WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 11/7/11

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 11/7/11. With Raw taking place in Liverpool, England, how will the show fair out? Well, let's find out and start the review.

We open the show with John Cena. Just like any advertisement whore, Cena plugs his WM match with the Rock and teaming up with the Rock at Survivor Series. I'm surprised he didn't plug his movie while he was at it. Anyway. Awesome Truth interrupts. They talk about how Cena embarrassed them last week and now they will be upping their game and vow Cena will never destroy them again.....at least until Survivor Series. R-Truth talks about how Cena and his tag team partner will get got tonight. The two start to attack Cena until Zack Ryder runs out for the save. Ryder even managed to hit Rough Ryder on Truth. The opening ends with the heels retreating while Cena and Ryder play to the crowd. If you haven't put it together yet, it will be Awesome Truth vs Cena and Ryder tonight. The opening was basic while the match itself is okay. It might be fun to watch.....unless it's another chance to make Awesome Truth look like they can't even hold Cena's jock strap.

Match #1: Dolph Ziggler vs John Morrison
Michael Cole and the King talked an awful lot about Ryder's online petition to get a US Championship match. That's right folks, John Laurinaitis is such a terrible GM that he doesn't even hand out championship matches. I realize it's wrestling logic in order to find out where Ryder stands among his fanbase, but you figure Laurinaitis would actually care about putting title matches together. For the first half of this match, Dolph was in control. Morrison would fight out of it to make it a pretty good match. Cole and King also talked about how Morrison is on a losing streak and is trying to get his mojo back. I think his "mojo" left when Melina was released from this company. The finish comes when Morrison gets a quick roll up victory, thus ending his losing streak. Not really sure if this is a sign of new things to come for Morrison, but at least he finally won a match. On the other side of the coin, Dolph continues to lose match after match. For being a US Champion, he sure doesn't look like a champion at the moment. Then again, maybe this losing streak for Dolph is a sign of things to come? I can only hope.

Winner via pinfall: John Morrison

Match #2: Mason Ryan vs JTG
It was announced that it would be Team Orton vs Team Barrett in a classic Survivor Series match at SS. I am fine with the match and pairings, but Team Orton vs Team Barrett? Wouldn't it make more sense if it was Team Sheamus vs Team Christian, or Team Orton vs Team Rhodes? Hell, I'll even let Team Orton vs Team Christian slide. Now, I get they are trying to push Wade Barrett to bigger and better things, but him being the team captain doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Then again, should we really be bitching and moaning about team captains in a match like this? It isn't like they mean anything....well, at least to a degree. This is just a minor nit pick, but it doesn't really bother me that much. The team members on each side is as follows. Team Orton has Randy Orton, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Sin Cara, and Mason Ryan; while Team Barrett has Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Christian, Hunico, and Jack Swagger. A lot of people are wondering why Evan Bourne isn't part of this pairing? Well, it was reported last week that Bourne was hit with a wellness policy suspension, so he is out for 30 days. I am surprised they didn't take the tag titles off of Air Boom when this news hit, so I guess they are still the tag champs for the time being. This match was a joke. Mason went in there and made JTJobber look like his own personal bitch. Mason wins with a Full Nelson Slam.

Winner via pinfall: Mason Ryan

Backstage where the Bellas are talking about random stuff until Ryder shows up and talks about teaming up with Cena....again. Didn't they do this scene like two weeks ago? If you're going to do a filler show, the best you can do is not make it look so obvious. Oh, and Cole once again takes cheap shots at Jim Ross since he wasn't able to appear in Liverpool tonight. What's the point of all this? It's not even funny and it's doing the same old jokes over and over again. JR has to have the patience of a saint if he continues to take these verbal shots on TV every single week. Hell, this has been going on for over a decade. JR does not get enough credit for the stuff he does for this company. It also turns out Cole has laid out the Michael Cole Challenge for next week. I kinda just want to see them get this over with already, regardless of where this is all going.

