time, but he's never gone on a real lengthy losing streak the way some other guys have, Ziggler most notably. So yes, he has the great look, the cool gimmick, the cool move, he's got decent charisma and is a pretty good worker, but most importantly, he has the respect of the fans. This is where WWE really needs to re-evaluate the handling of their talent and strongly consider bringing back squash matches even for top level talent and not just debuting monsters. And by squash matches, I mean against local talent or journeymen vets who are no longer worried about getting a push. If that did that, perhaps they might a few more "Money Guys."
I appreciated the psychology behind Del Rio getting DQ'd in the first fall.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 8. Orton def. Del Rio.
The crowd really came alive toward the end of this match and I attribute that to their respect for Orton and the excellent psychology employed throughout the match.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 9. Great Khali squashes Primo & Epico.
I don't understand this. At all. There seems to be some effort finally being put into rebuilding the tag team division and you sacrifice two very good workers to a sideshow freak? Khali may be an attraction in the carnival sense, but he's not a good worker the way Andre the Giant was. Andre knew psychology. Khali just knows how to be a big guy. Regardless of what their future plans are for everyone involved in this segment, this was an utter failure in every way.
Hornswoggle's involvement is just more dung heaped on the pile.
Last Word: MINUS -
Segment 10. The Miz def. David Otunga.
They're not a little late for a Miz face turn, they're a lot late. This turn should have come at WrestleMania. What has the Miz done since his involvement in that Team Laurenitis vs. Team Teddy Long fiasco? Provide horrible color commentary? The last eight months have been a waste of a solid talent.
That being said, I believe Miz will make a great face as long as he doesn't change his character and become a pandering John Cena clone.
This was a good showcase for both guys. I don't have a problem with Otunga losing to someone like Miz at this point in his career.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 11. Sheamus-Big Show, dueling microphones. Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow, Part One.
We're entering the third hour so every segment is going to have to really impress me because at this point I'd much rather be doing something else.
I don't understand why Sheamus is being such a whiny bitch. I felt like they finally "made" him at Hell In A Cell with his show-stealing performance against Big Show and now it's like the crowd is back to hating him. Griping to referees isn't helping, I'm sure.
The verbal sparring match between he and Show started out verrrrrry slowly but eventually got heated only then they kept stepping on each other. "You listen to me!" "No, YOU listen to ME!"
First part of the match was nothing spectacular.
Last Word: MINUS -
Segment 12. Sheamus def. Damien Sandow. AJ, Tamina & Vicki backstage.
Good showing for Sandow even though he lost. He controlled most of the match, just got careless and Sheamus was able to pull out a win. Sheamus fired up at the end but I think he could've done more with that comeback to really get the crowd on his side. They didn't pop like they did during Orton's comeback win. Perhaps they're couldn't get off their seats because all their asses and feet had fallen asleep after sitting for over two hours.
Sheamus has "Money Guy" potential but I'm afraid they're still just pushing him too hard and there's something about his character that comes across as unlikeable.
It's nice to see Tamina re-packaged. I think she's one of the better female wrestlers on the roster. This segment is penalized though by the fact that it's tied to John Cena.
Last Word: MINUS -
Segment 13. AJ, Layla walking backstage. AJ confronts Dolph then attacks him. Cena tries to rescue and gets beaten up.
Strong showing by Dolph but Cena's involvement just feels so contrived that the whole angle is falling flat for me.
Last Word: MINUS -
Segment 14. Sin Cara & Rey Mysterio vs. Team Hell No, Part One with Prime Time Players on commentary.
I'll bet Darren Young was wishing he had taken Monday night off the way Michael Cole was raking him over the coals! Titus O'Neil on the other hand, held his own on commentary. I was impressed.
This is a match-up of four "Money Guys." For all his botcharifficness, Sin Cara has been built up well since Day One and he wins consistently. Go figure. You book a wrestler as a force to be reckoned with and the fans actually take him seriously!
Can Daniel Bryan be any fucking hotter? He has really proven to be a survivor the way he has found something to keep himself relevant despite the company's best efforts to bury him and take everything away that got him over.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 15. Tag match, Part Two.
PTP get involved and one of the teams gets DQ'd as a result (can't remember which). Decent match. Nice way to bring some attention to the tag team division.
Last Word: PLUS +
Segment 16. CM Punk's celebration. Ryback interferes gets jumped again by Rollins, Ambrose and Reins.
The focus of this angle is the WWE title and I like that. Punk and Heyman had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands. They're not trying to be liked. They're trying to be hated and so far, they're succeeding. Heyman even went so far as to turn the Attitude Era and ECW heel by current WWE Universe standards.
I think Punk was given a raw deal as a babyface champ. I think he could've been booked much better than he was. But I also feel like he's much more comfortable in this role.
Not sure where this is leading for Ryback's young attackers but even if they end up like the Nexus did, they could still bounce back from that the way Ryback, Barrett, Bryan, and Heath Slater all have.
Last Word: PLUS +
Final tally: 11 PLUS +, 5 MINUS -
Yes, I am regarding this as a MOSTLY GOOD episode of Raw. My chief points of praise are:
+ Plenty of in-ring action with good psychology for the three hours.
+ Handling of the secondary singles titles. Making them seem important.
My chief complaints would be:
- John Cena being shoehorned into an angle with AJ, Vicki, and now Dolph.
- Meaningless squash of a good tag team for the sake of a Khali push.
That's just for this show. My chief complaints about WWE's product as a whole are the fact that at the 2-hour mark I'm done. Three hours is just WAY too long for a wrestling show. Two matches featuring the secondary singles champions seemed a bit redundant. One of those matches could've easily been moved to next week. The Khali squash of course, was a waste of time. And honestly, I can do without this whole Cena-AJ angle. Just give Cena some time off for crying out loud! His elbow injury was the perfect excuse to just give him a break until the Royal Rumble. I realize he's the company cash cow but so many fans are tired of him that getting him off our TV for awhile might make those that do hate him, hate him a little less and appreciate him more when he does come back.
My other complaint is, there are still FIVE MORE SHOWS TO GO! If this were the only WWE show for the week, I would be looking forward to how they're going to follow it up. The talent was left, for the most part, in a good position to further storylines and characters. But now, who knows what will have happened by the time next Monday rolls around?! Who knows what wrestlers will have lost unnecessarily just for the sake of filling time?
Anyhow, I'm rambling. I wish I could've kept this review shorter, but it's a three hour show? What can I do?
The WWE is not in a bad place right now with the established talent working with a lot of new faces. The overexposure however, is continuing to squelch my enthusiasm and I'm sure I'm not alone in this. I am looking forward to how things develop for next week though.
That's the last word for now, scrubs. Until next time, remember, you're feedback is important so leave a comment and tell your friends to check out the page and get involved as well. Now.....DISCUSS!
{Our intrepid author is a regular mention on his favorite wrestling show, The Shining Wizards Wrestling Podcast. Follow him on Twitter, @DansLastWord.}
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