What is up wrestling fans, I am the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 8/15/11. With a lot of questions left unanswered after Summerslam, would we find out any answers tonight? Well, let's find out and start the review.
We open up the show with Triple H. He says a lot of people are very upset over the things that happened at the PPV. He wants to apologize to John Cena since he didn't see Cena's foot on the rope. He also said he had no problem raising the hand of CM Punk in victory last night despite this. Finally, he talks about Kevin Nash. He says he's really good friends with Nash, but he had no idea he was going to attack Punk. He has invited Nash to show up and explain himself later tonight. He introduces Alberto Del Rio as the new Undisputed WWE Champion. Del Rio arrives and is greeted to a ton of heat. Del Rio says he never planned on cashing in MITB last night, but when he saw Nash attack Punk, he couldn't pass up on the opportunity. He says he wants to be a good Champion people will respect. He talks about defending the title against Rey Mysterio tonight and how he loves Rey. He says he wakes up every morning and ask himself "What are you going to do today?". Hmm....take over the world? Nooo!!! Del Rio says he likes to beat up Mysterio and he will enjoy it again tonight. Overall, a pretty basic opening. As you would have guessed, Trips might be covering up his tracks by saying he had nothing to do with Nash attacking Punk. Again, can't help but think Trips is setting everyone up with something. As far as Del Rio goes, he cut a decent promo. He did get a lot more heat tonight than last night. I am just going to be glad to not her him talk about destiny anymore because that was getting very old. What I found interesting is after Del Rio's speech, the King said that he doesn't believe what the Game said earlier. I thought that was rather interesting.
Match #1: R-Truth vs John Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere Match
Truth came out to his old theme, but he wasn't singing. This match took place on the outside of the ring for the most part. This wasn't too bad of a match. There was a lot of kicking from both guys, especially Morrison. There was a point where they were fighting up in the stands, but they would eventually bring it on back. One of the things I noticed was they still put the Raw GM podium out there. I'm sorry, but with Trips calling the shots, this podium is nothing more than decoration. Wrestling logic since the Raw GM deal never had a conclusion. Anyway, the finish comes when Morrison hits a suplex and Truth lands on a chair. Morrison follows up with the Captain Johnny Falcon Knee and wins the match. This most likely ends things between Truth and Morrison since Morrison finally got the win. Funny how Truth has looked better in this whole rivalry than Morrison has. Maybe being insane is better?
Winner via pinfall: John Morrison
Miz is now in the ring ready to talk. He sees Jared the Subway guy and says he would be a better spokesman than him. He walks up to him, takes his subway sandwich. WWE and Subway sandwiches? Something about this seems familiar?
....I must be losing it? Anyway, Miz plugs the new Subway sandwich and claims he is the best star in this company. He vows he will be champion again and eats the sandwich. Just a basic scene to show the Miz is still there, but not as memorable as Santino's Subway scene. Haha, you lose.
Match #2: Kelly Kelly and Eve vs Bella Twins
This was your typical divas match. Odd how we saw a passable divas match last night, but we see this pile of crap. It was very boring, slow, and a bunch of screaming. Eve wins the match with a Moonsault. After the match, Beth Phoenix and Natalya show up at the entrance ramp to give them a round of applause. As I mentioned with the SS review, there should be a rematch between the two and this is more padding.
Winner via pinfall: Kelly Kelly and Eve
Back in the ring where.....OH MY GOD, IT'S!!!...
