WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 10/1/12

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw 10/1/12. How does WWE start off the month of October? Let's find out and start the review. 

We open up the show with CM Punk. Punk talks about how Mick Foley likes to pick his favorites and not acknowledging him as the best. Punk still refuses to accept Cena as the #1 Contender. Paul Heyman grabs the mic and speaks about AJ's actions. Because she slapped Pauly, she is under probation and is in danger of losing her job. Monday Night Raw: Where we get a new GM every 2-3 months. Speaking of GM, Vickie Guerrero comes out and claims she should be the new GM. After some bantering between the GM candidates, Dolph Ziggler suggest that Paul and Vickie work together. Wait, so Pauly and Vickie as the GM of Raw?

By the way, I love how they show AJ slapping Vickie and claimed that it happened two months ago. I could've sworn that it only happened around 4-5 weeks ago. Anyway, AJ talks about an executive coach being appointed by the BOD…..which is almost an irrelevant plot point. Daniel Bryan, Kane, the professor and Mary Ann here on Gilligan's Is-Wait, what just happened? IIIII AM THE-AJ's a great kisser-TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!!! That goes on for a while until AJ books Punk and Dolph vs Team Hell No as the main event. Yeah, so there was a lot going on in the opening. I do like that Bryan and Kane are getting in the main event. I love Bryan's mustache twirl during this scene. You can almost taste the evil. 

Match #1: Hidden Identities vs Puerto Rican Express; Tag Team Tournament

Yeah, I like to make up my own tag team names. Don't judge me!!! For a short match, it was pretty fun to watch. Mysterio and Sin Cara were sporting a hybrid mask of one another. Something tells me that WWE is having a seizure since they are thinking of all the money they will make with the combo mask. PURCHASE YOURS TODAY!!! The finish comes when Rey Mysterio hits the dime for the clean victory. The Prime Time Players were watching this match and acknowledged Hidden Identities. You might as well pencil in the PTP defeating Team……Crazy Jamaican? Eh, who cares? 

Winner via pinfall: Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara

Match #2: Antonio Cesaro vs Brodus Clay

You blink for a second and the match is already over. The finish comes when Antonio hit the Neutralizer for the victory. Pretty impressive that he was able to lift Brodus' fat-ass to hit that move. Well, at least we are saved from an Antonio/Brodus rivalry. The rivalry never intrigued me when they first teased it, so I'm glad we're moving on. In the meantime, AJ apologizes to Kaitlyn, but that would make too much sense so she starts to laugh. The executive coach was…..Honestly, I don't care what his name is. It isn't important. This guy offers more in the Ron Howard look-alike department than executive coach. 

Winner via pinfall: Antonio Cesaro

Match #3: Miz vs Zack Ryder

What? Larry King is rooting for Ryder? I was already convinced of this already, but this pretty much proves it; WWE is telling their social media ambassadors what to say. In fact, this whole social media ambassador deal is unnecessary and pointless. Oh yeah, Miz won the match. Did anybody really care about this match? The mid-card division is a figment of your imagination. 

Winner via pinfall: Miz

Time for the WHC debate between Sheamus and Big Show. Yeah, cuz debates are always fun to listen to. Show thought it was ridiculous, while Sheamus said 18 jokes in 45 seconds. Seriously, bringing that up over and over again isn't making Sheamus funny. If anything, it just makes him more annoying. I like Sheamus, but they aren't letting Sheamus be Sheamus and want him to act like John Cena. And I love how Booker T kept referring to this as a serious debate. Then again, I thought it was more serious than the Obama/Romney debate. Oooooh….That's not gonna sit well with some people. The scene ends like any other cliche in pro wrestling. The good guy wants to fight, but we need to remind you that heels are cowards, so Show walks away from the fight. Why do I get the strange feeling that Sheamus/Del Rio will turn out more entertaining than Sheamus/Show?

Match #4: Ryback vs Tensai

Something about this seems familiar, but I'm not sure why?

The only difference from the two matches was Ryback's inability to hit the Shell Shock. A lot of people will quickly blame Ryback (Even though the vast majority of you don't have a body like Ryback and/or couldn't even lift up Tensai's torso, let alone his body. Funny how the IWC likes to point out every single botch despite this factor) for the miscue, but I mostly blame Tensai. Just by watching this, it didn't even look like Tensai tried to push up some of his weight to make this easier for Ryback. I'm guess Tensai loves the food they offer in the doghouse. Ryback ended up using a clothesline to win this match. Despite the fact Ryback will get some negativity after tonight, he's over as hell. The casual fans love this guy and he doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Personally, I like Ryback since he's a breath of fresh air. At least, in terms of the babyfaces. 

