WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 10/3/11 (What the hell just happened?)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 10/3/11. This one is a little late, but I did warn you this was a possibility. With HIAC over, how would that effect the WWE moving forward? Well, let's find out and start the review.

Match #1: Randy Orton vs Drew McIntyre
We open up the show with a match. As you would've guessed, Drew ends up getting destroyed in this match. Drew did manage to get a couple of shots, but it didn't really go anywhere. Some people consider this a jobber match, but I like to call it a semi-jobber match since the match went longer than 2-3 minutes and Drew didn't look completely hopeless. The finish came when Orton hit the RKO for the clean win. Drew might want to thank God WWE Superstars is back on the internet or else he would really have to consider other options.

Winner via pinfall: Randy Orton

After the match, Mark Henry comes out and the two start to fight. Security tries to hold them back, but can't deal with a behemoth and a bi polar patient. Security can't do much to hold them back and this scene ends with Orton getting the last shot. This basically shows the Orton/Henry rivalry will continue. Realistically, it should because there isn't anyone else (besides Sheamus, but you don't want to send him out against Henry/WHC picture, at least not yet) who should challenge Henry. I don't know about you folks, but I feel Henry is going to have this title until WrestleMania. I am calling it right here and now.

Match #2: Mark Henry vs John Morrison
Looks like Morrison is about to get murdered, time for the IWC to talk about how Morrison is better than Shawn Michaels and the WWE is screwing him over *rolls eyes*. Henry wins this match with the World's Strongest Slam. Very short match. After the match, Henry says he's done with Orton and he welcomes Big Show to confront him on this week's SD. In case you haven't heard, Show will be on SD this week.

Winner via pinfall: Mark Henry

Backstage where Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is with the rest of the lawsuit crew talking to John Laurinaitis about the recent problems with the COO. It turns out Miz and R-Truth have filed some paper work against Triple H for the attack at the PPV and Johnny Ace wants to know if they talked to Otunga about all of this. They will address all of this stuff in the ring. One commercial break later, we are back in the ring with Christian, Alberto Del Rio, Vickie Guerrero, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes, and David Otunga. Del Rio talks about how he didn't get to celebrate his championship win because of Miz and Truth. He blames Triple H since he would be the only one to control when the cage structure raises and lowers and finds it a little odd the cage lowered as soon as Miz and Truth got in the ring. Christian says Raw is a non-safe working environment while Rhodes says Trips is clearly on a power trip. Dolph wants to take action while Swagger says....

....yeah, Swagger still has some issues here.......Vickie is greeted to a ton of boos from the audience while Otunga says more lawyer talk. Trips finally comes out and says they all need to stop their bitching. He says the WWE is about people solving their problems with a fight, not all this non-stop complaining. The scene ends with Trips telling them to shut up and fight. This would be addressed later on in the show, but this would be the continuing theme for tonight. Either way....

Match #3: Kelly Kelly and Eve vs Beth Phoenix and Natalya
This match barely got started. The bell rung, Kelly went ape s*** and did a lot of screaming and banging Beth's head on the announcer's table. The ref calls for the bell. I understand what they were trying for here, but it just isn't believable coming out of Kelly that she is pissed off and has completely snap. The attack didn't look very well done, but I suppose it did its job. The other thing about this attack is I just can't buy Kelly destroying Beth, even if it was with a weapon. Kelly just looks too goody goody to show a darker side. Those are at least my thoughts on this scene. Either way, the rivalry between Kelly and Beth will definitely continue. Feel free to complain.

No Contest

Backstage where Johnny Ace is apologizing to Trips for Miz/Truth altercation at the PPV, but is concerned Trips is losing control of the company. He tells Trips to ask the superstars for a vote of confidence. Trips doesn't really like the idea, but decides to go through with it. He also warns Johnny Ace he is tired of his crap as of late. You have to think Johnny Ace is the one pulling the strings as of late with all the weird stuff going on lately. I still think Johnny Ace is just a pawn or a decoy as this whole thing is being controlled by Vince McMahon. That is at least my theory.