IT'S A SUPER SHREDDER....eh....kinda. Anyway, Nash arrives. He says he's good friends with Trips and claims he got a text message last night to attack the winner of the Punk/Cena match. He got it from a friend and he always does whatever his friends want. He also mentioned how Trips said earlier he knew nothing of the attack and claims he and Trips need to get on the same page. Punk interrupts and say this is all a pile of bulls*** and he doesn't buy it. Punk immediately thinks Trips and Nash are working together and both guys are lying. Then Punk re-thinks a bit and says maybe Hunter is telling the truth, but Nash is a liar. Nash warns Punk to watch his mouth, but Punk says he will say whatever the hell he wants. Punk decides to bring up Nash's career and how his best years are behind him. Punk says he's pissed off at a lot of people, but not Del Rio because he knows what it's like to cash in MITB. He thinks Triple H is trying to bring back his old friends and do things their way. Nash quickly says Hunter is the one changing things in the WWE, but Punk says he was the one who started all of this. Nash acts like Punk isn't a big enough name while Punk says Nash doesn't know anything about talent since he told guys like Eddie Guerrero they didn't have what it took to make it. He says this isn't 1994 and its 2011 and things have changed. Nash gets angry and says he should show respect for him because of what he did during the NWO days and how the wrestlers today have guaranteed money and such. They exchange a few more insults until Punk is ready to fight. He is heading to the ring, but WWE security staff shows up to separate the two. Punk begins to think Trips put security there to protect his friend, but he will pay a little visit to Hunter in the back. Definitely an interesting exchange. This really felt like padding since not a whole lot was brought up concerning the series of events at SS. At this moment, we have to assume Nash and Trips are either working together or someone is playing the decoy. It's really clear that Punk is a full time face mixed in with a little tweener. I think a Punk/Nash match might be on the way, which leads to Trips revealing it was a setup to take Punk down. As far as the promos go, it was pretty mixed. In the early going of Nash's promo, he seemed like he was phoning it in. To be fair, it makes sense he would act like that since its believed Nash is lying. Hence, he would have every reason to talk very slowly since he is making up a story. Then again, as soon as he started speaking with Punk....er...I don't know. Something about Nash's mic skills were off tonight. They weren't bad, but not great either. I felt Nash could have done a little better since I know he can do better. Maybe when he cuts the next promo, it will be a lot better. Punk is funny and great on the mic as usual.
Backstage where Nash runs into John Laurinaitis. Johnny Ace says Punk is very disrespectful to everyone and he wants to talk to Nash in private. You know, Johnny Ace has been showing up a lot lately. With everything going around, you have to think he has some sort of involvement with all of this? A lot of foreshadowing in tonight's episode, wouldn't you say?
Match #3: Alex Riley vs Jack Swagger
Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero were on commentary for this one. Dolph and Vickie talk like an old married couple in which they do nothing but complain. King continues to not be funny with his fat jokes even though he has more of a gut than Vickie. Did this match come on before or after the anti-bullying ad or not? Kinda ironic if you think about it? Anyway, this was a strange match. Vickie took JR's cowboy hat and starts to wear it. She then goes up to the referee and....flirts with him? I guess.....if THAT'S what you want to call it? Because of this distraction, Riley doesn't get the three count. Swagger gets back up and hits the Gutwrench Powerbomb. Swagger messed up the Gutwrench twice before finally was able to hit it. Not sure if Swagger didn't eat his Wheaties, didn't get a proper grip, or if something was off on the exchange. Ehe botch was very noticeable to say the least. It look like nobody got hurt with the mess up, so that's ok. There is a little more with this scene. Oh, and Vickie and Dolph argue after the match and they smash JR's hat. Man, that guy's a douche.
Winner via pinfall: Jack Swagger
Backstage where Swagger runs into Vickie. He thanks her for what she did in the match and says all the greatest managers had multiple clients. He tells Vickie to increase business and maybe he can be his manager as well. He walks away and tells Vickie to think about it. Well, that was interesting. I have said for the last year that Swagger is the definition of a guy who needs a manager because he can't really talk. Someone like Vickie would help him, but I still would have preferred Michael Cole to manage Swagger. Yeah, I really need to let that go. Another backstage scene where Punk runs into Stephanie McMahon. She says she is sorry that Punk lost the title even though he shouldn't have won because Cena's leg was on the rope. She quickly says people always get what they deserve at the end and she leaves. Punk thinks about this to end the scene. This just in. WWE is starting production on the movie titled "CM Punk vs the World". Watch as Punk takes down the seven evil corporates and becomes the best in the world. Hey, it might as well be at this point?
Match #4: Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne vs David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty
What the hell? Is Kofi the long lost Smurf? Anyway, this was an ok match. Nothing about it was amazing, but that's ok. Bourne was basically a punching bag in this match, but it all changed when Kofi got in the match. The finish comes when they take out Michael and Bourne hits Air Bourne on Otunga for the clean win. They seem to be trying something within the tag team division. They have the Usos over on SD doing a lot better the last few weeks and now Kofi and Bourne might have just made a new team. I kinda like it. I have said the tag team division has been dead for years and I would like to see more stock put into the division. Tag team wrestling will never be big, but you can at least have some fun with the division as opposed to make it a filler division. Kofi and Bourne aren't really doing much, so it makes sense for them to team up.
