WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 7/2/12 (The Crazy Chick Show)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw 7/2/12. With the Money in the Bank PPV approaching, how will WWE continue the build-up? Let's find out and start the review. 

We open up the show with another glitch? That's two weeks in a row that a small portion of the opening got cut out. Like last week, you didn't miss much, but why does that keep happening? Two times in a row, man!!! I try to watch WWE and get interrupted by COMMERCIALS!!! Anyway, John Cena's in the ring and talks WWE MITB match, Big Show, and fighting monsters. I kinda want to hear more about these monster battles, but it's time for your daily dose of 'Yes' chants. Daniel Bryan interrupts and thinks Cena is irrelevant. Yeah, good luck trying to get that to trend worldwide. Bryan also adds that when he defeats CM Punk and if Cena wins the MITB, he vows that Cena will be the first to fail the cash-in. Punk interrupts and mocks Bryan (Foreshadowing between Punk and Cena?), while Jericho interrupts to start a catchphrase war. Then Kane interrupts because he wanted AJ's phone number, then Big Show arrives to take everyone out. Then Mario, Sonic, Link, and Kirby show up and we begin to have a free for all. Then a turkey arrives and starts to peck at the audiences. Then we have a………*head explodes*.

I made up the last couple parts here, but there was a ton of interruptions. Why is there so many interruptions? I think they crammed too much in the beginning here. It's okay if you want to connect the WWE MITB match to the WWE Champion, but there's a better way to do it. Regardless, it sets up a wide number of scenarios for future events. Still, I think I need to take a nap after all of that. 

Match #1: Prime Time Players, Cody Rhodes, and David Otunga vs Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Christian, and Santino

And you thought the opening was crammed? What until you see this? So, the PTP leave the match because AW wants to make sure you know that his crew and heels. Cody leaves Otunga because he's still pissed off about Otunga screwing him over in getting in the WHC MITB match. As soon as Cody leaves, Brodus Clay arrives. Otunga is caught between a fat-man and a sock. I like how the referee clearly sees Brodus toss Otunga back in the ring. This probably should be a DQ, but I just don't care anymore. I kinda gave up when Cody left the match. Santino hits the Cobra on Otunga and the good guys pick up the victory. Can you believe this is the first 20-30 minutes of the program? I feel like we have gone off on 20 different tangents/storylines during this time. I think I need some Tylenol. How about you? 

Winner via pinfall: Santino, Christian, Kofi Kingston, and R-Truth

According to the B.O.D, Del Rio is the #1 Contender to the WHC. It will be Sheamus vs Del Rio at MITB. Teddy Long has a surprise for Del Rio tonight. We are getting ready for the Teddy surprise and it turns out to be Sin Cara. Before this match can begin, Del Rio attacks Sin and takes him out with the Cross Armbreaker. I'm convinced Del Rio destroyed Sin because of the hole in Sin's pants. That's just inappropriate. Then again, that's what happens on live TV…..public embarrassment. 

In a backstage scene, Bryan tries to sweet talk AJ and presents her a rose. AJ doesn't buy Bryan's words. Well, there was not point in TRYING, right? AJ also takes a bite out of the rose Bryan gave her. Was this a Plants vs Zombies reference? Eh, I'm probably looking too deeply into it. Paul Heyman is via satellite and informs us that Brock Lesnar will make his decision on the 1000th episode of Raw. If you think about it, that's probably the best time to reveal it. Paul seems to think that Triple H wants this match because he wants Brock to end his career and thus go into a corporate suit for the rest of his life. I love the way Paul can cut a promo. He's got a gift for getting underneath your skin. 

Match #2: Sheamus and AJ vs Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero; Mixed Tag match

Time for your weekly dose of Dolph getting destroyed by a kick. I kinda feel bad for Dolph since he's being pushed towards Sheamus' bitch. The finish comes when AJ hits the Shining Wizard on Vickie for the victory. After the match, AJ rushes to Punk and wants to talk to him. Punk was on the phone with his sister and explains to AJ that he had no knowledge of AJ's match. She starts to get a little emotional since the guy that she cares for doesn't seem to feel the same way. It kinda makes you feel bad for AJ. It also makes Punk look like an asshole for not paying attention. Well, that's how it goes.

Winner via pinfall: AJ and Sheamus

Match #3: Heath Slater vs Doink the Clown

Slater says he isn't a clown, so out comes Doink. Slater really needs to learn to keep his mouth shut……..or else he will start running wild? Oh, that's not gonna happen. To my surprise, Slater actually wins this match. After the match, Diamond Dallas Page arrives and hits the Diamond Cutter on Slater. Hey, Slater has to keep up his legend/jobbing gimmick. It was something else seeing DDP back in a WWE ring again. I would put up a diamond symbol, but I might end up getting hit with a lawsuit. 