Winner via pinfall: Ryback

Match #5: Eve vs Beth Phoenix

All I got is one word to say about this match…..Blah. Eve wins with a Neckbreaker. I'm not surprised that Eve got the victory and neither should you. In a backstage scene, Wade Barrett thinks AJ is doing a terrible job as GM, while the coach does absolutely nothing. Yeah, this coaching deal was thought out so well….

Winner via pinfall: Eve

Match #6: Heath Slater vs Santino

Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal are at ringside for this match. So, they teamed up with Slater to create……International Job Crew? Santino hits the Cobra, but the bad guys attack Santino, thus resulting in a DQ. There's still no explanation as to why all three of these guys have joined up. It's still new, so I can wait a while to reveal details. I find myself interested in where this is all going.

Winner via DQ: Santino

Match #7: Sheamus vs Damien Sandow

This was a pretty good match. It didn't make Damien look like a total pushover, so I liked what I saw here. Of course, people aren't gonna be happy about Sheamus getting the clean victory with the Brogue Kick. At this point, Sheamus getting the clean win shouldn't be surprising. He's the Cena of SD, so of course he's gonna win the match. I think this finish shows me that WWE will continue to build up Sandow, which is a good thing. Damien is one of the rising stars that I would like to see get more screen time. 

Winner via pinfall: Sheamus

It's time for Jim Ross appreciation night. Punk interrupts the segment and wants JR to show him some respect. JR goes on a speech in how people like Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold didn't ask for respect, and neither should Punk. JR makes a deal with Punk. If Punk defeats Cena at Hell in a Cell, he will acknowledge him as the best, but Punk doesn't like that. Punk tells JR to step away from commentary and to walk away in shame. When did Punk become the GM? Oh yeah, that's wrestling logic. Ryback comes out to even the odds. We get another stare down…..Punk walks away……end scene. Yeah, I really don't have a whole lot to say about the scene. I think they are slowly giving Ryback some exposure since Cena isn't around to do confrontation. I stand by what I said last week. Ryback isn't ready for the main event and should focus on mid-card talents. I think that's why you got no physical confrontation between Punk and Ryback tonight. At the same time, I will give them credit for not rushing a fight/match between the two. I think it would've been a mistake to do that. 

Match #8: Alberto Del Rio vs Kofi Kingston

Another throwaway/filler match? Why have the extra hour if you're gonna put on a lot of matches that have no storyline or serve no purpose? I'm fine with a couple filler matches here and there, but some of these should serve a purpose. Some of you might call that nitpicking, but its just something I've noticed since the show moved to three hours. If you're gonna do that, than just go back to two hours. What can I say about this match? Ricardo Rodriguez is awesome. Despite the short match, Ricardo manages to make it fun with his commentary. Ricardo should have his own TV show. Possible plot-point with Kofi losing via the Cross Armbreaker. 

Winner via submission: Alberto Del Rio

Match #9: CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler vs Team Hell No

This match wasn't too bad. Outside of this match, Sheamus/Sandow, and the tag tournament match, none of the other matches really stood out. AJ ended up making herself the special referee and told Ron Howard to piss off. Honestly, what was the point of this character? Seriously, AJ was already unstable, so you bring this character on to remind people that AJ's still unstable? I don't even want to know what the creative staff was thinking when writing this into the show. So, we get a replay of a few weeks ago when Punk walked out on Dolph during the match, but the roles were reversed. With Punk all alone, this is easy pickings for Team Hell No. Oh no, Punk just lost to Kane via the Chokeslam. Time for the complaining to begin….Even though Punk was screwed over and fought two guys at once. Oh, but surely the internet wouldn't bring in the argument that Cena wouldn't have had any problems fighting two guys? Would you do that? Would you? Hmm? Okay, I've had my fun. As always, I joke around a lot on here, so hopefully you don't take it too seriously. 

Winner via pinfall: Team Hell No

Overall Impression:

I'm kinda don't know what to say about this one. I didn't like Raw, but I also didn't hate it. I personally thought the last few weeks were better than tonight. I already expressed how I felt about the matches. Nine matches on and so many of them were short and pointless. I would rather have 4-5 good, lengthy matches as opposed to a lot of short, forgettable matches. Also, it kinda seems like WWE isn't sure what else to put on the show since Cena isn't available. We've been getting a lot of Punk segments in the last few weeks. Reckon, I don't have a problem with Punk segments, but I think they are going overboard with them. Despite this, I did enjoy a couple things out of tonight. I really liked Sandow's match and Punk's character development, but there was a lot of moments where I was waiting for the show to end since I wasn't being entertained. I watch wrestling to be entertained and nothing more or less, but I think they took a couple steps backwards with their stream of quality shows. I personally can't recommend tonight's Raw since I didn't think it was that memorable. I can keep going on this, but I better stop now before I continue to piss people off. 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.