What is up wrestling fans, I am the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 5/30/11. With it being Memorial Day, what would the WWE do to cap off the holiday? Well, let's find out and start with the review.
We open up the show with......what the hell? Ok, we appear to be having some problems on the WrestlingNerd show. Please stand by.....
After witnessing the black screen of death (curse you black screen of death), bad syncing, audio and visual problems, we see that R-Truth is in the ring. I should note that he was throwing a fit in the merchandise stands and was even talking to "little Jimmy" and "little Jimmy's father" (who are wearing John Cena shirts). Finally, just as it appears all of the technical difficulties are done, we see that Cena has made his way to the ring and calls Truth crazy. Truth continues this argument that Cena and the fans have plotted a conspiracy against him for not getting into the main event. Cena ads that he has no problems with a fight until the Raw GM reads the email. Michael Cole reads it and says tonight's main event will be Cena vs Truth tonight. Overall, definitely one of the strangest ways to open up the show and it was for all of the wrong reasons. There was some technical difficulties that took up most of the opening. I liked how King was blaming it on Truth because of how insane he is. It is possible that Truth might have hit something, but who really knows. I would normally comment on Truth's promo, but there was either no sound or the sync was completely off. From what it looked like, it looked like Truth was doing some decent promo skills here, but I really don't know. Anyway, we appear to be having a match later tonight. It is amazing how quickly Truth has risen into the main event slot. I am not even sure if he belongs here quite yet. Don't get me wrong, I really like Truth's current heel character, but it does seem he is getting a little rushed. Plus, he might just be thrown in there as bait for Cena because Cena always seems to win, but who knows?
Match #1: Kofi Kingston vs Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler is back to the bleach blonde hair, which I think was an improvment since he looked like a generic guy with his brown hair. This was a pretty decent match, but I have also see many Kofi/Ziggler matches. In fact, we have seen quite a few of these matches in a six month span. Were these those big plans for when they moved Ziggler from SD over to Raw? Oh well, I shouldn't be too shocked since Ziggler is still missing tools to go further in this company, mainly a personality. The finish comes when Ziggler hangs onto the ropes when Kofi attempts SOS. With the counter, Ziggler hits Zig Zag and wins the match cleanly. With this type of win for Ziggler, it basically sets up another rivalry between Ziggler and Kofi. While the two work well together, it does seem kinda lazy to just recycle a feud that happened six months ago. Heck, I think they had a feud prior that, so I think this is three feuds between Kofi and Ziggler in a span of a year....damn. Sorry, but this seems like something you would see on Impact Wrestling, and I am sure that isn't a good thing. I just hope they do something a little different this time around.
Winner via pinfall: Dolph Ziggler
A brief Alberto Del Rio promo after a commercial break. He says that the Vehicular Manslaughter attempt was just an accident and claims that this is all Big Show's fault (The strange thing is that it is all Show's fault. If he wasn't standing next to Del Rio's car and assulting Ricardo Rodriguez, none of this would have never happen. Show is the good guy, right?). He ends the segment by saying that Show must pay for the damages to his car. Not a whole lot to say about this segment. It appears that a Del Rio/Show rivalry is in the works. I would only hope that Del Rio goes over Show since he needs it more than Show..... but you already knew that. Oh, and when did Show turn into a bear? Seriously, go look at this scene and they show Show growling like a bear during all of this.
Match #2: Eve and Kelly Kelly vs Bella Twins
Little Guido has been referring a lot lately since he appears on television every week for the last month. The match is about what you expect and was pretty boring. The finish comes when Kelly hits an Imfamasser on one of the Bellas and wins the match. Of course there was no Kharma appearance for this spot because they already had another segment planned for her later tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if the audience reaction to this match was "Who the f*** cares about these divas, where is that Kharma? She is actually interesting". Seriously, Kharma is the most over diva at the moment while nobody really cares about the rest of these ladies.