Match #3: Alberto Del Rio vs Kofi Kingston
This was another short match. Kofi gets a couple of strikes, but Del Rio is too much for him. Del Rio wins cleanly with the Cross Armbreaker. WWE barely acknowledged Del Rio losing to Big Show on last week's show. I guess we have to pretend that never happened and let the evening continue. Actually, that was the best course of action if you think about it. After the match, CM Punk shows up and we go to a commercial. Promo time after this.

Winner via submission: Alberto Del RIo

Back in the ring with Punk and Del Rio. Alberto calls Punk a coward for using a dirty trick to get his title match. Dude, you screamed out loud "You can have you match". I wouldn't really call Punk a coward based on that. After heelish logic, Del Rio continues to cut down Punk and says nobody cares about him or Liverpool. Del Rio said he talked to Carlton Banks in asking Punk to cancel the match. Punk basically says his co-workers are babies for not wanting to fight as opposed to use all this lawyer bulls***. He totally has a point here. This isn't wrestling anymore.....it's an episode of People's Court. Anyway, Punk refers to Del Rio as a cheap shot artist and always taking his opportunities, so that's why he did the attack last week. Punk would then go on to say how Del Rio is one dimensional character who always talks about destiny and how nobody is interested in what Del Rio has to say. Thank you, Punk. You basically said what I've been saying for months. Del Rio is a great wrestler and the guy can talk, but this character sucks and is always saying the exact same thing every week. That's not the marks of a champion I want to see every week. Punk vows not only to beat Del Rio, but to actually make the WWE Championship important once more. Del Rio says he doesn't care what Punk has to say about his genericness, he just wants to know if Punk will cancel the match or not. Punk mockingly thinks about it for a while. When Punk finally tells him no, Del Rio attacks Punk. He is about to lock in Cross Armbreaker, but Punk counters into the Anaconda Vice. Ricardo Rodriguez attacks to once again let Del Rio escape. The segment ends with Punk hitting GTS on Rodriguez. Damn, Ricardo needs a raise. This guy takes punishment every single week. Whatever they are paying you, it isn't enough. Anyway, I really enjoyed this segment. I did mention how the storytelling aspect of the WWE Championship match took a step backwards on last week's show, but that wasn't the case for tonight. Based on what these two said to one another, I am interested in this rivalry and the match once more. Reckon, a good portion of the hype up for this match was thanks to Punk. That's how awesome Punk is. He can make anything interesting when you just let him do his thing.

Match #4: Santino vs Jack Swagger
Swagger cut a short video promo in how he lost to a Muppet last week. Swagger proceeds to do some really bad, eye twitch, acting. Swagger's a good wrestler, but his lack of charisma continues to make me sad every week. It's getting so bad that I think I want to cry. The match was a carbon copy of last week's match. The only major difference is Swagger wins this match with the Ankle Lock. Does anyone really care?

Winner via submission: Jack Swagger

Kelly Kelly is out there to plug her cover of Maxim magazine. She talks about her accomplishments in an uninspiring manor until Beth Phoenix and Natalya show up to mock her. Beth and Natalya talk about wanting to show the little girls that looking like Kelly isn't what it takes to become a diva (Not in this day in age, which is unfortunate). It seems they are ready to attack until Eve and Alicia Fox show up. They talk about how they don't belong here and this is Kelly's time. They show the magazine cover, which seems a little to risque for PG television. Then again, who gives a s***. The scene didn't do a whole lot for the storyline of all of this and shows why Kelly shouldn't be allowed to talk on a microphone. She acts like the damn thing will kill her. Someone should tell her that the term "pipebomb" doesn't mean an actual bomb.

Back in the ring where Laurinaitis introduces Kevin Nash. Kevin explains why he attacked Triple H. Nash said back in 1995, he wanted to bury Trips since he didn't think he had what it took to make it in the business, but Shawn Michaels convinced him he was legit and to let him join the Kliq. Nash explains that he eventually grew a close friendship with Trips and talks about the heavy response he got at the Royal Rumble earlier this year. He talked about getting the biggest pop of the night. Nash went into the mindset that with that type of response, people wanted him back, so he pitched the idea of bringing the band back together....

