Time for some wrestling on this wrestling and politics blog. Here are my thoughts on Monday's WWE Raw:
In-ring action: 13/20
1.) Sheamus pinned Jinder Mahal AGAIN. This time it was in a tag match, where Wade Barrett and Santino Marella barely got involved. Short, predictable match that didn't do anything to progress the story of any of the characters.
2.) Daniel Bryan beat Kofi Kingston when he caught Kingston with a Labelle lock off when Kofi jumped off the top rope. Good ending to a match that was way too short. Could have been excellent.
3.) Brodus "Funkasaurus" Clay beat Curt Hawkins in his re-debut. Clay was mildly amusing with his new character and did a little Val Venis-esque wiggle in the ring to confuse Hawkins. Ok match and Clay is finally showing some real personality during matches.
4.) CM Punk defeated Jack Swagger with the help of the referee. Decent match that was for some reason in the middle of the show. Punk won, which he probably was supposed to, when the ref didn't notice Swagger's shoulder up and counted to 3. Legit mistake me thinks, not storyline related.
5.) Beth Phoenix vs. Eve didn't happen because of the Kane attack and John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler got ruined by Kane as well. Too much Kane disruption for my liking.
On the Mic: 8 /10
Jericho garnering heat by saying nothing was genius again, especially when he started crying. Ricardo Rodriguez insulting R-Truth and Truth's response was pretty amusing and the Kane speech to start the show did a good job to progress the rivalry.
Storylines: 8 /10
Kane vs. Cena and friends progressed nicely, with Cena now getting to Cena by attacking his friends. Zack Ryder got attacked for being Cena's buddy and Eve got attacked for being Ryder's girl.
I didn't mind Daniel Bryan backing away from the slow heel turn by offering to fight Big Show any time. They want to do it slowly and hint that Bryan may stay good.
Miz calling out Truth and that rivalry ramping up will hopefully lead to a good Rumble match, which I would watch for sure.
Punk beating Swagger, which means Vickie and Swagger are banned from ringside at their title match at the Rumble, is good because it evens the odds out a bit (don't forget John Laurinaitis will be special referee and he DON'T LIKE Punk).
I didn't like the Diva's match being sacrificed for Kane/Cena, though, as it is another example of the WWE not taking women wrestlers seriously and it didn't do anything to make fans care about the ladies.
Anyone else find it weird that Flair is being inducted into the Hall of Fame again (along with the other 4 Horsemen), even though he is currently working for TNA and already in the hall?
Finally, Jericho is gold when he opens his mouth, but even better when he stays silent. He has made people hate him in 2 short weeks. Brilliant.
Announcers: 2.5/5
Michael Cole wasn't as loud and obnoxious as he usually is. He wasn't jumping up and down or interrupting matches, but all they do is argue and don't really call matches any more. I miss JR and true play-by-play announcing. The announcers are a reason people tune out instead of helping push talent to superstardom.
Crowd: 2/5
The crowd really never seemed that interested in the show, except for when Jericho showed up. There was a bit of a surprised pop for Funkasaurus Clay, but even CM Punk didn't liven the people up that much.
Overall: 33.5/50 -> An ok show that progressed storylines and had some OK mic work. The in-ring action could have been better and the announcers just don't make people care in the wrestlers, though. Also, the lack of sustained crowd pops is disappointing and why wasn't there more than a passing reference to the Royal Rumble match itself? The WWE should start building hype with qualifying matches and by discussing scenarios if certain people win the match.
Your thoughts?
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