Lumberjacks surround the ring as Sheamus battles CM Punk. Great match with Rhodes Scholars defeating Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara to win the WWE Tag Team Championship tournament. It's been over two months since we've seen a match kick off Raw, so it was certainly a refreshing change of pace. It put further emphasis on the growing tag team division and all four guys worked hard to produce an entertaining contest. Rhodes Scholars going over clean and advancing to Hell in a Cell was logical booking, but was the best choice. Team Hell No appearing on the Titantron following the bout was also a nice touch. Brief match with Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston defeating Michael McGillicutty. It was strange to see McGillicutty work as a heel here since he worked as babyface at a Raw live event I attended, but it was still nice exposure for him on Raw. The crowd's "Mr. Perfect" chant was easily the highlight of this match. We saw the same match on Main Event last week, and McGillicutty losing so quickly doesn't give me hope he won't he won't be used as a legitimate mid-carder anytime soon. The Miz tried his best on commentary to build his title match with Kingston at Hell in a Cell, but the feud has been so rushed that it's hard to get invested in it. Still, props to WWE for at least trying to hype their title encounter on Sunday. Strong segment featuring John Cena and WWE Champion CM Punk. Cena is always his best on the mic when he's serious, and there was no exception to that here. He and Punk had a great verbal exchange per usual and even helped build the WWE title match on Sunday despite Ryback not appearing in this segment (which he didn't need to). Cena must get involved at Hell in a Cell somehow in order to increase pay-per-view buys, so I'm intrigued as to what his role might be at the event. Good match between United States Champion Antonio Cesaro and Justin Gabriel. As I said last week, these two could make for a good feud if given a story-line, and that's exactly what we got here. Cesaro has been built up strongly in recent weeks, so that made Gabriel's shocking upset victory over the U.S. Champ all the more exciting. The crowd popped nicely for Gabriel's win, so this gives me hope they're starting to get behind his character. This was a brilliant move on WWE's part, as this is a rivalry I can certainly get excited about with the great matches between the two that we're bound to see. Strange segment that featured AJ's resignation as Raw General Manager. We knew it was bound to happen at some point with all the foreshadowing they've done in recent months and the fact that her resignation was vastly overdue, but did it need to happen on the go-home show? Why not next week on the road to Survivor Series? AJ's promo was well done, but announcing Vickie Guerrero as her replacement for the time being is a questionable move in my book. Sure, she still garners tons of heat and this might very well slowly split her from Dolph Ziggler, but we've seen her in charge one too many times before. I was looking for a fresh face to take over, but apparently that wasn't the case. I'd love to think this is all building towards something huge, but the fact Vickie's new title is "Managing Supervisor" isn't reassuring. Basic squash match with Ryback destroying The Miz. I was surprised at how little offense Miz scored on Ryback, but I guess it makes sense to have Ryback looking strong going into his pending WWE Championship match. However, Miz also has a title match coming up, and this match obviously did him no favors. It never ceases to amaze me why they continue to waste the talents of the Awesome One, but there's always the chance that he reclaims the Intercontinental Championship on Sunday after being booked so terribly as of late.