Winner via pinfall: Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne
Match #5: Alberto Del Rio vs Rey Mysterio for the Undisputed WWE Championship
Throughout the night, WWE was showing highlights of Rey's past championship victories. The crowd was really into this match. They loved Rey and hated Del Rio, but this is Rey's hometown. Anyone notice the Del Rio look-a-likes sitting in the audience? This was probably the best match of the night. Lots of good back and forth action to watch. The finish comes when Rey hits 619 and goes for the Top Rope Splash. Del Rio gets his knees up and he pins Rey to win the match cleanly. I thought it was very important for Del Rio to win this match cleanly because he still needs a little something to really get himself over and prove he's deserving of this push. This will get his stock up a bit and show he can roll in the big time. He still has a way to go to make himself a threat, but only time will tell if Del Rio is the real deal.
Winner via pinfall and still Undisputed Champion: Alberto Del Rio
After the match, Del Rio is going to add insult to injury. He attacks Rey and targets the arm. He has the Cross Armbreaker locked in until Cena runs out for the save. Cena gets on the mic and says he has a lot of reasons to be pissed off, but Del Rio is on the top of his list. He says he and Punk went through hell to earn their titles and put forth a great match, but it was a dick move to steal that moment from everyone. He says Del Rio is no champion and just some guy who got lucky. He says Del Rio will have to eventually defend that title......which he just did like 10 seconds ago. I guess Cena was asleep for the match...
Anyway, Cena says Del Rio has a target on his ass and Cena will take that title off of him. The show ends with a pissed off Cena and a gloating Del Rio. Yeah, so I bet people are ready to throw the hate towards WWE since they immediately took Punk out of the title situation and quickly put Cena back in. I wouldn't say that. I still think what will happen at NoC is there will be a Triple Threat Match between Del Rio/Punk/Cena. I can see Nash screw over Punk again and he finally adverts his attention to Nash while Del Rio and Cena have at it. You have to understand, Cena is the top guy and thus he will always be in the title hunt. Plus, they haven't completely thrown out Punk since he is still getting just a much face time as Cena and is still over with the audience. In fact, Punk got more air time this week than Cena. Punk might also be starting a program with Triple H. It may not be for the title, but a Punk vs Triple H match is a major main event in my book. Besides, just because Cena has his sights set on Del Rio doesn't mean he's going to win. Keep in mind that WWE has invested a lot of time and money on Del Rio and they really want to make this world title run look good or else people won't pay much attention to Del Rio. I can see Del Rio holding the title all the way until Survivor Series. If WWE really wants Del Rio to be a big star, he needs to have a lengthy title reign and have some stiff competition. Del Rio is drawing more heat, but we need to see a little more from the guy to say he truly belongs.
Overall Impression:
A very interesting Raw to say the least. I talked about how tonight's show seemed like foreshadowing for the near future. There was a lot of stuff that got addressed this week, but we are still left with more questions than answers. This mainly concerns the Punk storyline since it seems Cena is out (at least for now) and is being replaced by Hunter, Nash, Steph, and Funkman. Right now, I find this storyline easy to follow but I hope they don't make it too confusing since we get enough of that on Thursday nights. There was some good in ring action for this week, so that definitely helps things. Outside of the diva and Riley match, the action was pretty good tonight. The promos were pretty interesting as well. Cena delivered a pretty good promo to end the show and I felt Del Rio did one of his better promos in a while. With the show having more questions than answers, that basically leaves you wanting to come back and watch the show to see what happens next. I am still very invested to see where all of this is going. We also saw the birth of a couple new storylines like Vickie managing multiple clients/siding with Swagger or a new tag team in Kofi and Bourne. A pretty odd show to say the least, but I liked it and I can recommend checking it out. A lot of interesting stuff in the WWE these days, so I guess we will see if Smackdown can continue the run. Well, that's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review and tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time and Shredder needs to listen to reason or he's going to kill us all!!!
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