# 1
In general, this was a better episode of Monday Night RAW this week. Yes, there was a fair share of dumb segments that didn't get over as I'm sure WWE planned. But there was enough substance that sustained my interest for 2 hours of television. The reason for all this positive energy stems from the entertaining usage of AJ in the Punk/Bryan storyline.
After reading a few reviews of last night's show already, it sounds as though i am in a distinct minority on this one. I know what most of you are thinking: "Why would you support a storyline that detracts from the fact that this rivalry should be about the WWE Championship and NOT about a female!?!?!?" My answer to that is simple and undeniable: AJ is great in her role and her use in this storyline is building to an enthralling payoff at Money in the Bank that will ultimately re-focus on the importance of the WWE Title. Just hear me out as to why this is the case...
Every match on any PPV needs an unpredictable hook that works to convince the audience to part ways with their hard earned money. AJ and what role she will play at Money in the Bank is one of two unpredictable hooks. Usually, WWE forgets about establishing an aura of unpredictability, instead going for the obvious route. Case in point: look at Big Show's recent heel turn. Did anyone reading this ever think that Big Show was NOT going to turn on Cena at Over the Limit? The payoff was so obvious! Furthermore, look at every single match on the last 3 weeks on Smackdown. If i were to show you the matches without the results, i can guarantee that you would be able to guess each of the outcomes. THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE!!
However, with regards to AJ, i have no idea what the hell she is going to do, if anything, at Money in the Bank. Monday's episode helped hit this home with a number of effective segments. I loved the angle involving Punk not watching AJ's match because he was on the phone to his sister. AJ's great facials combined with her nutty/stalker persona dropped the vibe that she may, in fact turn on Punk and cost him the title. But at the same time, this complemented the previous segment with Bryan attempting to woo AJ into favoring him in his match with Punk. AJ's reaction? She knows Bryan is full of shit! Thus, there is no clear cut mode of thinking when it comes to who AJ will eventually side with. The final segment involving AJ standing over Bryan and Punk, who she shockingly threw threw a table, was also a fantastic bit of metaphoric forecasting: AJ has the power going into the WWE Title match. What will she do next!? Who does she like now!? If AJ wasn't tremendous at her job as of late, I'm sure i wouldn't be praising this angle the way i am. But AJ has definitely grown in this program by hook or by crook to the point where she is adding to this rivalry. What is AJ going to do at Money in the Bank? I have no idea and i like it.
But what about the importance of the WWE Title you say? Well, the actual pay off to this rivalry, that being a one-on-one match between Punk and Bryan for the Championship, is unpredictable hook number two. Sure, the argument can definitely be made that this current storyline should be something saved for a mid-card program. Soap opera mixed with WWE World Titles is like oil and water some say. But in this case, i have to disagree because this rivalry at its core - if you take away the female distractions - is about who is the best in the WWE. Nothing will change the fact that i still cannot wait for this match in two weeks. Why? Because i am going to have the pleasure of watching Daniel Bryan challenging CM Punk for the WWE Championship on a PPV.. That alone is something that has the power put over the importance of a World Title. These guy's last PPV match is a testament to this. With absolutely not build up, Punk and Bryan provided audiences with a 25 minute near-masterpiece that took fans like me on an emotional and believable rolercoaster ride. It was like watching Jack Brisco and Dory Funk Jr battle it out in that squared circle. Furthermore, such enthralling action even encouraged Michael Cole to call one of his best matches in years! Its hard not to be inspired when Punk and Bryan are experts in conveying the most simple pro-wrestling storyline of all: Two men, fighting for the richest prize in WWE, all in the name of competition. At the end of the day, that is what this rivalry comes down to. Regardless what people think of AJ, no one can deny that Punk and Bryan will put forward a match at Money in the Bank that will be fresh, original and unpredictable. Who is going to win the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank? I have no idea and i like it.
# 2
Justice was served to Alberto Del Rio this week on RAW! He is the No. 1 contender for the World Title and will face Sheamus at Money in the Bank! Why is this a good thing? Because it makes sense.
Since the night after Wrestlemania this year, it seems as though Del Rio has been legitimately shafted by WWE management. That is, he has never been given a actual one-on-one match with Sheamus. For reasons unbeknownst to be, it looks as though WWE higher-ups regularly loose faith in the Mexican sensation. The consequences of this? Del Rio's title shot either becomes a 4-Way instead of a singles match. He gets legitimately injured, then is forced to compete for his shot in another No. 1 contenders match (like last week) instead of just being given his rightful Championship match. There were even times where he was announced No. 1 contender...and they just stopped promoting it so he never got his match!! Illogical bullshit like this makes me wonder: are we meant be hating Del Rio or are we meant to be getting behind him as a babyface!? Because stuff like this makes Del Rio seem sympathetic as hell.