Winner via pinfall: Kelly Kelly and Eve
We are back in the ring where Cole is basically calling out Alex Riley (Who got a massive pop tonight). He tells him that he should apologize to the Miz because the Miz has been like a father to Riley. After Cole is done working the shaft, Riley tells him to shut up because he is as annoying as the Miz. Cole then calls Riley a bastard (Wow....isn't that like extreme language in PG land?), which makes Riley toss Cole to the ground. He is talking down to him until the Miz attacks Riley from behind, which allows Cole to retreat. Miz has the upper hand of the brawl until Riley fights back and is now beating up the Miz. The segment ends with Miz retreating through the audience and Riley standing tall once again. Well, they seem pretty apparent on keeping Riley on Raw, which almost makes the draft over to SD pointless, unless plans change. I guess as wrestling fans we are suppose to forget that ever happened. To add more to wrestling logic, Cole was very upset with Riley during this segment. That isn't the part that baffles me. The part I was thinking about was during this attack last week, in which Cole was saying that the Miz had this sort of attacking coming. I guess Cole changed is viewpoint in the matter of a week. Yeah, it is more wrestling logic because we are suppose to forget about that line Cole mentioned and focus on the scene in hand. Then again, only a nerd such as myself would actually remember that line and try to bring continuity into it. Yes, I am insane. As far as the feud goes, I am not so sure about this one. Keep in mind that Miz just lost the title to Cena and could use a rebound, and I am not sure if him locking up with Riley is the best solution. The reason I say that is it seems that Riley is really over with the audience as a face and just sending him out there to lose to the Miz might not be the way to go and could hurt his momentium. If this feud were to happen, you would have to suspect for the Miz to go over considering he is a lot more developed that Riley and WWE has more invested in Miz at the moment. Now, I am all for wanting to build up Riley, but I think having his first babyface fued be against the Miz might be a bad idea because he will most likely lose it and should be working over small talents to begin with. Plus, a feud like this can break Riley if he isn't ready for it and he could end up like Sean O'Hare or Maven (Wow, didn't expect to reference Maven on this show. I think this show just hit an all time low) or a bunch of other talents who got a big push too soon. I just don't want to see Riley getting destroyed out there because there is some potentional in the guy. By the way, I am digging Riley's new entrance music.
Match #3: CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio
Mason Ryan was at ringside for this match. This was a decent back and forth match. The finish comes when Punk hits a Chuck Norris roundkick in the back of Rey's head and he is down for the three count. Kinda interesting that Punk didn't end this match with the GTS, but maybe they are trying to sell Punk's feet as dangerous weapons. Punk getting the win keeps him and Nexus as a main threat for the time being. They are definitely trying something with Punk if he is getting clean wins over Mysterio. Simply put, Punk needs to be used better on this show because it always seems his pushes never go all the way and just seem to fall short. I really think Rey's role with the company has changed since he seems to be putting over talent more than getting himself over. Rey is a Luigi? Who would have thought?
Winner via pinfall: CM Punk
Kharma is already in the ring after a commercial break and it appears she is going to talk for the first time (What is even more strange is even though she was in TNA, I think this is the first time I have ever heard her speak because TNA had her use a manager during her time with the company). She says she had two dreams in her life. One of them was to be a WWE superstar. She mentions that she tried out for Tough Enough one year, but was told by Jim Ross that she was too heavy and wouldn't make it in the WWE (oohhh, I bet JR is getting a lot of angry emails after tonight). She said she went around the world training to become the best wrestler possible (Oh no, I think she said wrestling. I am surprised Vince McMahon doesn't bleap out this word). She said after lots of hard work (and a f*** up by Bubba the Dumbass Sponge and TNA), she finally achieved her dream and was given a contract by the WWE. She said her second dream was to be a mother. She tells the audience that she is pregnant and because of this needs to take some time away from the company. She vows that she will be back until the Bella Twins come out and make fun of the fact that she is overweight and is going to have a baby. Kharma has this look of wanting to kill the Bellas, but says that when she comes back, she is going to hope they are still here as well. I think this was the best promo I have heard from a diva or KO all year. To be fair, it felt more like a shoot since Kharma talked about real life events and in a way, the WWE kinda broke kayfabe with this one. Then again, I am trying to think if there was another way to do this and this might have been the best solution. If they did a group attack on Kharma, it would have been bad for the child and it would have ruined the Kharma character, even if that is a simple way to write off a character. I will admit that this is a bit of a blow for the WWE because they were getting a lot of attention for how well the Kharma angle had been going and it is a shame that it has to end so soon, but there is a good reason for prolonging the Kharma push. I do wonder where they go from here, because it doesn't seem like anyone is going to care about the divas division once again until she comes back. I also wonder if they will mention her from now until she returns? Still, even though I was really getting into the angle, congratulations go out to Kia Stevens (her real name) for the miracle of joy and I wish her the best of luck. Still, look at the diva division? Beth Phoenix and Natalya not doing anything, Michelle McCool basically retired, and Layla injured. While they have the spotlight on the Bellas who are the worst heels ever and Kelly who is just kinda there. This division is almost dead and it seemed that Kharma was carrying the division the minute she arrived because she made people actually want to watch a diva match just to see her attack someone. Hard to say where they go from here, but they better think of something because Bellas, Eve, and Kelly aren't the best choices.