Match #4: Jinder Mahal vs Santino
Mahal talks in his native language while Santino mocks it. The strange thing in all of this was Mahal was answering back as if Santino was speaking the language. I don't know which character is dumber? Santino because he acts like a clown or Mahal since he didn't seem to care Santino was mocking him? The match was a joke. Thirty seconds later, Santino hits the Cobra and wins the match. It was thirty seconds ago that I wonder why Mahal got called up to the main roster? There was really no point to this match. It didn't seem to do anything in terms of story and was just a way for the audience to get a cheap pop for Santino. Very much a throwaway match.

Winner via pinfall: Santino

There was a Brodus Clay video package. I am sorry, but I still think Brodus looks like Donkey Kong. All he needs is a tie and a hyper active nephew and we are in business. There was also a Youtube video of Miz and Truth apologizing to the WWE Universe. They claim they only did those things to get their jobs back and send a message that Trips is completely out of control. Someone should tell WWE that Youtube allows you to go full screen with their videos. That think look like it was on a postage stamp. Either way, I like the idea of this since we have to go into the "realism" that Miz and Truth are fired and have to find a different way of making their voice be heard.

Match #5: CM Punk, John Cena, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, and Air Boom vs Alberto Del Rio, Christian, Cody Rhodes, David Otunga, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger
When I first heard about this match, I expected it to be very short. To my surprise, they gave this match a lot of screen time. I think this at least ate up 30 minutes on television. I felt that was a good idea because people often get overlooked in a match like this because of time limits. With the extended time, just about everyone got a chance to show what they bring to the table and had a chance to shine. Another good thing about this match is the mid card guys got more screen time in the ring as opposed to the established main eventers. That's a good thing because you are showing some faith in guys like Rhodes and Ziggler. You are also giving them more screen time and to test if they are ready for the big time. Although, I am still a little lost that Mason Ryan of all people was in this match. You almost expected Zack Ryder to be the guy with they way they've been using him lately, but this shows they didn't just turn Ryan face for the hell of it. They have a plan and will do something with Batista Jr. Sheamus also got a lot of time on screen. This guy is getting over nicely and WWE really could be establishing a major main eventer in Sheamus. This was a pretty good match. I felt it was the best match of the night, but there wasn't much going around in terms of action tonight. The finish comes when the match breaks down for a second time and finishing moves are being hit left and right. Sheamus gets the last one by hitting Brogue Kick on Ziggler and wins the match for his team.

Winner via pinfall: CM Punk, John Cena, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, and Air Boom

We are back in the ring where various WWE talent are standing at ringside. There are faces, heels, divas, and referees. Outside of Air Boom, there are no other faces from the last match. Meaning Punk, Cena, Sheamus and Ryan were not involved in this segment. I also noticed Kelly was not out there with the divas as well, nor was Orton. I am sure there was other people missing, but I am not going to sit here and do inventory, we got a review to finish. Trips comes out and says everyone will get a chance to say what they have on their mind. He talks about Miz and Truth and how they are....

You tell them, Shredder. Hunter says he is an old school guy and he wants to see fights and chaos in a WWE ring. Hunter says they all work for the WWE Universe and those people want to see them fight. Wade Barrett grabs the mic and says he is saying this on behalf the vast majority of the WWE locker room. He talks about how this is an unsafe working place. He agrees they are competitors, but getting attacked in the parking lot by people who don't work here is getting a little ridiculous. Trips reminds him Barrett used to be in change of the Nexus, a stable hell bent on causing mass chaos and thinks Wade is only saying these things because he isn't calling the shots anymore. A referee grabs the mic and talks about how they don't feel safe working for the WWE since people keep attacking them. Hunter tells them he got rid of Awesome Truth, but the referee says the mear fact they showed up at the PPV means the protection isn't there. This is funny since WWE is actually addressing the security staff (at least in kayfabe), while TNA thinks their security staff is awesome....even though they screw up 90% of the brawls. Wrestling logic for the freakin' win, but there was a lot of wrestling logic in this scene. If we count them all the wrestling logic scenes, we will be here all night. ANYWAY, Beth grabs the mic and says the divas feel something bad could start happening to them, so they are concerned. Jerry "King" Lawler gets in the ring and says this show is out of control, but he believes this isn't Hunter's fault. King starts to think Punk was right when he said there is a puppet master controlling everything...