However, the last two weeks have been good for the new No. 1 Contender. He successfully defeated both the US and Intercontinental Champions last week. He was told by Teddy Long that the WWE Board of Directors recognized his hardships and his recent victories to the degree that they GAVE Del Rio a one-on-one World Title match at Money in the Bank. He even destroyed Sin Cara on RAW so to send a message to Sheamus. All this stuff, especially his destruction of Cara on RAW last night, put Del Rio over as a credible animal that could possibly take the World Title from Sheamus in 2 weeks. This is the kind of heel that should be challenging for World Titles: a man who does not care about anyone but himself, but someone who can still back up his words in the ring. Thank you for bringing back the old Del Rio WWE!!
# 3
I am getting a tad tired of WWE broadcast teams over-exaggerating every single thing that happens on every WWE program. The broadcast team is meant to be either a tandem or a trio that helps contextualize the complex art of pro-wrestling. Ill give Cole and Lawler all the credit in the world. This is NOT an easy thing to accomplish night in and night out, but ENOUGH with hyping segments and matches with such idiotic statements: they make WWE look pathetic in their attempts to create "moments" that don't deserve such hype and, in turn, they treat the audience like they are idiots. Commentators are meant to complement and verbalize what audiences are possibly thinking, not the complete opposite.
Take the opening segment on RAW for example. Big Show came down to the ring as a bunch of main eventers were brawling. All i saw, with my own two eyes, was Big Show deliver a straight punch to Cena's stomach, a headbutt and a right hand to Kane. Suddenly, i have Michael Cole tell me that "Big Show leaves a mess of bodies in his wake...the dominance continues by the World's Largest Athlete!" HUH!? I swear i only saw Big Show slow down 2 of the 4 wrestlers that were in the ring. Besides, where the HELL is the "dominance" in a headbutt and couple of right hands!? Big Show Chokeslaming Undertaker through the freakin' ring in 1999? THAT'S DOMINANCE! Big Show turning over a small two-door car on Hardcore Holly in 1999? THAT'S DOMINANCE! I'm pretty sure a straight punch isn't considered an earth shattering moment even by today's standard.
Then we had Tyson Kidd getting a fluke win over Tensai. This was a moment that was completely undercooked and was received very coldly by the live crowd. As much as i liked Kidd winning, the reaction was expected. Jerry Lawler however, saw something that nobody else did, stating "that was one of the biggest upsets i have ever seen on RAW"......REALLY? This win was in the same league as the 1-2-3 Kidd defeating Razor Ramon in the Early 90s? Was Kidd getting the upset the same as when Mick Foley shocked the world and defeated the Rock to become the most unlikely WWE Champion of all time in 1999!? Give me a break!
Yes, i know that Vince is in the back barking out these ridiculous statements and feeding them to Cole and Lawler, but stuff like this makes WWE come across as a product that has no grasp on reality. Let the announcers call the match like they see and feel it. Do you think Gordon Sollie or Jim Ross spouted out pearls of wisdom like Cole and Lawler do on a regular basis? I think not!
Match Results:
Match No. 1 (8-Man Tag Team Match):
Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth, United States Champion Santino Marella, & Intercontinental Champion Christian
defThe Prime Time Players (w/ AW), David Otunga & Cody Rhodes
Rating: *
Comments:
There was a lot i didn't like about this match. In fact, besides the main event, there wasn't much great wrestling to speak of on this show.
For one, this contest was completely over booked. You had a walk-out storyline going on, you had Brodus Clay coming out and getting involved with David Otunga and you had Brodus dancing with kids. There was WAY too much going on here. This is a match that you put on TV once all participant's storylines have been made clear to the audience. Instead, this match was an example of WWE expecting audiences to already know whats going on. Furthermore, the Prime Time Players continued their "walking out gimmick" which obviously means WWE didn't get my last post on the importance of putting over PTP like they have with Del Rio. So yet again, the No. 1 contenders look like geeks who don't care about winning...great. The only shinning light here was AW on the live mic. I like how his chatter is audible as the match is going on. A definite original example of accentuating the positives and hiding PTP's negatives.
The in-ring action was basic and totally forgettable. Babyfaces run wild early, heels cut off and got the heat on Kofi, Kofi makes the hot tag and babyfaces win. *yawn*
Match No. 2 (Mixed Tag Team Match):
AJ and World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus
def
Vickie Guererro and Dolph Ziggler
Rating: *1/2
Comments:
This is probably the worst match that i've seen involving Ziggler and Sheamus. Granted, i didn't see their No Way Out Match which i heard was bad, but this match on Monday had NO HEAT. The two of them tried to get the fans invested with their usual move set, but it was clear this crowd didn't want to. I'm not surprised as to why. The WWE fans are sick of this match and i don't blame them! Why don't i blame them? Because we, the fans, are privy to the same result every single time! I can only watch Ziggler fail and fail over and over so many times in my life to be honest. Its a DAMN SHAME, but its the truth: WWE have it in for Dolph Ziggler - the most talented man in WWE at the moment and the epitome of the word "underrated".
