WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 10/24/11

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 10/24/11. With Vengeance over and done with, how will the WWE move forward with Survivor Series the next big PPV? Well, let's find out and start the review.

We open up the show with Triple H. He talks about how he was taught to either go for money or for friends in this business. He says he got lucky along the way and was able to have both. He talks about some of this best friends and brings up Kevin Nash. He thought he knew Nash, but Nash has always been about one thing....money. Trips gets overly corny and says Nash broke his heart because he considered him a best friend, but can't accept his recent actions. He feels betrayed, but wants to deal with Nash the only way he knows how....with a fight. He calls out Nash to show his face and setting this in the ring. John Marlboro comes out and says Nash is at home and won't be appearing tonight. Triple H doesn't buy this and is very pissed off. He warns Laurinaitis to NOT get in the ring or he won't be sorry for what happens next. Laurinaitis tells Trips to not do anything to embarrass the company. Trips says if he can't get Nash tonight, he will go find him in the public and probably get arrested for his actions, which would be even worse for the company. Laurinaitis thinks Trips is being unreasonable, while Trips tells him to get him Nash or else. Trips is about to leave the arena until Laurinaitis has something to say. With his back turned on the entrance ramp, Nash takes out Hunter with a sledgehammer. Watch Laurinaitis freak out and order Nash to leave the building? Man, this guy can't give a proper emotion to save his life. Toilet bowls make a more lasting impression than Laurinaitis. Anyway, security shows up and instead of restraining Nash, they surround him only for him to walk out of the building and not pursue him. Yeah, nothing is going to go wrong here? Once Nash leaves, they take a look at Triple H, who is selling the hell out of the attack. Trips tries to walk out on his own power, but collapses and the medics prepare to help Triple H. One commercial break later, Trips is on a stretcher and being loaded into the ambulance until Nash shows up...

Oh no, it's a Super Shredder. Sorry I couldn't find the movie clip, but what are you going to do? Damn, Nash is scaring the s*** out of everyone tonight. Look at this scene? He looks like a serial killer with that sledgehammer in hand. You would think the WWE security staff would, oh I don't know, do their job. Anyway, the medics run away as Nash picks up Trips (Who is still on a stretcher) and props him up. He is about to hit him again with the sledgehammer until security shows up yet again. Before they corner Nash off, he was able to land another sledgehammer shot. Security once again let Nash walk away as opposed to arresting him. This is clearly wrestling logic because any other situation would have the person behind prison bars. Medics once again get Trips back in the ambulance, who isn't moving at all...

So, Nash basically murders Trips on live TV, and he isn't arrested? Makes sense to me. There's no storyline anymore, he's dead. Might as well pack it in folks, because he's dead. Game over, man!!! Game Over!!! Joking aside, this was brutal attack. Triple H sold the hell out of this and you got the feeling that the attack as almost legit. This was a very long opening. It went on for over 22 minutes and we didn't get to the first match until the half hour mark of the show. I bet TNA fans are already going to start throwing this as an excuse. While I admit the opening was long and could've been shorten up, it didn't go for three commercial breaks and we got more than 8 minutes of wrestling tonight. This basically does one of two things. Trips took a bad fall, so they could've wrote this into the show to write Trips off of TV for a while. If Trips is more than fine after the Jack Knife Powerbomb from last night, this was written into the show to really build the tension between Nash and Trips, which would lead to a match at Survivor Series (I think that's the most likely outcome). I normally don't like long openings, but I really liked the attack and how the people involved sold the emotion. You almost get the sense that Nash wants to kill Hunter and Hunter is super pissed off. There is so much sense of realism after this attack, which is what I did like about this scene. Still, they probably could've gotten the same reaction by not investing the first half hour into Nash/Triple H. Other than it being a little long, I enjoyed this.

Match #1: Randy Orton and Sheamus vs Cody Rhodes and Christian
This was a pretty long match. I honestly thought this wasn't too bad of an opening match. This might be one you might want to watch. The finish comes when Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick while Rhodes was attempting that springboard kick. The timing was off because Sheamus ended up kicking Rhodes in the knee. He picks him back up and hits High Cross/Celtic Cross for the clean win. Other than that miscue, there wasn't anything wrong with this match.

Winner via pinfall: Sheamus and Randy Orton

Backstage where Laurinaitis is on the phone with Stephanie. She wasn't happy about how her husband, Triple H, was handled earlier tonight. John Cena interrupts and talks about how Miz and R-Truth screwed him over last night. Laurinaitis realizes this and decides to make a match. It will be Awesome Truth vs Cena and a partner of Laurinaitis' choosing. By the way, has Cena been looking at my reviews? I was the one who talked about how David Otunga looks like Carlton Banks with that sweater. Now everyone is going to think I'm copying Cena. I can never win. Maybe Charlie Sheen can help me out with that?