Match #4: Jack Swagger vs Evan Bourne
They showed more CP buildup with another one of those cheap jokes from last week. It was just as stupid as last week, but I will admit the last line with the Mysterio mask was pretty hilarious. Still, this crap makes the current cast of SNL look funny. Oh, and is anyone else a little offput when King and Cole contradicting each other all night long, but then there are times where they are exchanging jokes and flashbacks as if they are friends? This is why I still like my idea of making Cole a manager, but I really need to shut up about that since I have been mentioning it a lot and I am sure you folks are getting sick of me talking about that theory. Anyway, this matchup was nothing special. Swagger was dominating most of it. The finish comes when Bourne pulls off a rollup and wins the match. Swagger was pissed off after the match. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last win that Bourne gets on Raw until about 3-4 months down the road because I don't see him winning the feud.
Winner via pinfall: Evan Bourne
Match #5: John Cena vs R-Truth
The match was nothing too special. During the match, Truth kept leaving the ring and kept talking to people who were wearing Cena shirts. Eventually, Cena gets a little irritated by this and starts to fight with him on the outside. The two fight for a while, and during this time the ref is making the 10 count. Truth quickly dives back into the ring and wins the match via a countout. I would have liked to see more wrestling between the two, but I suppose this Truth win does set up another match so hopefully that match will end up being better.
Winner via countout: R-Truth
After the match, Cena looks sick to his stomach that he just lost the match (Cena: I just lost a wrestling match....I no longer have a reason to live...). Truth runs over to the father and son at the beginning of the show and splashes a drink in his face. Cena runs over to him while Truth retreats. The show ends with Cena tending to the fan.
Overall Impression:
I wasn't really expecting anything too exciting with it being a holiday edition of Raw, but I thought it was an average showing. The show definitely got off to a rocky start with the technical problems (Try not to forget that the show is live), but it appearaed to be getting back on track with some decent matches. There was some pretty decent wrestling matches this evening, so that is at least a good thing. We also got to see Kharma shoot a promo and I think won more fans over with her words. There is also something in the works between Cena/Truth and Miz/Riley. They are also keeping an eye on Punk for the time being and hopefully they are preping him for something decent, but I would really be happy if the contract issue was dealt with since it appears it is still an issue. Not a perfect showing of Raw, but not a bad showing either. There was some decent matches and promos for the evening, and considering it was a holiday, I think that was the best you could have gotten tonight. Casual fans will probably enjoy this showing while seasoned wrestling fans will probably be bored with it. Still, I thought it was a fair showing. That is going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. My littel tribute to the Macho Man Randy Savage is up in case you are interested in checking it out. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.
PS: I have finally started using my blogspot account and will be posting links towards my page at the end of my reviews, but it will contain the same reviews that I normally post on here. Still, this is another place to check out my reviews and where you can leave your input. I always enjoy hearing back from you, so check it out if you are interested.
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