It's that time again. Here is my in-depth review of Monday's Raw show:
In-ring action: 14.5/20
1.) Primo and Epico beat Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne to retain the tag titles. Epico and Primo looked ok in the match and showed some mean streak by beating Bourne. This contest was a bit short, but there was a bit of decent action.
2.) Swagger destroyed Zack Ryder to become the US champ. Not much of a match. Ryder had next to no offense and they really played up the injury angle.
3.) Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox beat the Bella twins after Perez Hilton prevented them from using “twin magic”. There were no real tags in this 1-minute match and it was another example of WWE not giving time to the divas or caring about their division as a proper wrestling group. 5 more minutes would have given the girls a chance to showcase their skill.
4.) R-Truth wins the battle royal. The match was ok. A few real wrestling moves and a lot of time spent trying to throw opponents over the ropes. It was a good mini-preview of the Rumble match and was a good way to build hype
5.) Brodus “Funkasaurus” Clay took apart JTG in a quick match. It was too fast and JTG had no offense at all. Cay was awesome in the ring, though, as he has added a lot of humour and charisma to his character. I like how he is developing.
6.) John Cena acted like a madman and destroyed Jack Swagger before their non-title match could get going. No wrestling moves to speak of, but it was a breath of fresh air for Cena to do something different and show a vicious side.
7.) The six-man tag was absolutely brilliant, thanks to Chris Jericho. The match was unspectacular until the aforementioned Jericho was tagged in, played to the crowd and walked away. He has all the charisma in the world and his actions were hilarious. Foley running in was a good way to make use of Mick being there and he brought the mandible claw and his usual repertoire to the contest. Him ending the match took away a chance for one of the others to build heat/momentum, though.
On the Mic: 9/10
CM Punk and John Laurinitus had awesome nights on the mic. Punk had a Steve Austin-level of attitude and willingness to kick ass. Laurinitus, on the other hand, finally showed some emotion and a mean streak with his words. His character is building depth and he is finally getting entertaining to watch.
Mick Foley was the same old Foley on the stick. He was entertaining enough, but not phenomenal.
Dolph Ziggler continued to show he has the skills to be the next big heel. His speaking skills were great, as he showed no remorse and a lot of cockiness when taunting Foley. He is one to keep watching.
Finally, Kane kept the heat on himself by playing the devil that is slowly turning Cena. He played that character well in his short speeh this week.
Storylines: 8/10
The continuations of the Miz-Truth storyline is similar every week, but entertaining every time, due to the development oR-Truth. Fans love him and he gets more outrageously funny every week. It’s all leading to a good Rumble match. Truth got more momentum by winning the battle royal, making him a legitimate threat to win the Rumble match and establishing him as a main-eventer or almost main-eventer.
Cena is playing a good Luke Skywalker to Kane’s Emperor Palpatine. He is teasing a turn to the dark side, but may pull off a last-second salvation ala the Jedi Knight. It’s all leading to an epic Rumble match.
Swagger beating Ryder was necessitated by the “injuries” that Ryder needs to push the storyline mentioned above forward. I understand it, but I wish that Ryder didn’t have to be the scapegoat to help push the Cena angle. Maybe there is real truth to the injuries or Ryder just needed some time off.
Johnny “Ace” Laurinitus did a great job pushing his character forward and solidified himself as a real bastard of a heel. Telling Mick Foley that he was going to screw Punk at the Royal Rumble and then attacking Foley show that he has a mean streak and makes the Punk/Ziggler match more interesting.
The rivalry between the Bellas and Perez Hilton was a bit of fluff thrown in the show, as it won’t lead anywhere. The divas continue to not be taken seriously.
So, it appears that Mick Foley will now also fued with Mr. Laurinitus and may be in the Royal Rumble. He will be one of the nostalgia entries who likely won’t last long. This angle didn’t add much to the major storylines taking place on RAW
Announcers: 3.5/5
Cole actually spent more time calling matches this week, keeping the editorializing to a minimum. It was still eye-gougingly painful at times, but a step in the right direction for sure. The King was his normal self and the commentators didn't take away much from the show, which they usually do.
Crowd: 4/5
Chris Jericho really got the crowd boiling and popping, even though he didn't actually wrestle and is trying to be a heel. CM Punk and Mick Foley also got huge cheers from the crowd, which was much more alive than last week. The audience was certainly into most of the show and what a huge difference that makes.
Overall: 39/50
Raw was much more exciting than last week. The crowd being jacked helped a lot, but the great mic work by Punk and Johnny Ace really did, too. There was also some fun in-ring action provided by Jericho and Clay and the announcers actually mentioned a few wrestling moves for a change. Too bad the divas were an afterthought again.
