We open up the show with Mr. Personality himself, John Laurinaitis. He says Rey Mysterio will return tonight....but has not been cleared from his rehab so he won't be here tonight. He says the Mexico City audience needs to have a sense of humor. This is coming from the guy who talks as if he's filing your taxes. After a week of complaints from the WWE Universe, he decides to bring back Good o' JR. Johnny Ace apologizes for firing him last week, but he didn't bring him back on commentary tonight.....even though he would like to hear his suffering succotash. Dear God, that line by Laurinaitis can make you have a stroke. Laurinaitis should come with a public warning before tuning into Monday nights. Anyway, he brought him in to take part in a match this evening. It will be Alberto Del Rio and Michael Cole vs John Cena and Jim Ross in a tag team match. Well, Laurinaitis tried to show some emotion this evening, but it looks really bad. Laurinaitis has no personality, which is why it will be difficult to get people invested in what he has to say and do. That was one of my problems with the opening scene. Other than that, I suppose it was okay. Kinda odd to see how WWE was building up JR's return, even though he was only "fired" a week ago. Just seems a little rushed. Oh, and Laurinaitis laughing will give you nightmares. Either way, this should be on the disclaimer for cigarette packets. Remember kids, THIS could happen to you....
Match #1: Randy Orton, Sheamus, and John Morrison vs Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, and Christian
Ladies and gentlemen, your Smackdown clusterf*** for the evening. The match wasn't anything too special and it's very forgettable. Early in the match, Rhodes was chased away by Orton and they never returned for the remainder of this match. Later on in the contest, Sheamus and Christian would brawl in the audience and they wouldn't return either. Damn, maybe those rumors of Mark Henry having bad odor really are true? Anyway, Henry finishes this match by hitting the World's Strongest Slam on Morrison for the clean win. What do you think folks, Morrison working for TNA by this time next year?
Winner via pinfall: Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, and Christian
Backstage where Laurinaitis is on the phone with some random person asking about how he looks on TV. This is hilarious because this show was taped. Gotta love wrestling logic. The Bellas come in and talk about how valuable they are to Raw and that Johnny Ace shouldn't forget that. He says he won't, they kiss him on the cheek, and they leave. Well, at least being the Interim Raw GM has its perks. Ricardo Rodriguez arrives with Del Rio and they complain about being put in this match tonight. Laurinaitis informs Del Rio that there is an added stipulation for this match. Whoever wins the match will get to choose the stipulation for the WWE Championship match at Vengeance....
Well, that makes the main event at least somewhat interesting....I guess.
Match #2: Eve vs Natalya
We were informed it would be Beth Phoenix vs Eve at Vengeance for the Divas Title. It only figures as much since nothing else has been established with this division and are really just replacing Kelly Kelly with Eve. I don't think that's what you want to see from the creative staff. Did I just hear Cole say he plays hoops on the streets? I wonder if he ever challenged Prince to a game of basketball...
Very short match. Eve hits the Moonsault and wins the match cleanly. I can already see some people being upset with the decision here, but these ladies need to gain something to make themselves stand out. You have to admit, the roll up victories aren't doing them any favors. Because of this victory, Eve looks more threaten than Kelly ever did during her entire championship reign.
Winner via pinfall: Eve
Match #3: CM Punk vs Miz
Miz and R-Truth talk about how they beat Punk up at HIAC and how they did what Punk failed to do, which was get rid of Triple H. They say Punk talks too much and needs to shut up. Trips arrives to even the odds for this match. Kinda a shame we didn't hear Punk say something considering he was extremely over with the Mexico audience. Did you listen to the commentary during this match? King is talking about how he supported Trips as the COO of this company. If that was the case, why did you walk out on him? Anyway, Johnny Ace interrupted this match for a brief moment. You know, for being the GM of this show, he sure likes interrupting a lot of his own matches. That's the marks of a brilliant leader. He informs Trips that there is something wrong with immigration paper work. Since this was Trips' department, he has to look into it and get to the bottom of this. He leaves with immigration officials. Just to clarify, it was never suggested that Trips is an immigrant, it was established that one of the wrestlers didn't file the paper work correctly, which is why this problem arises. It's stretching kayfabe quite a bit either way you look at it, but it isn't that far fetched compared to what wrestling has done in the past. Time for one of the funnier clips you will ever see...
Have to admit, Truth is definitely a character. The match goes on for a while. Honestly, this match up wasn't too bad. Punk wins this match by scoring a quick pinfall on Miz. It's kinda cheap, but we can't make Miz look completely weak now, can't we? After the match, Miz and Truth attack Punk and take him out. WWE officials come in to stop the attack, but not before Miz and Truth hit their finishers on Punk. Remember, no Trips because of the immigration matter. This scene ends with Awesome Truth standing tall. This really adds more fuel for their tag team match at Vengeance. Some might think the match won't do much in terms of storyline, but I think something has to happen at the PPV. It will be interesting to see.