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Randy Orton successfully executes an RKO onto The Miz. Entertaining opening segment featuring The Miz, Team Hell No, Big Show and Dolph Ziggler on Miz TV. Miz was hilarious on the mic here with the WWE Tag Team Champions, and the verbal exchange also including Show and Ziggler was well done. Miz calling out Booker T on making predictable matches was nice to see, which subsequently set up matches for later in the night. This is how Miz TV can be both entertaining and effective simultaneously. Good match between Randy Orton and The Miz. Both of them scored offense on one another, thus making for an enjoyable opening bout. Sure, having Miz compete for the third time this week was a bit much, but I give him props for working a good match with the Viper that received great time as well. Alberto Del Rio watching from the box seats and being interviewed by Matt Striker was also a nice touch in making his rivalry with Orton feel meaningful. Nice tag team match with Team Rhodes Scholars defeating Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel. Their styles meshed nicely and made for a fun matchup while it lasted. Of course, Kidd and Gabriel deserve better, but they weren't completely squashed. Besides, the purpose of this contest was to further the momentum of Rhodes and Sandow, so the bout was successful in that aspect. Great match with WWE Tag Team Champions Kane and Daniel Bryan defeating the tandem of Big Show and Dolph Ziggler. While it looked obscurely random on paper, it was given some meaning earlier in the night, so it was somewhat logical. The antics of Team Hell No have cooled off as of late, but they're allowing their amazing abilities inside the ring speak for them, which is a great change of pace. I didn't mind Ziggler taking the loss here since Show will be contending for the World Heavyweight Championship next Sunday, but it was still awesome as always seeing him sell like a champ throughout the bout. Having Rhodes Scholars attack Team Hell No following the bout was smart booking, as it helps build towards the pending WWE Tag Team title match at Hell in a Cell. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Great opening segment. Devon immediately turned the crowd against him with his strong promo. While I have never been a major fan of Devon as a singles competitor, he works much better in this role a part of Aces and 8s. Sting's promo was also well done and set up the main event nicely. I realize some people are against the idea of Devon being the leader of the stable, but they'll be glad to know he isn't since it was revealed that he is third in command of the group. Brief match with Samoa Joe defeating Robbie E to retain his TNA Television Championship. It was nothing special, but still a decisive win for Joe. I'm glad to see they are following through on their promise to have the TV title defended every week on Impact as they should, and there's no guy better than Joe to feature more prominently. Ryback lays out WWE Champion CM Punk at the end of Raw. Fun match between Big Show and Daniel Bryan. The crowd loved Daniel Bryan and his antics, and Bryan told a nice David and Goliath story with Big Show. However, after losing to Alberto Del Rio decisively a few days ago on SmackDown, I'm not high on the move to have Bryan lose yet another match clean, even if it makes Big Show come off as a beast. Also, having Show kick off Raw was strange, as his promo was what we've been hearing from him for weeks now. Not the hottest Raw opener in recent weeks, that's for sure. Standard promo from WWE Champion CM Punk. He generated good heel heat and continued to tease who he chose to face at Hell in a Cell. Of course, we'll never know now since Vince McMahon interrupted in logical fashion, announcing he'd make the decision himself later that night. We've seen better promos for Punk, but this was at least effective in setting up the contract signing later in the night. Fine match between Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay. The Funkasaurus didn't receive an entrance, so that pretty much guaranteed we'd be seeing him job out to Del Rio here. However, Clay sold the offense well and Jim Ross put over Del Rio's recent ruthless aggression on commentary. Personally, I'm just disappointed they made no mention of Clay being Del Rio's NXT Rookie at one point last year. Brief match with the Prime Time Players defeating Zack Ryder and Santino Marella. We've seen the match multiple times before, so it was nothing new, but it help Titus O'Neil and Darren Young regain lost momentum. They have great potential and I'm glad to see their push continue despite being eliminated from the WWE Tag Team Championship tournament. I didn't really care for the run-in from Encore following the bout, other than the fact that it felt random and stupid, but hey, at least they're being utilized on television. Smart booking with Ryback defeating David Otunga and Dolph Ziggler in a Handicap match. Otunga and Ziggler are two (somewhat) credible stars, so Ryback scoring a victory over the two of the them makes him look credible. The best part is that Ziggler wasn't even involved in the finish and didn't have to take the pin, as he abandoned Otunga before that was made possible. A potential Ryback and Ziggler feud is intriguing, but it feels like filler for Ziggler as he awaits his eventual Money in the Bank cash-in. Good match with United States Champion Antonio Cesaro defeating Justin Gabriel. The finish to these Cesaro squashes on Raw each week are never in doubt, but they still contain good action that makes both him and his opponent look good. Gabriel hitting the 450 Splash but not scoring the victory was a nice tease, and Cesaro continues be dominant with this win. I appreciate the effort in building his gimmick via the pre-match vignettes, but he needs a legitimate feud with someone over the title for anyone to really invest in his character. Throwaway match with Kane quickly defeating Matt Striker. This basically offered the story-line backlash from last week's SmackDown, but was the match even necessary? I, for one, like Striker and found Kane's post-match "interview" with him to be humorous, but it was merely meaningless. It's also interesting to note that Striker's last singles match on Raw prior to this episode was also against Kane in August 2008, right before he became a full-time broadcaster. |
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