Your thoughts?
1.) Primo and Epico beat Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne to retain the tag titles. Epico and Primo looked ok in the match and showed some mean streak by beating Bourne. This contest was a bit short, but there was a bit of decent action.
2.) Swagger destroyed Zack Ryder to become the US champ. Not much of a match. Ryder had next to no offense and they really played up the injury angle.
3.) Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox beat the Bella twins after Perez Hilton prevented them from using “twin magic”. There were no real tags in this 1-minute match and it was another example of WWE not giving time to the divas or caring about their division as a proper wrestling group. 5 more minutes would have given the girls a chance to showcase their skill.
4.) R-Truth wins the battle royal. The match was ok. A few real wrestling moves and a lot of time spent trying to throw opponents over the ropes. It was a good mini-preview of the Rumble match and was a good way to build hype
5.) Brodus “Funkasaurus” Clay took apart JTG in a quick match. It was too fast and JTG had no offense at all. Cay was awesome in the ring, though, as he has added a lot of humour and charisma to his character. I like how he is developing.
6.) John Cena acted like a madman and destroyed Jack Swagger before their non-title match could get going. No wrestling moves to speak of, but it was a breath of fresh air for Cena to do something different and show a vicious side.
7.) The six-man tag was absolutely brilliant, thanks to Chris Jericho. The match was unspectacular until the aforementioned Jericho was tagged in, played to the crowd and walked away. He has all the charisma in the world and his actions were hilarious. Foley running in was a good way to make use of Mick being there and he brought the mandible claw and his usual repertoire to the contest. Him ending the match took away a chance for one of the others to build heat/momentum, though.
On the Mic: 9/10
CM Punk and John Laurinitus had awesome nights on the mic. Punk had a Steve Austin-level of attitude and willingness to kick ass. Laurinitus, on the other hand, finally showed some emotion and a mean streak with his words. His character is building depth and he is finally getting entertaining to watch.
Mick Foley was the same old Foley on the stick. He was entertaining enough, but not phenomenal.
Dolph Ziggler continued to show he has the skills to be the next big heel. His speaking skills were great, as he showed no remorse and a lot of cockiness when taunting Foley. He is one to keep watching.
Finally, Kane kept the heat on himself by playing the devil that is slowly turning Cena. He played that character well in his short speeh this week.
Storylines: 8/10
The continuations of the Miz-Truth storyline is similar every week, but entertaining every time, due to the development oR-Truth. Fans love him and he gets more outrageously funny every week. It’s all leading to a good Rumble match. Truth got more momentum by winning the battle royal, making him a legitimate threat to win the Rumble match and establishing him as a main-eventer or almost main-eventer.
Cena is playing a good Luke Skywalker to Kane’s Emperor Palpatine. He is teasing a turn to the dark side, but may pull off a last-second salvation ala the Jedi Knight. It’s all leading to an epic Rumble match.
Swagger beating Ryder was necessitated by the “injuries” that Ryder needs to push the storyline mentioned above forward. I understand it, but I wish that Ryder didn’t have to be the scapegoat to help push the Cena angle. Maybe there is real truth to the injuries or Ryder just needed some time off.
Johnny “Ace” Laurinitus did a great job pushing his character forward and solidified himself as a real bastard of a heel. Telling Mick Foley that he was going to screw Punk at the Royal Rumble and then attacking Foley show that he has a mean streak and makes the Punk/Ziggler match more interesting.
The rivalry between the Bellas and Perez Hilton was a bit of fluff thrown in the show, as it won’t lead anywhere. The divas continue to not be taken seriously.
So, it appears that Mick Foley will now also fued with Mr. Laurinitus and may be in the Royal Rumble. He will be one of the nostalgia entries who likely won’t last long. This angle didn’t add much to the major storylines taking place on RAW
Announcers: 3.5/5
Cole actually spent more time calling matches this week, keeping the editorializing to a minimum. It was still eye-gougingly painful at times, but a step in the right direction for sure. The King was his normal self and the commentators didn't take away much from the show, which they usually do.
Crowd: 4/5
Chris Jericho really got the crowd boiling and popping, even though he didn't actually wrestle and is trying to be a heel. CM Punk and Mick Foley also got huge cheers from the crowd, which was much more alive than last week. The audience was certainly into most of the show and what a huge difference that makes.
Overall: 39/50
Raw was much more exciting than last week. The crowd being jacked helped a lot, but the great mic work by Punk and Johnny Ace really did, too. There was also some fun in-ring action provided by Jericho and Clay and the announcers actually mentioned a few wrestling moves for a change. Too bad the divas were an afterthought again.
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