This match was also a bit of overkill as it related to AJ. There was no need for this match to take place. I understand the logic of tagging with Sheamus (AJ got the better of Vickie last week), but in light of her current storyline, this was a tad on the random side. Plus, Vickie and AJ in the ring = "Chang Channel" heat. All in all, a pointless match.
Match No. 3:
Heath Slater
def
"Doink" The Clown
Rating: 3/4*
Comments:
Yes, Heath Slater finally got a win in this program but its not all roses for this jobber as he got Diamond Cuttered by a returning Diamond Dallas Page (i swear DDP wasn't a big part of RAW during RAW's 1000 episode run but anyways...). Doink's reaction was probably one of the weakest since they started this novice idea. It was sad to see Doink come out to no reaction what so ever. But again, can you blame the live audience? Most of the fans in attendance weren't even born when Doink was in his prime. Hell, i only know about him because i researched him! If i was in charge of this build, i would of had Slater verse semi-RAW celebs first, THEN verse your Vaders and Sids closer to the 1000th RAW.
The match itself was as you would expect: very short and sloppy, but Slater is trying.
Match No. 4 (No DQ Match):
Big Show
def
Kane
Rating: *3/4
Comments:
I was fine with this match. At Kane and Big Show's age, this is probably as good as it will get with these two in the ring against each other. The DQ aspect of the match wasn't overly utilized except for a tease spot out out of the ring and the finish (which is pretty standard for WWE No DQ matches in 2012), but this didn't damage or exactly boost the match. In short, the stipulation did nothing of mention. It worries me that WWE just throw out random stipulation matches these days for no reason. Very reminicant of 2001 WCW, but that's another story for another time.
Big Show went over: a logical choice and probably the best part of this match. They are putting a lot of momentum behind The Giant at the moment so kudos to WWE for sticking with it.......for time being.
Match No. 5:
Tyson Kidd
def
Tensai (w/Sakamoto)
Rating: DUD
Comments:
As i stated before, a very undercooked "upset" that was not taken all that well by the live crowd. Moments like these rely on a big pop by the audience that is due, not only to shock, but because a desire to see the underdog overcome the insurmountable odds. This desire CANNOT be gained in two fluke matches where the underdog gets little or no offense in each outing. If they wanted Kidd to have any chance of getting a reaction here, the match with Tensai needed to go about 3 minutes and have all the usual "hope spots" you expect from such a match. Instead, we got Kidd beating Tensai in 6 seconds - making Tensai look like an absolute looser - only to have the attention taken away from the winner and placed on immediately Tensai destroying Sakamoto. WHY!? I don't know Sakamoto. I don't fully understand his relationship with Tensai. So how am i meant to care that Tensai is destroying his valet? Good to see Kidd winning but this was still a dumb and poorly executed match.
Match No. 6:
WWE Champion CM Punk & John Cena
vs
Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho
(No Contest)
*Match of the Night*
Rating: **1/2
Comments:
Thank god for this main event! The fact that this match didn't have a winner and i still gave it more than 2 stars should tell you everything you need to know. These four pros gelled well together and gave us a little bit of everything: something familiar (Punk vs Bryan), something from the past (Cena vs Jericho) and something we haven't seen before (Bryan vs Cena).
Chris Jericho was the absolute star in this one. I don't know what happened between last week and this week, but the old Chris Jericho was back last night! He was talking so much garbage to Cena and the live crowd that you couldn't help but smile and love Chris Irvine at work. The crowd ate everything he did up: weather it was Y2J tell the audience to "cheer" for Cena, or his great paced in-ring work.
Yes, i was waiting for AJ to come and get involved in this one at first, but the action was so good that i actually forgot about her until she eventually came out. While Y2J had a big part in this, seeing Punk and Bryan wrestle on after Cena and Jericho fought to the back pushed this match the match into the 2 1/2- star land. The "tease" for their Money in the Bank match was tremendous and effectively foregrounded what WWE fans can expect in 2 weeks. This crisp wrestling display, coupled with the rest of the mainevent, took RAW from being an ok show to a slightly above average show. Consdidering the stuff we have seen on RAW during few weeks, thats a big thumbs up in my book!
Final Comments:
This show was an improvement from last week and in 2012, that's all i can hope for. The AJ storyline progressed nicely and the final segment involving Punk and Bryan was visually appealing and did what it needed to do. The main event saw a return to form for Chris Jericho, which aided in making the tag team main event a fun and entertaining outing. However, the show still had its fair share of flops, particularly in the rest of the matches provided. Mid card angles and other main event angles (including Lesnar/HHH) either didn't hit their mark or progressed with little to no fanfare. But all in all, there was more to like than there was to hate on RAW this week so good job WWE!
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