Yeah, I'll let you think about that one for a second. Nash went on to say that Trips ignored his phone call and idea to get the band back together. Nash said Trips got a little too full of himself and Nash still believes he can be a big time player in the WWE, but Trips was holding him back. Overall, a pretty good promo by Nash. He explained pretty well in the realms of kayfabe/worked shoot why he attacked Triple H. I can't believe I am saying this, but who would think a rivalry between Nash and Triple H would work in 2011? I think it's coming together very nicely and I actually want to see where this is all going at the moment. I'm entertained by this. Who would've thought? By the way, did you catch the WWE 12 shots on tonight's show? I have to say. I'm not impressed with the character design. Punk and Del Rio look like they have the derp face. Then again, graphics aren't everything with a video game.

Backstage where Mr. Camel is talking to David Otunga about how Brodus Clay was set to debut tonight, but he wanted to debut him in the USA as opposed to Liverpool. Hooray for cheap heat. Punk shows up and says Laurinaitis doesn't know anything about making a star and he will become the WWE champion. Otunga takes a verbal cheap shot in saying how Punk would be a terrible champion because he looks like a gas station worker. This is coming for a guy who mooches off his wife. Anyway, Punk attacks Otunga, but Del Rio would show up and attack Punk. Officials arrive to break it up. Ladies and gentlemen, that's the most interesting thing Del Rio has done during this rivalry.

Match #5: Awesome Truth vs John Cena and Zack Ryder
This was a pretty good match to watch. As you would've guessed, Ryder was the weak link for this match, but they didn't make him look too bad. They made him look like he can hold his own and has potential, but is still a young guy and is going to make those rookie mistakes at times. So, at least they told a good story for Ryder's character. They are definitely trying something with Ryder since they talked quite a bit about him tonight. The finish comes when Cena is about to hit AA, but Miz hits a kick and goes for a cover. R-Truth is on the outside and grabs Cena's leg to hold him down, thus Awesome Truth picks up the victory. Well, at least they made Awesome Truth look decent tonight. If Cena and crew had won this match, I think I would have to break something. At least with this type of finish, it shows Awesome Truth getting smarter and stronger, while it shows this time around the Cena needs an assist in order to deal with Awesome Truth. See, NOW it kinda looks like Cena needs the Rock in order to deal with Awesome Truth. I still didn't like how things went last week, but maybe WWE wants us to quickly forget what happened. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time the wrestling companies wanted the fans to have a one track mind. Still, I feel the magic of this Rock/Cena team isn't quite getting my interest at the moment. I feel it's missing something. I think what it needs is for Awesome Truth to take out BOTH Rock and Cena on next week's show. I think this can really hype up the match, since at this point it looks like a match where Rock and Cena and simply there to flex their muscles and see who can out perform the other. Reckon, I feel that's what will happen when Survivor Series happens, but that doesn't mean you don't have to basically say this match is only happening to make a quick buck. I still feel the hype up can still be put together very well. And with good build up, that will get a little more interest for this match up. Regardless how I feel about the build up for this match, WWE is still looking to gain a ton of money from this pairing, so maybe my criticism doesn't even matter? Screw the rivalry, I have money.

Winner via pinfall: Awesome Truth

Overall Impression:
This really felt like a filler episode of Raw. It's funny how Cena talked about how everyone is talking about the three hour Raw in which the Rock would show up, but nobody seems to care about tonight. Well, based on how WWE wrote the show, it seemed pretty clear they were going for filler and would just wait to do everything they want to with their three hour show next week. Now, was it a bad filler episode? I wouldn't say that. Some of the matches were fun to watch, and I enjoyed the Punk and Nash promos this evening. It might have been filler, but at least it was somewhat entertaining. They did announce ONE MORE MATCH for Survivor Series. They seem to be hinting at a few more matches, but nothing else has been announced as of this moment. I can see Dolph vs Ryder for the US Title, and there will probably be something involving the divas. I can see Nash go to SS and talk about Triple H until Trips shows up and we get a brawl at the PPV. Now, can I recommend tonight's Raw? I wouldn't go that far since you really didn't miss much, but there was a few interesting moments here and there. This in many ways reminded me of what Smackdown put on last week. It was filler, but there was a entertaining moment here and there. 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 or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.