Match #2: Santino vs Dolph Ziggler
In the early going of this match, Dolph wasn't taking Santino seriously. Then again, can you really blame him? After a Cobra attempt, Dolph starts taking this match seriously. This was a short match. After Jack Swagger got on top of the rope for a slight distraction, Dolph hits Zig Zagoon for the victory. I would have preferred for Dolph to win this match cleanly. Having shenanigans against Zack Ryder is understandable since you're testing something with him, but Santino is a comedy player and shouldn't need help against this guy. What this also shows is the power of Vickie's stable....even though they didn't win the tag titles. After the match, the heels continue the attack until Mason Ryan comes out for the save. Vickie's crew retreats. Damn, this Mason is freakin' huge. He just has this look towards Dolph that says "I'm gonna rape you, bitch". Either way, it appears they are trying something with Mason. I still feel he is very green at this point, but maybe having Batista's look will be enough for him? I expect the IWC to hate Mason for a really long time.

Very quick backstage scene where we find out Zack Ryder will be Cena's tag partner later tonight. Ryder teaming with Cena?

Winner via pinfall: Dolph Ziggler

Back in the ring where Alberto Del Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiioooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! He talks about beating Cena last night and says he is done with Cena and looking for new challengers. He also says there are no good challengers left because he is better than anyone in the WWE. This cues Mr. Pipebomb himself, CM Punk. Punk says Del Rio is tough, but he has beaten him before and never got his one on one shot for the WWE Championship and feels he deserves it. Del Rio says Punk isn't worthy of a title shot because he lost last night and tells him to come back when he has won a match. Punk thinks for a while and says maybe he doesn't deserve a title shot, but he will still put Del Rio to sleep. Laurinaitis interrupts and says it will be Del Rio vs Punk for the WWE Title at Survivor Series, IF Punk can say he respects Laurinaitis. Punk tells him you need to earn respect, and Laurinaitis hasn't earned it since he is doing a worse job than Triple H as the Interim GM. Punk eventually "apologizes" by mocking Laurinaitis' cigarette voice. Laurinaitis says that isn't good enough, but he will give him one more chance. Punk finally buckles down and says he respects Laurinaitis....he respects him for his deer caught in a headlights look every week and how he is one of the best brown noses possible. He even went so far to talk about how Laurinaitis wasn't very good as a wrestler and respects the fact that a guy with no talent managed to get so far in the wrestling business. Laurinaitis thinks for a second and says this wasn't good enough either, but he will think about it for the next week. Punk tells him to think about this, and ends up attacking Del Rio. He is about to hit GTS on Del Rio but Ricardo Rodriguez saves his friend and ends up eating the GTS. Ever feel bad for Rodriguez? This guy is a punching bag every week and still does his job. That guy is a trooper. One of the reasons a guy like CM Punk is connecting so well with casual fans is because he is a rebel. He doesn't like to do things by the book and likes to talk about changing things for the company he is working for. One thing I have learned from being a wrestling fan for all these years is people like rebels or guys that don't take s***. Stone Cold Steve Austin was a prime example of that. Punk is doing it in a different style, which is why he has picked up quite a following ever since he cut that shoot promo back in June. CM Punk, a man who just simply wants to stick it to the man. Many people who work for a boss they hate can relate to Punk, which is why he is so likable as a character. There are other attributes that make Punk stand out, but I think this is a big contributing factor since casual fans and IWC fans are different types of wrestling fans and both seem to like Punk in their own ways. Anyway, it appears Punk vs Del Rio is on the way. So people who don't like Cena getting title matches, REJOICE!!!

Match #3: Natalya vs Alicia Fox
Beth Phoenix was on commentary for this match. WWE is doing the exact same formula for this entire diva rivalry. The only thing they do differently is substitute another diva. In this case, it appears Alicia will be the next in line. The match featured Natalya dominating the majority of it, but Alicia sneaks a roll up victory and steals the match. I am not very fond of the choice to put Alicia as the new #1 Contender. Then again, look at the rest of the roster and tell me who would be a better choice? Maybe they should just blow up this storyline and start from scratch because it's only getting worse. At this point, the only diva that can make this somewhat interesting might be Layla, but she is still injured. Kharma could help as well, but she won't be back for quite a while now. Either way, this division is on life support.

Winner via pinfall: Alicia Fox

Match #4: John Morrison vs Wade Barrett
For being a play by play commentator, Michael Cole doesn't really do play by play and acts more like a color commentator. Wade was pretty much dominating this match. Morrison did fight back, but this went the same as some of Morrison's previous matches. Hey, Morrison has to work hard to keep that glorified jobber role in tact. The finish comes when Morrison goes for the Flying Chuck, but Wade grabs him and slams him down. You can tell the planned finish was for Wade to his Wasteland during this part, but he didn't quite get the grip on Morrison and just sort of dropped him to the ground. He picks him back up and hits a proper Wasteland to win this match cleanly. Well, they are giving Wade some clean victories as of late. Maybe they have finally picked a direction for Wade and will continue to build him up. It just hasn't been the same since the Nexus days. Personally, I think Wade has the tools to go pretty far in the business. They just need to not flip flop so much with him or else it will be difficult to anyone to take Wade seriously.