Winner via pinfall: CM Punk
We are back in the ring where Vickie Guerrero is leading her small stable to the ring. She talks about being the Goddess of Mexico and her team will be getting a Tag Team Title shot at Vengeance. Dolph Ziggler talks about being the US Champion and how Mexico should honor his presence. Again, I really like the strides Ziggler is making on the mic. Seriously, we could be seeing something special here. On the other hand, Jack Swagger continues to bore the hell out of you. He tries to sing the US National Anthem and.....my God. Swagger cannot sing.....just like half of the modern day musical artist. By the way, a WWE Legends reality show? What's next, Everybody Loves Santino? Why do I get the feeling they will be making some sort of silly sit com with this WWE Network idea? I just feel it's gonna happen.
Match #4: Jack Swagger vs Zack Ryder
After watching this match, I think it might be clear they are ready to try something with Ryder. Zack wins this match with the Rough Ryder in under 30 seconds. I didn't like how long the match was because it makes Swagger look like a complete idiot, but maybe that was the point? Still, I bet the IWC is ready to throw a parade for Ryder's quick victory. After the match, the heels are ready to attack Ryder until Mason Ryan comes out to even the odds. The heels run away, but Mason has something to say. He tells Ziggler they got a match right now.
Winner via pinfall: Zack Ryder
Match #5: Mason Ryan vs Dolph Ziggler
Just like Ryder, it seems WWE is trying something with Mason. Not really sure what it is at the moment. I think Mason has a good look, but his in-ring ability is a little rusty and he seems confused at times. His mic skills need work and his charisma sucks. Mason was just toying with Dolph for the majority of this match. Things went to the outside for a while and that's when Vickie slapped him....
Well, good going Vickie. Mason gets angry and starts attacking Dolph. He disregards the refs count and is disqualified. After the match, Swagger tries to double team Mason, but it doesn't work. Mason takes them both out and he and Ryder leave. What is hilarious is how Ryder is bouncing around like a fanboy while Mason is walking away like a bad ass. This kinda reminded me of the Looney Toons cartoon with Sylvester, Spike, Chester, and that black panther. Does anyone remember that? Anyway, there was no Air Boom tonight. Really hope the injury Evan Bourne sub-stained on last week's show isn't quite that serious. Guess we will wait and see.
Winner via DQ: Dolph Ziggler
Backstage with JR and John Cena. JR talks about how he is not a wrestler, but Cena says he can handle this match. JR does say he wants to get his hands on Cole, and Cena says he will try to make it happen. After this scene, Cole gets on the mic and talks about how he will beat up JR and how Mexico should respect him because his wife is Mexican. Really? Well, if we are going to do that, I guess Mexico should respect me as well since I am Mexican *rolls eyes*. Either way, a pretty lame way to get some heel heat by Cole. Oh, and the day Cole pins Cena is the day hell freezes over.
Match #6: John Cena and Jim Ross vs Alberto Del Rio and Michael Cole
Josh Matthews took Cole's spot on commentary for this match. The majority of this match was Cena and Del Rio fighting, which was expected. The match wasn't what I would call great. Then again, let's be fair here, it wasn't designed to be good. This one does what you would expect in a Cena match. He gets his ass kicked for the majority of the contest, but he hulks up and starts kicking ass. Del Rio tags in Cole out of desperation to get out of the match. Cena hits AA on Cole and tags in Ross. JR locks in the Ankle Lock (Oh no, somebody else is using one of Kurt Angle's moves. Time for Kurt to complain about it on Twitter!!!) and Cole taps out. After the match, Del Rio tries to attack Cena, but walks into an AA on the outside of the ring. Cena eventually takes him out again with the steel steps and counts all the way to ten. I feel like I am on Sesame Street. Anyway, Cena says the stipulation he has chosen would be a Last Man Standing Match, which ends the show. Well, nice to see JR get something as opposed to be humiliated for the one millionth time. As for the match, I don't see much of a problem with it. Even though it raises the possibility of Cena winning the title again, Del Rio can still walk away with the title this Sunday. Even though Del Rio is still drawing in basic heat, I want him to keep the title because I don't want to see another abrupt title change. Remember when people would get the world title for 6-8 months? Those seem like ancient days.
Winner via submission: John Cena and Jim Ross
Overall Impression:
A very average showing of Raw. Some people might say this was a bad showing, but I don't think I would go that far. I will say the show doesn't make the biggest impression. It just felt like a pretty generic night for the WWE without much in terms of development. There was development for the Vengeance PPV, but it was pretty basic. The matches tonight were pretty uneventful. The best match was probably the Punk/Miz match, and even that is something I wouldn't recommend. There was some interesting things like JR getting to take out his frustrations on Cole, Ryder taking out Swagger, and Trips' punch on Truth. Other than that, there wasn't a whole lot there. Not the best showing for the Go Home edition of Raw considering the PPV is this weekend. Well, there's still SD to look forward to, so maybe there is still something WWE can bring to the table. Even though it was a lackluster Raw, I wouldn't call it bad. I would say this is slightly below average territory. Still, you aren't missing much if you skipped out on Raw. Either way, it seemed like Mexico City really enjoyed it, so that has to be worth something.....right? That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for this review being late, but I got sick again....and no, it wasn't because of TNA Bound for Glory. 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.
Nice review , keep them coming my man . Always enjoy these when i miss a show .
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