Winner via pinfall: Heath Slater

Match #4: Big Show vs Kane; No DQ match

If you remember who you are dealing with here, this actually wasn't that bad of a match. Although, they didn't fully utilize the gimmick match. The only thing they used was a steel chair. The finish comes when Show Chokeslams Kane on top of the chair for the victory. The booking made sense. They want to make Show look strong going into the MITB match in order to keep up with the storyline. Kane's wondering if he regrets kicking AJ to the curb at this very moment. 

Winner via pinfall: Big Show

In a backstage scene, Teddy runs into Eve. Oh yeah, she's still apart of this show. Teddy presents her with a giant name tag. Once she rips it up, she runs into AJ and thinks AJ is imitating her. AJ says Eve is a brown-noser and she will show her how to get attention. I don't know about you, but did anyone else think AJ was going to kiss Eve? Then again, WWE got in trouble with that many years ago, so they probably didn't want that to happen. 

Match #5: Tensai vs Tyson Kidd

This match lasted about 10 seconds. The finish comes when Tensai runs into the ring post, which allows Tyson to get a rollup for the victory. As Tyson celebrates his victory, Tensai beats up Sakamoto. Oh my God, Tensai killed Sakamoto…..

I'm convinced Sakamoto's a cat since Tensai has killed him twice. Tensai would get his revenge on Tyson by beating him up in a backstage scene. I was amazed they gave Tyson this victory, but it was more of a miracle victory than a strong win. I think they want to make Tensai a strong contender going into the MITB. Either that or more pissed off. Then again, I don't think he's the favorite going into the match. Then again, the WHC MITB  match is really wide open at this point. I guess we will see where they are going with this in the coming weeks. 

Winner via pinfall: Tyson Kidd

Jericho and Bryan…..BEST BACKSTAGE SCENE EVER!!! I don't even care about the Punk/Cena scene. I want to see a follow-up between Jericho and Bryan. Do I want to see this AGAIN? YES!!!

Match #6: CM Punk and John Cena vs Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho

This was probably the best match of the night, but I don't think it's really saying anything. The action was kinda lacking tonight. Then again, this is the Fourth of July week. Cena and Jericho end up fighting to the back. If you watch, you can see Cena fighting as if he's swatting at a bunch of flies. That will show Jericho!!! Punk and Bryan continue to fight in the ring. AJ arrives, but Punk and Bryan don't pay attention. What does crrrrrrrrazy AJ have in mind? Well, she pulls out a table and props it up. She gets on the top rope and is thinking about jumping. NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Luckily, Bryan gets there to stop it. Punk arrives right next to AJ and tells her not to jump. She then kisses Punk on the lips and pushes him. With the fall, Punk collides with Bryan and both guys end up going through the table. The show ends with AJ celebrating. Yeah, so AJ is completely mental. She tricks these guys into thinking she's gonna dive into a table while going, WHEEEEEEEEEEE!!! In reality, she set up Bryan and Punk to send them both a message. What message was that? Hell if I know. So, AJ gets a lot of attention this week.   Now, I like AJ, but I kinda feel they are going a little too overboard with her at the moment. It's fine if you want to showcase her, but keep in mind that we have other things going on in this show. With that said, I found it interesting that AJ sent BOTH Punk and Bryan through the table. Is she playing both of them? Is she completely insane? It's those questions that keep me invested in this. Now, I can see some people not being fond of these events because it makes Punk, Bryan, and the WWE Championship an afterthought. Still, I find it difficult to get upset with all the AJ screen time. She's too adorable to get angry with. 

No Contest

Overall Impression:

I'll definitely admit that Raw wasn't that great tonight, but I did get an enjoyment out of a couple of things. I thought the interactions between Bryan and Jericho were genius and I kinda liked the ending, but I can also admit that this show is nowhere near perfect. In fact, you can argue that it was pretty bad and I wouldn't counter-argue that. Still, I was able to enjoy a couple of things. One of the issues with tonight's show was no new announcements regarding the MITB matches. Then again, I suppose that's what SD is for. I'm almost convinced that the WWE MITB match is only gonna contain four people. Now, I think another reason WWE did mostly filler tonight was because of the holiday week. I know American Independence Day isn't until Wednesday, but it's common for WWE to throw some light action/storyline build up on the holiday weeks since they know most people will be busy on those weeks. At the same time, they could've done something a little better than tonight. Hell, you can argue that the first 30 minutes was crowded. They had all those interruptions and that eight man tag match. It's crowded no matter how you look at it. We do have another show tomorrow night, but I don't really expect much. It's a holiday themed SD, so I have low expectations going into it. Why am I talking about SD right now? I'm just rambling, so I better wrap this up. Raw has a couple of amusing moments, but not enough to really scream "must see" on this filler episode. That's all I have left to say. That's gonna 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.