Winner via pinfall: Wade Barrett

After a replay of the opening from earlier, Cole talks about how he can't stand JR. Apparently, he was exchanging some words with JR over on Twitter and Cole snaps. He shows a bunch of photoshop photos to embarrass JR. He proposes a match for next week's show. He says if JR wins, he will get his seat back on commentary. If Cole loses, he quits commentary. Some pretty high stipulations for this match. Even though most people want JR to win, chances are Cole will end up cheating to get this match. Then again, if Cole loses, they can always put him in a manager role or make him the GM of the show. Unlike Laurinaitis, Cole can actually talk and the guy has a character. It just might be his calling card because many people can't stand the guy, which is perfect for a GM role. Oh, and Ryder cut a promo backstage. He talks about his match until Awesome Truth shows up and attacks him. Well, I can see the IWC ready to break something. Keep in mind that it makes no sense for Ryder to be in this type of match and should be working on mid card level stuff. Awesome Truth come to the ring and talk about starting a revolution with their tactics and Cena is gonna get GOT!!! I think I know what Booker T would say regarding this situation, but then I might be accused of being called a racist if I post that clip (Which I am not by any means). Long time wrestling fans, you know where I was going with this.....we comin' for you....you can finish the rest.

Match #5: Awesome Truth vs John Cena
I like the fan interaction with Cena and the guy wearing a "We hate Cena" T-shirt. Since there was no "Oh Radio" for this match, Cena has to go in alone. It works just like any other Cena match. He gets his ass kicked for the majority of the contest, but still manages to overcome the odds and almost magically pulls this one out of his ass. The finish comes when Cena goes for AA, but Truth uses a water bottle on Cena and the referee calls for the bell. Hey, you gotta watch out with those water bottles. We have established they are the ultimate weapon in pro wrestling. Tables, chairs, kendo sticks, that's for pussies. A water bottle.....now you're hardcore. After the match, Miz hits Skull Crushing Finale and Truth hits the Facebuster on Cena. Laurinaitis shows up and orders Awesome Truth to stop this attack and wants them to leave. They start to leave, but Laurinaitis has an idea. He decides to make a rematch here, but Cena can choose his partner for this SS match. Cena hates the idea at first, but starts to think and has an idea. He says if he can pick anyone and if he accepts, he picks.......THE ROCK!!! I think this happened to your head when you heard this news....

This ends the show. So, did anyone catch Cena slobbering all over the mic when he announced the Rock's name? Is he trying to tell us something? Well, that's one way to prevent one of CM Punk's pipebombs. Anyway, this rumor of Rock teaming up with Cena has been going around for a while. As I have stated in the past, I don't like to rely on those reports since they can be false and a report like this would be considered a spoiler. And you know how I feel about spoilers on this show. Well, since it has been thrown out there in kayfabe, now I can finally talk about it. I think either way you look at it, this will be a pretty big moment for Survivor Series. The match can suck, but since the Rock is involved, it will be considered a classic. That's one way to get PPV buyrates up, and I wouldn't be surprised to see WWE cash in big time with the Rock wrestling at SS. It should be an interesting match.

Winner via DQ: John Cena

Overall Impression:
I thought this was a pretty average showing of Raw. I didn't expect the show to be nowhere near the level of Vengeance, but I think they spent a lot of time tonight establishing the new storylines/rivalries and getting Survivor Series on the right track. Keep in mind that the Muppets will be on the show next week, and I think they will resort to the comedy gags as opposed to building up the PPV, so it was good they got a good chunk of it out of the way tonight. Despite the fact the majority of the show was spent on storytelling, there was action on the show. I wouldn't say any of the matches were watchers, but some of them were enjoyable for free TV standards. They really didn't talk about next week's show that much, but they did announce the Muppets would be on the show. As I said in the past, I don't have a problem with this move, but I can understand people's displeasure with this news. It's amazing how when Punk gets in the title picture that I am somewhat interested in the rivalry. I had a hard time getting invested in Cena/Del Rio, but maybe the substitution of Punk can make things a lot more exciting. The opening attack was pretty brutal and told a very good story. You can almost buy the tension Nash and Trips have towards each other. Laurinaitis continues to be drunk with power and I wouldn't be surprised to see his reign as GM be over at SS. Don't be too surprised if the reason for Cole's match is to write him off of commentary and for him to play the GM role on Monday Night Raw. Like I said, this was a pretty average night of WWE programming, but I thought it was just an okay show. I can't really recommend it since the majority of the show was dedicated to building up SS, but there is certainly nothing wrong with that. 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.