Ummmm, that would be a stretch. He also says whoever this person is, they don't want Trips in charge, which is why things are out of control. So, King doesn't blame Triple H, but blames him? That makes PERFECT sense....Christian says his group votes no confidence in the COO. King says he has to vote no confidence and decides to walk out. The refs and divas also vote no confidence and all the bad guys, divas, and refs leave. There are some faces, but some of them start to leave. Michael Cole gets up and walks out as well. Booker T joins the band of followers, along with the small group of faces remaining (Ryder, Air Boom, Alex Riley, Santino, and Morrison). Justin Roberts and some of the camera crew walk out as well. The fans are still cheering in support of Trips and the only person left is Jim Ross. JR starts to think for a while and he eventually walks out as well, which wasn't too well liked by the WWE Universe. Trips is all alone in the ring where Johnny Ace comes out and shakes his head in disappointment. The show ends with Trips realizing maybe the superstars have a point and thanks the fans for sticking by him.

Definitely some interesting developments with all of this. Now we know why Punk, Cena, and Sheamus weren't out there. They have to show that there is a mass separation between people who disapprove of Trips and people who approve of the Game. I am sure on next week's show that people like Punk and Cena will talk about Trips and show what they feel about all of this. I will definitely be interested in what Punk has to say since his character is anti-establishment, but he also isn't the biggest fan of Laurinaitis and thinks he is controlling a lot of the actions as of late. I thought it was interesting they didn't have anyone stand by Trips at the end. Even JR walking out came as a bit of surprise. I liked the way the speeches were delivered by they people who spoke during this segment. You can almost buy the fact people are very unsatisfied with Trips' work. I can see some people complain in how the WWE didn't have some of the bigger faces out there, but you end the show the way you did so you can come back and see what those guys have to say about all of this next week. Some people forget that this is all about storytelling and you have to wait week by week to find out some of the facts. Besides, we might find some stuff out this upcoming week on SD. The goal of tonight was to show an extreme dissatisfaction between Hunter and the WWE locker room, and having guys like Cena and Punk out there would have ruined the reaction they were trying to get. So, we will go into next week's show with everyone saying how Trips is doing a bad job until somebody like Punk or Cena walks out there and explains their side of the story. I am sure once this happens, some of those faces who walked out might quickly change their mind with the current COO. I still feel this is all building up towards Survivor Series. From here until now, we will get more facts as to who is really pulling the strings and just what the hell is going on. Again, I feel Laurinaitis is being controlled by Vince to cause this sort of chaos in the WWE. Either way, this is a very interesting story that is being played out. This was definitely the best moment of the night. By the way, I am aware of Punk's response over Twitter, but I want to see what he has to say in the ring.

Overall Impression:
I felt this was a pretty decent episode of Raw. The action was definitely lacking tonight, but this was a night more built for storytelling as opposed to action. The whole evening was built up to the superstars saying they have no confidence in Trips and I find myself very interested in this and I would like to see who or whom will stand by the Game's corner when we see Raw from here on out. In fact, other than this particular storyline, nothing else really got addressed. There was some talk of Orton/Henry and Big Show returning on SD this week, along with Kelly being committed to Arkham Asylum, but this whole evening was geared towards this vote of confidence/no confidence. I enjoyed what I saw tonight, even if the action was lacking with this one tonight. Amazing how we didn't get a promo from Punk, Cena, or Sheamus and this show still did pretty well. I know Cena will say the basic "raw, raw, school spirit" crap, but I really want to see what Punk has to say about Hunter if he approves or disapproves, especially since he is anti-establishment and him and Trips don't always see eye to eye. Besides, I bet people will complain either way since Punk shouldn't be siding with Trips in the first place, blah, blah, blah. Plenty of interesting stuff to keep you tuned in as the WWE moves towards its next PPV and future episodes. I can't recommend the full show, but if you watch the final scene, you will get the jest of what's going on. I do apologize this review is later than normal. I wasn't planning on reviewing it with all the personal stuff going on, but I decided to go through with it since there was some major stuff going around, plus I got some good news this week. Things are looking a lot better on my end, so it looks like I will be back to the normal schedule. Which means I will be reviewing TNA this week......*starts to cry*. Eh, maybe it will be good this week. Anyway, 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.